Why You Need This: In this video, you'll learn how to hit a ball above your feet.

These shots can be tricky as they naturally shoot off to the left...

And it can be really difficult to make solid contact with this awkward ball position.

So, how do you stay balanced and make clean contact with the ball when it's above your feet?

First, you need to stop the ball from shooting way left.

Get in a solid stance and allow your weight to center near your heels.

This is natural for a stable, uphill stance.

Choke up on your club since the ball is closer to you.

Also, realize that you need a longer club to make up for the loss of distance caused by the flatter swing path.

The right to left ball flight will also give you a bit more roll...

So factor that in.

Stand up a little more than you normally would.

Imagine the extreme case where the ball is waist high.

To make reasonable contact with that ball, you'd need to be standing very vertically.

And finally...

Aim right of your target.

If you hit the ball well from an uphill position...

The ball will shoot off to the left.

Watch this video now to learn how to hit a ball above your feet.

Golf Pros Featured:

Instructors Featured: Clay Ballard    

Video Duration: 4:03

Video Transcription:

All right guys, ball above our feet. This is a tricky one. We feel like the ball’s going to snap hook. We start to make some compensations, we don’t really know exactly how to play this shot. A lot of times you’ll start digging down into the ground which can be very frustrating.

I’m going to go over exactly what you need to do to hit these balls nice and clean, get them back out in the fairway, put them on the green every single time. Let’s go ahead and get started.

All right, so when we have a level shot – let’s imagine that I have my 8 iron here, and I have a nice level shot. My sole of my club is level with the ground when I make contact.

This ball is going to fly out nice and straight. Now as I start to tilt this way, this direction, so you can imagine now the sole of the club is here. I have this big sloping heel here.

As I tilt that way, look how my ball is going to tend to fly more to the left. That’s really what we’re combating is that that ball is going to want to fly this way. It’s going to want to draw from right to left. We’re also combatting that now the ball’s way above my feet.

You could imagine if the ball was way up here, I just feel really awkward. I’m going to go over in a lot of detail from the feet up, exactly what you need to feel, but keep that in mind.

I’m trying to get my balance, I’m trying to make clean contact on the ball, and then I’m also making sure that I combat that ball wanting to curve or hook to the left. Let’s start with the feet.

Now when I set up the ball’s above my feet, I’m going to feel like my feet are kind of angled back like this, and I may feel a little bit of weight toward my heels. That’s OK, I wouldn’t try to combat that.

I wouldn’t try to fight into this hill, because now I’m getting too close to the golf ball. I’m going to stand up, just realize a little bit more weight’s going to be in my heels, and that’s all right.

As the ball starts to get more and more above my feet, the ball is actually getting a little bit closer to me. I’m going to choke up on this grip a little bit. You can imagine if the ball was way up here, well now I’m really going to have to choke up if I use my full swing, it’s going to be very awkward.

I’m going to choke up for a moderate slope like this, I’m just going to go ahead and choke up about a half inch or so. That’s going to make it a little bit more comfortable. Also realize as I start to choke up a little bit, my club isn’t going to swing quite as fast.

I’m also going to be a little bit off balance because there’s a slope to this hill. I’m going to want to take one extra club. Now since that ball is curving from right to left, it’s going to tend to roll out a little bit more.

A draw will tend to roll out a little bit more than a fade, so I’m taking one extra club, that’s going to hit the ball a little bit harder. I’m having that little bit of a draw on there, that’s going to get the ball rolling a little bit more. I would typically try to play a little bit toward the front of the green, get it to roll out.

If there’s a lot of trouble over the green, I may want to err, kind of make an easier swing, get it on the shorter side. So hopefully that makes some sense.

So weight’s a little bit back, one thing I want to do here is I want to go ahead and stand up a little bit taller. If this is my normal swing, I’m going to stand up a little bit taller. As this ball gets higher and higher above my feet, I can stand more and more vertical.

So I’m standing a little bit higher there, and again, I just want to get comfortable with my distance from the ball to where I can choke up, weight’s on the heel, and I’m standing a little bit taller.

Then finally here, I’m going to make sure, because that ball is going to be moving kind of from right to left, I’m going to aim toward the right edge of the fairway, or toward the right side of the green so I can naturally let that happen.

I’m not going to fight that. I’m going to realize that my swing is going to be more of a merry-go-round type swing. As that ball gets farther and farther below my feet it would be more of a Ferris wheel, this is going to be more level with the ground.

So I put those pieces together. Choking up a little bit, weight on the heels, standing a little bit taller, letting that ball curve from right to left, and realize it’s going to be a little bit more around my body like a baseball swing.

If I try that out, that’s going to be great. That ball drew back in toward the middle of the fairway. Take a nice, easy swing. Don’t try to rip those balls.

Then lastly, it may be a good idea to get a little bit of a wider stance. We’re going to be off balance, we’re going to feel a little bit odd, let’s take a little bit of a wider stance. That way we feel like we’ve got some better balance.

Again, we’re not trying to kill that, we’re just trying to get it back out in the center of the fairway, center of the green. Don’t really go for the pin on these types of shots.

Follow those keys, you’re going to handle these things with no problem and you’re going to make some good recovery shots. See you guys soon.