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Lower Body Drive vs. Hills

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Merideus

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I’d have put this in the “Ask the Pro” section but wanted a more general opinion on what has worked for others.

Like many I suffer from poor lower body rotation on my downswing, and have suffered all of the miss-hits that go along with it, primarily for me the pull. I have spent a lot of time this season on trying to start my downing with my hip turn and just letting momentum drag my shoulders and in turn my arms back to the golf ball. When I do this I hit the ball straighter and longer both good things. Here is my question though what do you do on shots where you can’t drive the lower body to start your down swing? For example an up-hill lie or the ball below your feet.
 
Adjust your spine angle to the angle of the slope and use your normal swing, but just let the lie do what it is going to do the flight. That's a lesson my buddy gave me and I'm working on it, but he has it perfected. Instead of trying to worry about what the lie is going to do to your ball flight and trying to fight it, just aim for it and let it do what it's going to do. I.E.- Ball below your feet- aim left and let it fade. Ball on an upslope- align your spine angle with the slope and take an extra club since you'll be adding loft and producing a higher ball flight. Ball on downslope- align your spine angle with the slope, either choke down or club down since you'll be delofting the club at impact and expect a lower trajectory with some run. Hope this helps. As to you asking what to do when you can't drive your lower body, you should always be driving your lower body to help get onto the left side. The only times I try to quiet the lower body is fairway bunkers to be honest.
 
Merideus said:
I’d have put this in the “Ask the Pro” section but wanted a more general opinion on what has worked for others.

Like many I suffer from poor lower body rotation on my downswing, and have suffered all of the miss-hits that go along with it, primarily for me the pull. I have spent a lot of time this season on trying to start my downing with my hip turn and just letting momentum drag my shoulders and in turn my arms back to the golf ball. When I do this I hit the ball straighter and longer both good things. Here is my question though what do you do on shots where you can’t drive the lower body to start your down swing? For example an up-hill lie or the ball below your feet.
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I can address part of the question since I get the ball below my feet lie frequently. The one thing I have learned through experience is stay balanced by making sure my weight is on my heels with the result I get no weak cuts, usually good contact and a nice draw.
 
Good answer F2G, also on the downhill lie I use the Gary Player technique of stepping through the shot to insure weight shift and solid contact instead of trying to fight the momentum of my body going down hill.
 
Lefty78 said:
I can address part of the question since I get the ball below my feet lie frequently. The one thing I have learned through experience is stay balanced by making sure my weight is on my heels with the result I get no weak cuts, usually good contact and a nice draw.
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Ball below your feet, you put your weight on your heels and play a draw? That's impressive. No thinned shots from this?
 
Fairway2Green said:
Ball below your feet, you put your weight on your heels and play a draw? That's impressive. No thinned shots from this?
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Not if you choke up on the club. Take your hands to the end of the grip. You may even have to widen your stance a bit depending on the severity of the slope in order to get your body position low enough.
 
burmbuster said:
Not if you choke up on the club. Take your hands to the end of the grip. You may even have to widen your stance a bit depending on the severity of the slope in order to get your body position low enough.
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If it works for you than more power to you, but that's fighting what the lie wants to do to the extreme.
 
Fairway2Green said:
If it works for you than more power to you, but that's fighting what the lie wants to do to the extreme.
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Think about it, F2G. If the balls below your feet you are already forced to put your weight on your heels. Your spine angle can't always match the slope if its a dunes course.
 
burmbuster said:
Think about it, F2G. If the balls below your feet you are already forced to put your weight on your heels. Your spine angle can't always match the slope if its a dunes course.
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My home course is built on bluffs, so I have downhill, uphill, and sidehill lies on just about every shot. I definitely don't choke down on a club with the ball below my feet and play a draw. The ball naturally wants to go right when it's below your feet, so I don't try to fight that. Also, with the ball below your feet most teach to reverse choke since you need every inch of your club to get down to the ball, and make sure you're holding it at the very end of the handle—or using a longer club with a shorter swing. I also don't put my weight on my heels. I've never seen good things happen when swinging from your heels. I might have a touch more knee flex, but that's it. If your way works for you keep at it though.
 
Fairway2Green said:
My home course is built on bluffs, so I have downhill, uphill, and sidehill lies on just about every shot. I definitely don't choke down on a club with the ball below my feet and play a draw. The ball naturally wants to go right when it's below your feet, so I don't try to fight that. Also, with the ball below your feet most teach to reverse choke since you need every inch of your club to get down to the ball, and make sure you're holding it at the very end of the handle—or using a longer club with a shorter swing. I also don't put my weight on my heels. I've never seen good things happen when swinging from your heels. I might have a touch more knee flex, but that's it. If your way works for you keep at it though.
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Thats what I meant by "end of the grip". I also adjust my aim for the projected ball flight so I aim left.
 
Fairway2Green said:
Adjust your spine angle to the angle of the slope and use your normal swing, but just let the lie do what it is going to do the flight. That's a lesson my buddy gave me and I'm working on it, but he has it perfected. Instead of trying to worry about what the lie is going to do to your ball flight and trying to fight it, just aim for it and let it do what it's going to do. I.E.- Ball below your feet- aim left and let it fade. Ball on an upslope- align your spine angle with the slope and take an extra club since you'll be adding loft and producing a higher ball flight. Ball on downslope- align your spine angle with the slope, either choke down or club down since you'll be delofting the club at impact and expect a lower trajectory with some run. Hope this helps. As to you asking what to do when you can't drive your lower body, you should always be driving your lower body to help get onto the left side. The only times I try to quiet the lower body is fairway bunkers to be honest.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this sums up my view pretty perfectly. Same with uphill and downhill shots. Lean back or forward, but just remember the club either lofts or de-lofts itself in the process (i.e take more or less club).
 
Fairway2Green said:
Ball below your feet, you put your weight on your heels and play a draw? That's impressive. No thinned shots from this?
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Just stay balanced, not a lot of weight on heels just a little flex in knees to make sure weight is not on toes. Before I started doing this, I felt like I was falling on my face and shots were erratic. The key is to stay balanced through the shot. Nope, not thinned. usually a little draw. It is simple and works for me, I like simple, the less thinking the better, everything is feel for me
 
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