If you understand what happens when hitting a golf ball from a downhill lie, you can probably figure out how playing uphill affects your shots.

Rather than reducing the club’s effective loft, an uphill lie adds loft. To wit: Standing on an 8° uphill grade will add 8° to the clubface, turning a 6-iron into an 8-iron. Thus, shots will launch and carry much higher than usual. Any headwind will exaggerate this effect.

An upslope stance may create a flatter swing plane that’s more around the body rather than up and down, resulting in pulled shots that often draw or hook into trouble on your left.

Good swings from an upslope can generate high, soaring shots. Pretty to look at, until they fall short of the green.

Next up: How to overcome uphill lies by altering your club selection, setup and swing.