“Golf is a game of endless predicaments.”
—Chi-Chi Rodriguez
Every golfer who has ever worked with me knows how much I value the short game. You need good ball-striking for consistency, but let’s face it, even the very best Tour professionals average only 13 out of 18 greens in regulation. So the difference between making and missing cuts or winning and finishing well back in the pack often comes down to the short game. And there’s no more nerve-racking or spectacular short shot than the flop shot. You look to the flop shot when you don’t have much green to work with. It flies high and lands soft and can be a master key to get you out of jail.
Almost everyone knows that Phil Mickelson is a master of the flop shot. Phil grew up with a regulation green in his backyard. He spent hours every day working on a variety of flop shots, and it shows. Another player whose flop shot doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves is Tiger Woods. At the 1999 Western Open, Tiger was in the lead but being closely pursued when he made the turn on the final day. His approach at the tenth hole flew over the green. Now he was faced with a 50-foot shot over the corner of a bunker to a pin tucked at the front of the green. Most players would have played a safe pitch to the left of the hole, but Tiger played a magnificent flop shot that floated high over the bunker, landed just short of the pin and rolled to within tap-in distance. He never looked back after that, going on to win the tournament.
Many amateurs have an unreasonable fear of the flop shot. The simple reason they are scared of the flop shot, however, is because they don’t know the techniques to master it. In all my years of working with players from beginners to Tour professionals, I’ve learned that there are three ways of hitting the flop shot. We’ll start with the one that can get you going the fastest and then work from there.
As you learn these techniques, don’t forget—as with all the shots in this book—to integrate them into your practice routine. It’s very difficult to play a shot you’ve never practiced before. With flop shots, it’s almost impossible.
The reason I teach three different ways to play the flop shot is because no two on-course situations are ever the same. Lie, distance and amount of green to work with can greatly influence shot selection around the green. Each of these three flop shots you’re going to learn has its place. Only when you know them all will you be able to develop an instinct for which shot works best when. And a golfer with a good instinct for the short game is a golfer who can score.
The one-lever flop shot is easy to play and incorporates all the basic adjustments required for any flop shot. In this swing, you will minimize the role of the wrists, meaning you don’t have to time the release quite as perfectly as the other flop shots we’ll look at later. It’s a perfect shot for popping the ball up over a small bunker or over the collar to a pin cut close to the fringe. This shot works best from the fairway or a first cut of rough, when you don’t have to fly the ball very far.
Start with a sand wedge or lob wedge. Loft is crucial to good flop shots, so I don’t recommend a pitching wedge in this situation. Now open the clubface. The number one fault I see in high-handicappers who have trouble hitting the flop shot is that they fail to open the clubface enough. Instead, they attempt to play the shot with a square clubface and usually end up scooping at the ball with their hands and wrists in an effort to help it into the air. With a wedge in your hands, scooping almost always leads to disaster—skulled or fat shots. So start preparing for the flop shot by opening your clubface. How much you open the face depends on how much loft and distance you need.
Use the wedge’s leading edge to align to the target. The target line should be perpendicular to the leading edge. After aligning the clubface to the target, grip down one or two inches on the handle and hold the club lightly in both hands. This is a finesse shot, and you’ll need to feel as much of the weight of the clubhead as possible.
Now take your address. Stand closer to the ball—about the same distance closer as you gripped down on the handle—since this shot requires a steeper swing angle. Your body should be in an open position. How much of an open body you need is determined by how open the clubface is. Distribute your weight evenly between the left and right sides, with your stance about the width of your hips. Play the ball one or two inches forward from the center of your stance. This helps set your body in the proper position to hit a high, soft shot. Position your hands about even with the ball. Ideally, the clubhead and handle of the club will arrive at the ball at the same time.
For good flop shots, open the blade of your wedge, but be sure to align the leading edge of the clubhead to the target.
I call this shot the one-lever flop because it calls for a one-lever swing. By that I mean you don’t break your wrists as you swing back. Instead, you use the arms to swing the club back along the line of your shoulders. Control distance with the length of the swing. Then swing through the ball, sliding the clubface underneath. Accelerate the club on the forward swing to create a high, spinning shot. I tell my students to try to thump the ground with the clubhead. This helps you work the clubhead down into the ball.
The one-lever flop features minimal wrist break and is great for soft shots from short distances.
The key to this shot is the “hit-and-resist” finish. Hold the one-lever position through the impact area to keep from releasing the club and closing the clubface and concentrate on finishing with the club in front of your body. A good visual here is to imagine that you are balancing a glass of water on the clubface in the finish position. Allow your lower body to respond to your upper body on the finish, always keeping your arms in front of your body.
