When you make your way around the golf course, you might notice that all lies are not created equally. Wouldn’t it be nice if you hit everything from a flat, even spot on perfect grass? It might sound nice, but it would also get a bit boring. After all, there is something satisfying about hitting a great shot out of a bad lie, and my five keys below can help you navigate some of golf’s trickiest lies.
1. Diagnose the Lie
Start by asking yourself: “What percentage of the ball can I see?”
The less of the ball that’s visible, the worse the lie — and the more adjustments you’ll need to make. When the ball is truly sitting down in the grass, a divot or the sand, you have to be especially mindful of your strategy and setup. Regardless of which of these situations you’re facing, the adjustments you make — and the ball-flight results — will be quite similar.
2. Respect the Buried Lie
When the ball is sitting so far down that you can barely see it, you must recognize and respect the difficulty of the situation. The deeper the ball sits, the harder it becomes to make clean contact with the clubface, which reduces both the quality of the strike and the total distance you can expect.
Acknowledge these limitations and choose more conservative targets. For example, if your ball is buried in a bunker, it may be wise to play toward the wider part of the green where you have more room for roll.
Remember, the worse the lie, the harder it is to generate enough carry to cover longer distances. Aim for an area that doesn’t require a significant forced carry.
3. Lean Like You Mean It
The most important adjustment is to lean your torso and club shaft toward the target, allowing your lead shoulder to drop as your weight shifts forward. Your body and club should tilt equally in this direction — and the worse the lie, the more pronounced the lean should be.
This lead-shoulder drop is the key. As your shoulder angle steepens, the club’s angle of attack steepens as well, driving the clubhead down into the grass, sand or whatever the ball is sitting in. This steeper attack lets the club slide down the back of the ball before entering the ground. Because both your setup and swing are steeper, the club will naturally dig — this is exactly what you want when the ball is sitting down. You’ll likely have a limited follow-through, and that’s completely normal.
Throughout the swing, keep your weight and upper body forward. Avoid shifting back, as doing so reduces the steepness you need and prevents the club from digging properly on the target side of the ball.
4. React to the Decreased Loft
When you lean forward to make better contact with a buried ball, the clubface naturally loses loft. The worse the lie, the more you’ll need to lean and the more effective loft you’ll take off the club.
To compensate, you may need to choose a more lofted club so you can still get the ball in the air and escape the poor lie. You may also need to adjust your aim so that whatever carry distance you can produce will safely put you back in play.
In the worst situations, you may simply need to take your medicine: grab a lofted wedge, dig the ball out and move on. Deep fescue rough is a perfect example of when this conservative approach is the smartest play.
5. Steep Speed and a Little Attitude
You may need to channel a bit of inner aggression and speed to dig the ball out when it’s truly buried. I call this having a little attitude. Once you’re set up correctly and keeping your weight forward, the swing will naturally become steeper.
In many severe lies, you’ll need more speed than usual to get the ball out. Anticipate this and be prepared to put in extra effort to pop the ball free and get it back in play.
