Uphill, Downhill, and Sidehill Lies Made Easy by Shawn Clement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRTSy7px7e8

We want to allow the momentum to follow the slope.

We want to make sure we let the weight go the forward leg we don't want to resist the slope. 

Bad vs. Good (right)

We want to make sure we let the weight go the forward leg; we don't want to resist the slope.  Do not try to lift the ball off the slope

We let gravity bring the butt down the hill.  The ball is going to be center, or even a little bit forward of center.  (You can put the ball back in the stance if you want to, but then you are going to have to make an alignment aim change.)  I usually like to keep it in the same position, club in the center, ball just forward.  

Get behind the golf ball, my butt is down the hill, you can even roll your right foot in a little bit because there is no weight shift here, everything stays on the instep of your left foot.  If you try to shift to the right up the hill, you are putting yourself in a position to hit the ball fat.  So I’m just keeping the weight down the slope and I’m just pivoting around the left leg.  Then I’m going to use the momentum of my swing to chase the ball down the slope.  That’s the only way to get solid contact on the golf ball.  The golf club will come up a bit steeper and then down and low through the impact zone.  This is a great way to feel the bracing of the left side.  You’re going to feel how natural it is to feel solid on that left hip, knee, and ankle.  If you’re spinning your left heel out and not shifting your weight properly, hit some downhill shots.

Uphill Shot

Again you are going to let gravity bring you down to your right leg.  You want to have the weight on the inside of that downhill leg.  Then you want to make sure your body is setup where you feel like you are perpendicular to the slope.  You feel like you are really going to be swinging up the slope.  It’s going to feel like swinging up the slope and to the right.  

The club is again in the center of the stance and the ball is just forward of the club.  Get behind the golf ball.  I’m going to make a full backswing; notice that my left heel has come off the ground and my left knee is well behind the ball, but I’m completely braced, solid inside that right hip and right ankle.  And I’m going to remain there all the way to the finish.        

The left side has turned completely around this pressure point (instep of right foot see above).  At the finish of the swing, my body is facing the target, but my right heel is still not off the ground.   So my left leg is supporting, preventing me falling forward (into the slope), while my right leg is preventing it from going down the slope.  This is one of the most powerful shots you will hit.  We’re gathering that momentum and leverage to pull the club assertively up the slope.  I usually hit my 5 iron 190 yards and that one went about 220 yards, so I hope this let’s you see how powerful you can be with this shot.  

Shot below the feet

In reality, if you are in balance, and you’re swinging through the golf ball, the ball will always go straight.  So that takes care of a lot of extra things that you don’t have to worry about.  Take dead aim, get into balance, swing through the ball. 

To get in balance with the ball below the feet I’m going to need to sit on the heels more.  You’re going to feel a little bit of tension in the Tibia muscle (the bone he is pointing to, see above left). 

I’m going to sit solid on the top of my heels and I’m going to stay on my heels.  So you notice that that right foot is bolted to the ground.  This has a lot of advantages because if you’re having a hard time clearing the left side through the ball, the best way to do that is to stay flat footed!   The remaining portion of the weight in the follow through should still remain on the inside portion of the right foot until momentum pulls me completely off.        

The reason the ball has a tendency to start to the right is because you start to fall down the slope.  And as you fall down the slope out of balance you are pushing the club outside the line, and the momentum is going to the right.  

Ball above the feet

The weight will be on the balls of the feet.  I’m directing that pressure through the hips, knees and the balls of the feet.  You don’t really want the heels to start floating off the ground, we still want the heels securely on the ground.  From here, I take a practice swing just to see where the club is going to bottom out.  Then I’m going to make sure I feel very balanced, I’m still going to be behind the ball.  I’m going to make sure I stay nice and balanced on the backswing and from there, I’m going to make sure I get all my weight through the golf ball (pretend there is a second ball out in front.