With a little bit of practice, you can be hitting the one-lever flop this weekend. Work on distance control using the length and pace of the swing as your measures. This is a shot you’ll come to love.
While I like the one-lever flop shot for its consistency and its simplicity around the green, there are times when it just won’t work. Maybe you’re in heavier rough or on a tight lie, or you need to get more spin on the ball to stop it on a finger of the green. To get the ball up quickly and make it stop when it lands, you’re going to need to use your hands to create a steeper, more vertical swing. I call this the goodhands flop shot. This is the flop shot that most Tour professionals play.
For this shot, you’ll use your hands and hinge your wrists much earlier to swing the club back into position, as you would for a regular greenside bunker shot.
The setup essentials are the same here as they were for the onelever shot. First, open the clubface as much as you need to, grip down an inch or two to shorten the club and add control and grip the club lightly, again so that you can feel the weight of the clubhead in your hands. Stand a little closer to the ball and align your body in an open position corresponding to the open clubface.
The good-hands flop flies farther because of a longer swing with more hand and wrist action. Finish with the clubface still in the open position pointing to the sky.
The swing is slightly longer and faster than it was for the one-lever flop. Hinge your wrists early as you take the club away, minimizing the arm swing so that you feel the club working up immediately as it moves away from the ball. Swing the clubhead up and along the line of your shoulders.
By using your hands and wrists on the takeaway, you’ll naturally swing the club into a higher position. At the top, the shaft should be just about vertical, with the butt end of the club pointing almost straight down at the ground.
It is crucial to a good hands-based flop shot that you hold the clubface in an open position all the way through the impact zone. In other words, this is also a hit-and-resist situation, so be sure to hold on to the club as you swing down and into the ground, preventing the face from closing as you swing through the hitting area. Control the distance of this shot by the length of the follow-through: A short follow-through for a short shot and a full follow-through for the longest flop shot.
Occasionally you will need to play a shot from thick grass near the green that requires enough clubhead speed to get the ball moving and spinning but does not fly more than just a few feet. This is a perfect situation for the cut flop.
A word of warning on this shot: it takes timing and precision to play properly. The cut flop will not work from all lies. In fact, I’ve seen some of the finest short-game players I know attempt this shot when the ball is sitting up in longer grass only to slide the clubface completely underneath the ball, not advancing it an inch. That said, however, I really like the cut flop because it produces a lot of spin. You can use it when pitching downhill or when you need to be aggressive even though you only have a few yards to cover.
As with all flop shots, start with an open clubface. Grip down an inch or even two for shorter shots and use a very light grip pressure. This is the ultimate touch shot. Stand an inch or two closer to the ball and line your body well to the left of the target. Now swing back on an exaggerated outside path, with the arms working away from the body and up, to about a three-quarters position. Swing back down the same path.
The exaggerated out-to-in swing of this shot means that you’ll contact the ball toward the toe of the clubface, hitting it with a glancing blow. Pull your arms in toward your body as you swing through the impact area to impact left-to-right cut spin on the ball. Allow your left elbow to bend into a “chicken-wing” position after impact. The ball will shoot up steeply and will land softly on the green.
The very best short-game players have all three of the flop shots we’ve discussed in this chapter. Each has its specific uses and purposes. But I also know many very good players who use only one of these flop shots almost exclusively. The bottom line is that you have to practice each of the shots to know which is most comfortable for you in what situations.
The exaggerated outside-in path of the cut flop creates a lot of spin for the tightest situations.
If you have no confidence with flop shots, start with the one-lever flop and work your way to the other two. But make sure the flop shot is a part of your greenside repertoire. You’ll be glad you did.
