Ball Below the Feet

Right then I'll kick it off with a problem shot I have:

Ball 12" below your feet.

I asked this question months ago on the darkside and seem to remember being told to aim left of target, and ball further back in your stance. Could be completley wrong, but will be playing a course next week where this shot is needed a couple of times, and its usually a 3-wood required.

Doc wrote:Right then I'll kick it off with a problem shot I have:

Ball 12" below your feet.

I asked this question months ago on the darkside and seem to remember being told to aim left of target, and ball further back in your stance. Could be completley wrong, but will be playing a course next week where this shot is needed a couple of times, and its usually a 3-wood required.

I hate this shot...I always yank it left..so I would guess I should aim right. However, on my own course, on the hole I always get this lie on.. it's all OOB on the right.

Doc - if the ball is below your feet it will fade and if above your feet it will draw. This is automatic and requires compensating action to correct the ball flight, so 12" below you should aim a bit left (assuming right hander) to produce straight shot. 12" is quite a lot, but as to how far you should aim off, depends on club, length of shot, normal ball flight etc. Needs some practice to avoid surprises. Hope that helps?

Poulters website has some great instructional videos for lots of these situations.

Puligny wrote:Doc - if the ball is below your feet it will fade and if above your feet it will draw. This is automatic and requires compensating action to correct the ball flight, so 12" below you should aim a bit left (assuming right hander) to produce straight shot. 12" is quite a lot, but as to how far you should aim off, depends on club, length of shot, normal ball flight etc. Needs some practice to avoid surprises. Hope that helps?

Thanks for that and yes i've had some surprises with this shot, as its not easy trying to keep your balance, but slightly easier aiming slightly left of target, as your right foot makes the 12" below around 9", if you get my drift. Just such a barsteward when the ball stays left ....

Yorke; in a greenside bunker you need to aim left of target and open the clubface and slide the club under the ball, which will make it spin right to left ... hopefully

Assuming you're a right hander ball below your feet will require you to aim left and have ball forward in stance. Ball above feet will require an aim right and ball back in stance. You can also introduce gripping nearer top of shaft for ball below and gripping down shaft for ball above. As Puligny says though....it all needs practice a) to avoid surprises and b) to instill the knowledge that you can take the shot on with confidence.

With the ball below your feet there is always a right way and a wrong way. The wrong way is the bend down to the ball by compensating with your knees. That will change the relationship of your base to the ball and throw your balance out a hell of a lot I've found.

Instead bend at the waist in order to align yourself to the slope. The knees and legs will follow so you may find you need to shift the weight to the heels a little more to maintain balance. Now just make your normal move. As a result of the change in position you are going to come across it slightly giving you that left to right shape but that's ok. I tend to ensure I make a full release on this sort of shot in order to get the ball moving forwards as much as possible... but don't try and hit it hard. You're looking for solid contact here and you do that by maintaining your spine angle rather than trying to thump it.

I'v always worked on: ball below the feet if possible take one club longer, hood the face a little and play your normal shot. Ball above the feet is the reverse i.e. one club shorter etc.

But this might be tricky for you Doc, if the club required is a 3 wood as you say, unless you have a 2 wood sitting in there somewhere.

Regarding sand shots, at least greenside ones. I make sure I use a sand wedge when it needs to be popped up. The sole bounce helps to keep the travel through the sand to a minimum. So if you are struggling with a lob or gap wedge from the sand, use the proper club.

I get a lot of ball above and below scenarios on my course Shanker cos it's positioned on a hillside. All the above advice sounds great. I also try and swing just a little bit slower and more deliberate and try and keep my balance.