why balls below feet always go Rt?

and vice versa?

thks

I wouldn't say it always goes, but the ball tends to lean to the right or a fade path.

Your iron rotates the ball in a "backwards" rotation.

If you hit the ball at the tangent between itself and the ground:

When your ball is on a flat lie, the ball spins "backwards" in the air, and everything aside, should go up and straight.

However if your ball is on a slope, be it above or below your feet, your tangent is angled accordingly. Hence this "backwards" rotation or spin is tilted, which is laymaned as side spin, causing the ball to fade or draw.

Think of the clock/counterclockwise spin which causes a soccer ball to curve left and right, its the same concept as a draw/fade shot.

Hope this helps

if I m confused where to aim when the ball is uphill / downhill (in front of my stance that is), I use "upright" to remember: when the ball is above my feet (up), I aim (right) to anticipate a right to left; and vice versa aim left when the ball is below my feet.

How much to aim right or left? I hv absolutely no idea, me agar agar depending on the slope and the club used. also I will take a longer club and swing 1/2 or 3/4

just my 1-cent, hope it is correct and helpful.

Jsmooth my coach taught TSL how to remember where to aim on sidehill lies.

If u drop a ball on that slope, where will it roll? The direction of the roll will be where the ball will end up on the shot.

The other answer as to why it does so - because of this formula:

1/2 X Square root of (a X 1/b X PFM).

bravo, S70B. the roll is easier to rmbr!

me cant rmbr the formula for sure, mind goes blank when I see it....

If u can't figure out the formula, I will reveal it to u guys tmr...

ball below feet. just aim left. hit hard. go down on knees and pray harder....

ball above feet. just aim right. hit hard. go down on knees and pray harder...

i asked the q to c if anyone else out there has had experienced differently.
on the odd occasions, the shot went straight as an arrow to where I was aiming thus missing the green completely, i mean it did fade al all. (i was pretty sure my club did not hit the ground first and the ball was not resting on a flat surface )
am trying to find out why/how did it happen.?

anyone can help?

all I was told, if downslope aim more left of my intended target...( if that is of any use)....if upslope, aim more to right of target


PS: But then again, even if ball sit nicely flat, I aim at target, it is only in the mind....resulte is somethng else

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

ball below feet. just aim left. hit hard. go down on knees and pray harder....

ball above feet. just aim right. hit hard. go down on knees and pray harder...

Amen to that

ironhead wrote:

i asked the q to c if anyone else out there has had experienced differently.
on the odd occasions, the shot went straight as an arrow to where I was aiming thus missing the green completely, i mean it did fade al all. (i was pretty sure my club did not hit the ground first and the ball was not resting on a flat surface )
am trying to find out why/how did it happen.?

anyone can help?

u r a regular golfer. sometimes u hit clean, crisp shot. sometimes u shank it.

golf is like that, when u want it straight, it draws and fades.
when u want it to draw and fade, it will be as straight as an arrow.

Duval_S wrote:

all I was told, if downslope aim more left of my intended target...( if that is of any use)....if upslope, aim more to right of target


PS: But then again, even if ball sit nicely flat, I aim at target, it is only in the mind....resulte is somethng else

if you are talking about downhill lie and uphill life, not sloping lie...

what i learnt is to keep your shoulder level and stance parallel to the slope, club up/down according to uphill or downhill lie...

Anyway, I find the OP question discriminatory towards RH golfers oni.

Its not true that a ball below feet will always go right for leftys. The opposite is actually true.

MC said it right. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. If u can do what u want 100% of the time, you probably might do pretty good playing this game for a living.

General rule of thumb:

The ball will tend towards the direction of the slope. If slope higher from right to left, then ball will go left. If slope higher from left to right, then ball will go right. Someone told me it's gravity but he can't explain it.

The tough part is to identify a slope on an uphill/downhill slope. One of the slopes will take precedence. The problem is which one. Think I just opened another can of worms.

to maximise the 100%, i do what annika preach... have a simple swing that u can just fall back on.


actually it should apply to all your shots, but most of the time I tend to swing 'easier' and 'smoother' when i encounter unconventional lies.

but the REAL safe way when u get unconventional lie, is to punch your shot out to a flat area and then take it from there.

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

to maximise the 100%, i do what annika preach... have a simple swing that u can just fall back on.

actually it should apply to all your shots, but most of the time I tend to swing 'easier' and 'smoother' when i encounter unconventional lies.

but the REAL safe way when u get unconventional lie, is to punch your shot out to a flat area and then take it from there.

Amen to that last statement MC! Ended up in trouble too many times with full swing from such lies. Learnt the value of risk/reward after ending up in worse trouble from sloping lies. Half to three quarter smooth swing to keep it in the fairway ever since.

me no superhero, just a hacker after all!

ironhead wrote:

i asked the q to c if anyone else out there has had experienced differently.
on the odd occasions, the shot went straight as an arrow to where I was aiming thus missing the green completely, i mean it did fade al all. (i was pretty sure my club did not hit the ground first and the ball was not resting on a flat surface )
am trying to find out why/how did it happen.?

anyone can help?