Open the clubface of the sand or lob wedge and align it to the target
Open the entire body a corresponding amount
Grip down one to two inches
Stand one to two inches closer to the ball
Lighter than normal grip pressure in both hands for good touch or “feel”
Distribute weight evenly between left and right
Stance is the width of your hips
Ball position dictated by the lie: one inch more forward than normal for a good lie, normal or just left of center for an average lie, one inch back of center if the ball is down in the grass slightly
Minimize the role of the wrists in the backswing and forward swing
Use the arms to swing the club back along the line of your shoulders
Swing down and through the ball at a descending angle, sliding the clubface underneath the ball
The clubhead and handle arrive at the ball at the same time
Hold the one-lever position through the impact area to keep from releasing the club and closing the clubface—finish with the club in front of you, clubface to the sky
Allow lower body to respond to upper body on the finish, keeping arms in front of the body
Tempo and rhythm equal for backswing and forward swing
This shot is great if you have a short distance to carry the ball, but need it to land softly and stop quickly once it hits the ground, like a delicate pitch over the collar of a green that is sloped severely away from you
Distance is controlled by the length and pace of the swing and the clubface position
Know how far the ball carries and rolls with different swing lengths and with the differing amounts you open clubface and body
Relaxed hands and arms
Thump the ground on the forward swing
Hit-and-resist finish
Open the clubface of the sand or lob wedge and align it to the target
Grip down one to two inches
Stand one to two inches closer to the ball
Lighter than normal grip pressure in both hands for good touch or “feel”
Distribute weight evenly between left and right
Stance is the width of your hips
Ball position dictated by the lie: one inch more forward than normal for a good lie, normal or just left of center for an average lie, one inch back of center if the ball is down in the grass slightly
Swing is slightly longer and faster than the one-lever flop
Hinge the wrists early as you take the club away, minimizing the amount of arm swing so you feel the clubhead working up as you take the club back
Swing the club up and along the line of your shoulders
At the top, the club is almost vertical with the butt of the handle pointing to the ground
Swing down and through the ball at a descending angle, sliding the clubface underneath the ball
The clubhead and handle arrive at the ball at the same time
Hit and resist is also key: hold the clubface in an open position through the impact area and on to the finish to keep from closing the clubface
Allow lower body to respond to upper body on the finish, keeping arms in front of the body
This shot is great if you have to carry the ball farther than a few feet, but need it to land softly and stop quickly once it hits the ground, such as a delicate pitch over a bunker to a tight pin placement, or if you’re in heavier rough or on a very tight lie
Control distance with the amount of follow-through—a short follow-through for a short shot and a full follow-through for a longer flop shot
Know how far the ball carries and rolls with different swing lengths and with the differing amounts you open clubface and body
Relaxed hands and arms
Maintain an open clubface on the forward swing—clubface to the sky
Club works down into the ground
Controlled finish
Open the clubface of the sand or lob wedge and align it to the target
Open the entire body a corresponding amount
Grip down one to two inches
Stand one to two inches closer to the ball
Lighter than normal grip pressure in both hands for good touch or “feel”
Distribute weight evenly between left and right
Stance is the width of your hips
Ball position dictated by the lie: one inch more forward than normal for a good lie, normal or just left of center for an average lie, one inch back of center if the ball is down in the grass slightly
Swing the club back on an exaggerated outside path, arms working away from the body as they swing up
Hinge the club up to a three-quarters position in the backswing
Swing down and through the ball along the same out-to-in path
Slide the clubface across the ball, contacting the ball on the toe of the club
Pull your arms in toward your body on the forward swing to impart left-to-right cut spin on the ball
Allow your left elbow to bend into a “chicken-wing” position after impact, holding the clubface in an open position through the hitting area to keep from closing the clubface
Allow your lower body to pivot in response to the arm swing on the forward swing
This shot is perfect if you have to swing aggressively enough to get the ball out of superthick rough, but need a lot of spin so the ball stops quickly once it hits the ground
Be cautious with this one: it’s easy to slide the clubface under the ball, barely moving it
Know how far the ball carries and rolls with different swing lengths and with the differing amounts you open clubface and body
“Cut” the ball out of the grass, arms pull in on the forward swing
Maintain an open clubface on the forward swing—clubface to the sky
This shot takes a fair amount of practice and a lot of imagination to pull off successfully on the golf course. Time spent around the green practicing the one-lever flop and the good-hands flop, however, will familiarize you with the situations that suit each shot so you can execute a high, soft shot when you need one.
Use the setup and swing adjustments in this chapter to produce the one-lever flop, the good-hands flop and the cut flop. Choose situations around the green that call for each particular shot. The one-lever flop is used when the ball is fairly close to the green with a relatively small obstacle to carry or just the collar of rough to a close-cut pin. Choose a shot that requires a little more carry and start experimenting with the good-hands flop, which allows you to lever the club up on the backswing and the forward swing, creating a little longer swing. Finally, find some long grass and use the cut flop technique. Your task is to produce solid contact and effectively control distance and trajectory with each shot. You’ll be creating realistic situations around the green from different lies and learning your capabilities with each shot. You’ll also be exercising your imagination and creativity—both of which are vital to executing these shots. Choose a very specific landing area and make note of how far the ball releases once it lands. Experiment opening the clubface and your body, and with the length and pace of the swing to produce shots with varying trajectories. You’ll probably develop a favorite way to approach flop shots that will most predictably allow you to control carry and roll.
Once again the five-ball drill is your friend when practicing the flop shot. Choose three situations around the green—one for each of the three different flop shots. You should pick a situation that calls for the specific shot you’re practicing. Give yourself three attempts to score three of five points. Create a scoring zone appropriate for your skill level to award points. Of course, if you hole one, give yourself two points!