Hanging lies tips video

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Gary Alliss demonstrates how staying down over the shot will help you better cope with hanging lies.

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Gary Alliss offers his hanging lies tips to ensure you survive this very tricky scenario with your score in tact.

Try these hanging lies tips if you often strike it poorly when the ball is below your feet and you lose control of flight when the balls is below your feet.

No-one likes it when the ball is below their feet. We are used to practising off nice, flat lies so a sidehill lie suddenly feels very alien and uncomfortable.

The key is to get your upper body down, over the ball and maintain that position throughout the shot.

The problem, once you have set a good address position with a wider stance than usual, is that controlling the flight is hard.

Of course, the slope is likely to cause the ball to fly left to right but, crucially, because you have widened your stance (restricting your lower-body movement) the swing will be flatter and you may also hit it left.

So there are two essential elements to this shot. First, widen your stance, add a little more flex to your knees and stay down over the shot (resist the temptation of standing up through impact).

Secondly, as only the heel of the club will be in contact with the ground try to pick the ball off the top of the grass without too much of a divot – this will help prevent the club from snagging on the ground, flicking the ball left.

Top tips

  • Widen your stance and add a little more flex to your knees. This will help to stay down over the shot.
  • Resist the temptation to stand up through impact.
  • As only the heel will be in contact with the ground, try to pick the ball off the top of the grass without too much of a divot.
  • This will help prevent the club from snagging on the ground, flicking the ball left.
Thomas Patrick Clarke
Sports Digital Editor


Tom Clarke joined Golf Monthly as a sub editor in 2009 being promoted to content editor in 2012 and then senior content editor in 2014, before becoming Sports Digital Editor for the Sport Vertical within Future in 2022. Tom currently looks after all the digital products that Golf Monthly produce including Strategy and Content Planning for the website and social media - Tom also assists the Cycling, Football, Rugby and Marine titles at Future. Tom plays off 16 and lists Augusta National (name drop), Old Head and Le Touessrok as the favourite courses he has played. Tom is an avid viewer of all golf content with a particularly in depth knowledge of the pro tour.