When making your way around the golf course, you may notice that not all lies are created equal. Wouldn’t it be great if you hit everything from the flat, yes yes to the perfect position? It may sound good, but it will also get boring. Still, there’s something satisfying about hitting a big shot with a bad lie, and my five tips below can help you navigate golf’s best lies.
1. Find the lies
Start by asking: “What percentage of the ball do I see?”
Under the visible ball, the worst is false – and the more preparation you need to do. When the ball is sitting on grass, sand or sand, you have to be very careful with your strategy and your setup. Regardless of which of these situations you face, the change you make – and the ball-flight results – will be the same.
2. Honor the buried lie
When the ball is so far away that you cannot see it, you must be aware and respect the gravity of the situation. The deeper the ball sits, the more difficult it is to make clean contact with the clubface, which reduces both the quality of the strike and the total distance you can expect.
Accept this limitation and choose a more specific target. For example, if your ball is buried in a hole, it may be wise to play on a wider section where you have more room to roll.
Remember, it’s a bad lie, it’s hard to produce enough to cover long distances. It is intended for an area that does not require a high mandatory bearing.
3. Lean like straight
The most important adjustment is to lean into your torso and club towards the target, allowing the shoulder lead to drop as your weight shifts upward. Your body and your team should be equally inclined in this direction – and the worst of these lies, the more pronounced the less.
This drop of the lead shoulder is key. Since your angle is shoulder to shoulder, the angle of the club attack is straight again, driving the club down into the grass, sand or whatever the ball is sitting on. This deep attack allows the club to line up behind the ball before entering the ground. Because of your steeper setup and swing, the club naturally grinds – this is exactly what you want when the ball is sitting on the ground. You will have a limited following, and that is completely normal.
Throughout the swing, keep your weight and upper body forward. Avoid swinging back, as doing so reduces the power you need and prevents the club from properly gripping the target side of the ball.
4. Respond to the Loft that has gone down
When you lean forward to make better contact with the buried ball, the clubface naturally loses Loft. The worse the lie, the more you will need to lean and your own to take off the club.
To compensate, you may need to choose a more handled club so you can still get the ball in the air and avoid poor lies. You may also need to adjust your aim so that whatever you carry the distance you can produce will put you safely in play.
In extreme cases, you may need to simply take your medicine: grab the broken wedge, grab the ball and move on. Deep fescue is a perfect example of where this method of preservation is the smartest of all.
5. Fast pace and little attitude
You may need to slightly modify the internal tension and speed of digging the ball when it is truly buried. I call this a little attitude. If you are set up correctly and keep your weight forward, the swipe will be natural.
On most difficult lies, you will need more speed than usual to get the ball. Expect this and be prepared to put in extra effort to get the ball free and back into play.