I know what you mean Ironhead, happened to me too. Was also curious why. Not sure whether it's right or wrong, but I was trying to figure it out after the shot turned out as you described.

Think it's the two main factors of balance and swing plane together.

Cos the swing plane is not wat I'm used to on the sloping lie, that is, having to adopt a more upright one for the ball below feet and a flatter one for ball above feet, I end up coming down either too far inside or outside. Couple that with the added difficulty of returning to a balanced finish on a slope, particularly with a full swing, I also end up coming down off-plane.

So with the ball below the feet, I need a more upright swing plane and must aim left to compensate. But too upright a swing plane also makes it easier to come outside in, esp from the added tendency to fall forward on the downswing, add that to the clubface aiming left, I end up with a straight pull.

Ball above my feet, I need a flatter swing plane and must aim right. The tendency is to of course get stuck returning too far from the inside, leading to a straight push or block to exactly where I was aiming.

So I surmised that even though I compensated according to conventional theory, the compensations were cancelled out by these added factors.

But that's just me!

or is it juz an amplification of the "lie angle" effect? i.e. toe up (too upright) = more spin to left = ball above feet.... vice versa for heel up and right

On a flat lie, if your iron grooves catch the ball perfectly, the ball rotation will be an inwards rotation from 6 to 12oclock rotation or aka backspin direction. This along with the dimples of the ball keeps the ball "climbing up to the sky" or stay in the air longer.

When you're on a slope, this direction is tilted, e.g. to a 7 to 1oclock inwards rotation. This ballspin along with the dimples on the ball reacts in the air like a soccer ball curving or bending.

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

ironhead wrote:

i asked the q to c if anyone else out there has had experienced differently.
on the odd occasions, the shot went straight as an arrow to where I was aiming thus missing the green completely, i mean it did fade al all. (i was pretty sure my club did not hit the ground first and the ball was not resting on a flat surface )
am trying to find out why/how did it happen.?

anyone can help?

u r a regular golfer. sometimes u hit clean, crisp shot. sometimes u shank it.

golf is like that, when u want it straight, it draws and fades.
when u want it to draw and fade, it will be as straight as an arrow.

Give the man a cigar folks !!!!

Titu

Ermm... my 2 cents worth:

When your ball falls below your feet, chances are, you will have the tendency to bend lower/ squat lower as you attempt to gain contact with the ball. And all of us know, any unnecessary additional movement will not give you a clean contact.

For the case of ball below feet, as you try to deliberately hit down (with all the additional movements) on the ball during impact, chances are you will catch the ball before your club face is square with the ball/ target. (i.e. the club face would still be partially open) And as you complete your swing, natural reaction of your body is to quickly lift itself up to avoid falling forward. This split second reaction coupled with the ball impacted with a slightly open club face will usually result in a slice (or some people would nicely put it, a fade) -_-'

As for ball above feet, one would usually have to stand slightly further from the ball as compared to a ball on normal lie. This is their way of making up for the elevation of the ball by making the shaft angle wider (if you can visualize what I mean) In doing so however, it usually disrupt your normal swing path and resulting in a more sweeping motion (like hitting a woods/ driver) This will very commonly results in flipping of your wrist hence closing your club face during impact faster than usual. The ball caught with a closing club face will turn out to be a hook (again... some of you may want to think of it as a draw)

What I usually do is:
Ball below feet -
Position yourself as you would normally for a flat lie
Take one club length longer than what you would usually required to hit from that particular distance
Make a 3/4 normal swing without jerking your body downwards to align with the lower ground
Do not finish your swing, instead finish it at the position where the club would be pointing towards the direction of the target
This should make your ball fly lower (like a punch shot) but straight towards the intended target

Ball above feet -
Position the ball at the back of your stance to avoid catching the ground first
Choke down on the grip of the club in order to offset the elevation of the ground
Ensure that you follow through with the swing (gonna result in a larger divot) so that the club is able to release the ball upon impact
Usually result in low-mid flight ball path but effective because not much change to your normal swing is required

hum... my 2 cents worth very long... works for me... hope it helps you!

you don't really hit right when the ball is below your feet, as the sole of the club is still horizontal..and not flat against the slope....its only becoz the swing plane is much upright so there's a bit of fade in the ball. unless of coz, you catch the heel of the iron to the ground first...therefore the open faced club transmit a slice? i would still aim straight and try my luck when ball is below the feet, the likelihood of topping the ball is more of a concern.

unlike in the situation when ball is above the feet, the sole of the club is not horizontal, but flat against the slope, therefore launches the ball perpendicular to the slope, therefore going significantly left.

ah my 1 cent worth.