How To Play Your Best at Richland Country Club
The real question here is this: how do you play your best when faced with uneven stances and sloped lies?
As anyone who has played at Richland Country Club knows, it’s a very hilly course. Props to all the members who walk it—it’s no small task. But the bigger challenge is this: when good shots leave us with uneven lies and uneven feet, how can we still approach the ball with confidence and play our best?
The answer lies in two key physical traits:
Mastering the weight shift
Improving lower extremity strength
Getting comfortable with weight shift helps us adapt to uneven footing, while strength in the hips, knees, and spine allows us to maintain solid posture in less-than-ideal positions. Let’s break these down.
1. Mastering the Weight Shift
I have a full article that dives deep into side-to-side (frontal plane) control in the golf swing. You can check it out here: [Reintroducing the Frontal Plane to the Golf Swing].
For today’s focus, we’re talking specifically about shifting weight from one leg to the other without setting off a chain of compensations. To handle awkward lies, you need to be able to shift smoothly and strongly into each side—without losing balance or posture.
Here are three drills that can help:
-Abduct and Shift Drill
This drill opens space at the hip and pelvis while teaching the smaller hip muscles to control pelvic movement. Since a weight shift is essentially pulling and pushing yourself into one side, this drill ensures you’ve got the mobility and muscle coordination to do it correctly.
– Plate Pronation and Supination Drill
The foot plays a critical role in shifting weight. If it doesn’t cooperate, you’ll lose ground contact and stability. This drill teaches the foot to supinate into the loaded side and pronate out of the unloaded side, keeping full surface contact with the ground and improving balance.
– Single-Leg Side-to-Side Kettlebell Swing
This dynamic drill adds speed and load to the equation. It forces you to stabilize on one side while generating and controlling rotational power. By keeping the pelvis from swaying too far side to side, you build strength and coordination to handle uneven footing while maintaining balance and posture.
2. Creating Strength for the Weight Shift
Shifting weight is only half the equation—you also need the strength to hold your body in the awkward angles that uneven lies demand. Building stability around the lumbar spine, hips, and knees is key for maintaining golf posture when the ground isn’t flat.
Here are three go-to strength builders:
– Kickstand Hinge
A staple at Integrated Rehab and Performance Center, this movement teaches you to truly engage the glutes and deep hip muscles. By lengthening the glute under tension, you build both strength and awareness. No external load is needed for this to be challenging and effective.
– Posterior Chain Med Ball Reach
This slow, intentional movement builds strength in the sagittal plane, which helps golfers maintain posture without compensating. It’s especially effective for creating control in bent-over positions.
– Weighted Hip Airplane
This single-leg movement targets the back and side of the hip—the key muscles for stabilizing in the frontal plane. By holding weight and rotating over one leg at a time, you train the ability to stabilize, coil, and control each hip independently—critical for hitting shots from uneven ground.
Conclusion
Uneven lies and sloped stances are an unavoidable part of golf—especially on hilly courses like Richland Country Club. The difference between struggling and thriving comes down to preparation.
By mastering weight shift and building strength in the hips, knees, and spine, you’ll have the control and stability to swing with confidence no matter what the ground throws at you. These drills and exercises not only help you perform better from uneven lies, but they also make your overall swing more powerful, stable, and resilient.
Train for these challenges, and every shot—no matter how uneven—becomes an opportunity instead of a limitation.
-Dr. Nick DC, MS, TPI, CSCS
If you would like to learn more about your body, pain, and performance, send Dr. Nick an email at contact@integratedrpc.com or call at (585)478-4379, or schedule a FREE discovery visit at Contact.
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