How Different Slopes Affect Ball Flight
There are four basic types of slopes that we face on the golf course. The ball above or below our feet, uphill, and downhill lies. Each one of these can affect ball flight but you can predict it.
Golf is a complex game. There are so many variables in play when it comes to ball flight. The aerodynamics of the ball, dynamic loft delivered at impact, club face open/closed relative to the path, and even the lie itself can dictate how a ball will fly.
With all of these different variables in play, you can see why this game is so difficult. If you do not account for every single one of these, you will not execute a perfect shot. This is obviously why executing a perfect shot happens so rarely.
However, one thing I see a lot of amateurs struggling with is understanding how the lie itself will affect the ball flight. And if you do not understand this, then you will not know how to counteract to produce better, more consistent shots.
While there are numerous different lies you will encounter, I will go over the ones I commonly see. This includes:
Ball above and below your feet
Downhill and uphill lies
My goal by the end of this is to provide you with a better understanding of how each of these types of lies will affect the ball flight. All of these take some practice to get better at and are an important part of course strategy. But the first step is understanding.
Then, I will provide you with some tips for how I approach each of these shots.
1. Ball Above and Below Your Feet
When the ball is above your feet, a couple of things tend to happen. The ball will want to go more left (for a right-handed golfer) AND the low point of the arc will go a little further back toward your trail feet.
The severity of each of these will greatly depend on how far above the ball is from your feet. An inch or two and you probably won’t notice much of a difference. However, if you get far above your feet, say 4-8 inches or more, the ball will want to go left and the low point of your arc may go back to the trail foot by a couple of inches.
Think of it this way, if you roll the ball on the side of the hill and the ball moves to your left, that is the way it will want to fly in the air.
There are a few things I do when in this situation.
Open the club face just a little bit. An open club face will help to promote the ball starting right instead of left.
Depending on the severity, put the ball further back in my stance to account for the low point change
Aim slightly further right of my intended target
When the ball is below your feet, everything is the exact opposite. The ball will want to fly to the right. However, the low point is less of an issue. When the ball is below your feet, arc height becomes the issue (a normal stance and swing might end up whiffing on the ball as the club doesn’t get low enough).
This can be a tricky situation depending on the severity. Again, an inch or two and you won’t notice much of a difference. The big variances come from it being well below your feet.
Here are a few things I like to do in these situations.
Close the club face slightly depending on the severity to promote the ball to go left.
A bigger bend in my knees and angle my back to bend over slightly more. This helps to stay down on the ball and prevent whiffs and tops.
Aim slightly more left of my intended target.
2. Downhill and Uphill Lies
When it comes to predicting how a downhill and uphill lie will affect ball flight, think about which direction the ground is pointing. On an uphill lie, it is pointing at the sky, and downhill is pointing at the ground.
What do you think is going to happen when you hit the ball?
If you answer that an uphill lie will have a higher trajectory and a downhill lie will have a lower trajectory, you are correct. But why does this happen?
It’s simple. The launch angle changes because for you to hit the ball clean on an uphill lie your club is attacking at a more positive rate causing it to launch higher and vice versa with downhill lies.
To simplify this, think about it this way. An uphill lie turns a 7 iron into an 8 iron and a downhill lie turns a 7 iron into a 6 iron. This is overly simplistic, but it will work for what I suggest next on how to play these shots:
Club up with an uphill lie and down with a downhill lie
Keep your body as perpendicular to the ground as possible as this helps promote a club path that is similar to a flat lie.
For example, if you are at 150 yards and on an uphill lie, instead of hitting your typical 150-yard club, hit your next club up. So, if that is a 7 iron, hit a 6 iron. For a downhill lie do the opposite.
However, just like in the ball above or below your feet section, the severity of the angle determines how much this will impact the trajectory of the shot and the overall carry and rollout distance.
Wrapping It Up
Golf is a complex game that is played on imperfect ground. There are a variety of different slopes that you will regularly encounter while playing. And knowing how to approach these shots is critical to lowering your scores.
Each different slope will cause the ball to fly in a specific way. A ball above your feet will go more left, a ball below your feet will go more right, a downhill lie will decrease trajectory, and an uphill lie will increase trajectory.
As a final note on the four different slopes we face, downhill, according to Trackman data, will be the most difficult. There aren’t alternative ways to execute this shot. So you need to give yourself a break on these shots. They are difficult!
While I have provided some ways to counteract these, this approach may not be right for you. Use a trial-and-error method to determine what works and doesn’t work for you. After all, we are all different people.
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