Golf Practice Drills to Help You Hit Good Shots from Bad Lies
Bad lies are a part of golf – there is nothing you can do to avoid getting them from time to time. Of course, the more often you keep your ball in the fairway, the fewer bad lies you will get. Still, you will run into a bad lie from time to time and it is important to understand how you can combat these tricky situations. Getting your ball out of a bad lie and back onto the short grass as quickly as possible is an important trait for a good golfer to possess.
To better prepare yourself for the next bad lie you encounter, try the following practice drills –
- Find bad lies on the driving range. If you are able to practice on a grass driving range, find bad lies on the range and challenge yourself to play good shots from those lies. Make sure you try to hit a variety of clubs and shot types from these poor lies so you can gain the experience that you will need on the course. However, don’t hit too many shots in a row from bad lies as it will start to get frustrating and could affect your normal swing.
- Keep your weight toward the target. Usually, conquering a bad lie means hitting down on the ball so the club is moving more steeply through impact and into the turf. To achieve this, try hitting some practice shots while keeping most of your weight on the foot closest to the target throughout the swing. You don’t have to hit your real shots with this dramatic of a weight shift, but practicing some half swings while leaning toward the target is a good start toward understanding how to hit down through the ball.
- Eyes down. Part of playing well from a bad lie is simply keeping your eyes down on the ball throughout the shot. In this drill, the idea is to hit the shots while your eyes stay down all the way through the shot – until well after the ball is gone. Basically, you will be exaggerating the idea of keeping your head down to reinforce how important it is. Once you have hit a handful of shots while keeping your eyes down throughout the swing, you can go back to your normal swing and let your eyes follow the ball toward the target.