Lies and conditions

Symptoms in this group

Each one starts from something you can see for yourself. Open it to find what that shot can come from.

• Ball above or below your feet

  On a sidehill lie the ball starts left when it sits above your feet and right when it sits below them, and the strike slides toward the toe, the heel or the hosel as your balance goes.

• Flyers from the rough that fly the green

  From light rough the ball comes out hot, carries past the flag or keeps running after it lands, and finishes over the back of the green off a swing that felt normal.

• Can't advance it from thick rough

  From deep grass the club feels as if it stops in the lie, and the ball comes out weak and short or squirts out low and left into more trouble.

• The wind wrecks my ball flight

  Into the wind the ball climbs, stalls and drops well short, and across the wind your usual curve turns into a much bigger one.

• Tight lies, bare ground and hardpan

  Off firm, bare or closely mown ground the club bounces into the ball or catches it around the middle, and the fear of chunking it makes the next one thinner still.

• Uphill and downhill lies

  When the ground rises or falls toward the target, the club digs into the slope or catches the ball thin, and even the clean strikes fly the wrong height and distance.

• I can't hit it low when I need to

  When you need a low punch under branches or under the wind, the ball still comes out too high and clips the trees or climbs into the breeze.