A tricky and difficult shot ,beautifully executed ,Paul.I presume your wedge was a 56° or 58°loft ?
What if you use a lob wedge ,60°,61° or 62°?
I dont like these sand or lob wedges ,because I find they have too much bounce (I own them ,but I dont’ take them to the golf course .)
In all these tricky cases, I utilize my trusty HONMA BERES 51° gap wedge which has no bounce at all or at least minimal.With the bounce ,I always fear the” ricocheting “off the ground or turf .I have no problem opening up the club face up to 45°,which is more than what you counsel
Yes, this was a 56 degree with the face open. If you are using a lob wedge you don’t have to open the face as much. I don’t like using a gap wedge for these shots. I just find it too strong plus I did not learn them with a gap wedge. If it works for you that’s fine but I wouldn’t be telling people to use a gap wedge. I would want them learning with sand or lob.
Bounce in this case would be a non-issue as this was in the rough. If you were on a tight lie it might make some people nervous. I’ve just never had an issue with it.
The reason you would hit it thin is too much weight on the back foot at impact causing the club to bottom out behind the ball. Just feel your body leading and bouncing it off the ground behind the ball is a non-issue.
You would. have to play the same kind of shot if you were in a situation with a bunker between you and the Green and your ball lying in a poor lie ( Thick Rough or barren lie – dirt or hardpan )
I really enjoy playing a flop shot!
I know your legs close together but are your feet slightly open to the left or whole body? (Aiming left of target)
It’s been my first year of practicing your swing and it’s slowly and nicely coming together as i’m now actually playing!
Also for the past six months, I’m using using your pitching and chipping technique. It’s so nice to have an absolute on how to do this, no second-guessing!
Glad you like flop shots. They are a great shot. I hit them all of the time.
Yes, stance is open relative to how much open the face is.
Glad you are doing my pitching and chipping techniques. They will save you a ton of shots and you can learn them in no time. Having a good short game takes pressure off of the long game (added benefit).
Paul, I tried this the other day and it worked great. First one not so good, but pulled another ball out of pocket and hit again 🙂 Your chipping technique for yardages is working great and opening face and adding yardage is a great tip, What I found when doing this shot is you have to trust it and not decelerate the club, which I did the first time and stuck it into the ground and the ball went 2 yards.
My question is, is there a rule for this as well, sand wedge is one to one ratio if hit square, do you find that opening the face to 1 oclock it cuts the roll 25% and than 2 oclock more again, maybe 50%. You hit that shot 20 yards but it rolled out less than half that it should with ratio. I understand you are hitting it higher, but is there a correlation with opening the face on how much less it would roll. I don’t want to over think this, but i really like your idea of taking all the guess work out of it and trying to dial it all in closer. My short game has been much better since following your tips. I am proud to say I shot my first 36 the other day (with my buddy who usually gets in my head) and it was due to some great up and downs and slowing my swing down and hitting fairways and greens. Thanks again.
Trust is huge in learning anything new. Until you see you can do it you won’t trust it. Doesn’t take long though.
There isn’t really a rule for this like there is for chipping. A lot of it is dependent on the lie. Tight lie 5 yards, medium lie 10 yards. Rough 15 yards.
Nice 36. It does sound like you are getting it. We are on tomorrow so remind me to go over it.
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8 Responses to “Playing Lesson – Flop Shot Situation”
July 17, 2017
RaymondCHASTELA tricky and difficult shot ,beautifully executed ,Paul.I presume your wedge was a 56° or 58°loft ?
What if you use a lob wedge ,60°,61° or 62°?
I dont like these sand or lob wedges ,because I find they have too much bounce (I own them ,but I dont’ take them to the golf course .)
In all these tricky cases, I utilize my trusty HONMA BERES 51° gap wedge which has no bounce at all or at least minimal.With the bounce ,I always fear the” ricocheting “off the ground or turf .I have no problem opening up the club face up to 45°,which is more than what you counsel
July 17, 2017
Paul WilsonRaymond,
Yes, this was a 56 degree with the face open. If you are using a lob wedge you don’t have to open the face as much. I don’t like using a gap wedge for these shots. I just find it too strong plus I did not learn them with a gap wedge. If it works for you that’s fine but I wouldn’t be telling people to use a gap wedge. I would want them learning with sand or lob.
Bounce in this case would be a non-issue as this was in the rough. If you were on a tight lie it might make some people nervous. I’ve just never had an issue with it.
The reason you would hit it thin is too much weight on the back foot at impact causing the club to bottom out behind the ball. Just feel your body leading and bouncing it off the ground behind the ball is a non-issue.
How To Cure Fat Pitch Shots: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-fat-pitch-shots/
July 17, 2017
RaymondCHASTELYou would. have to play the same kind of shot if you were in a situation with a bunker between you and the Green and your ball lying in a poor lie ( Thick Rough or barren lie – dirt or hardpan )
July 17, 2017
Paul WilsonRaymond,
This kind of depends on the lie and how much green you have to work with but yes, I would usually be playing this shot:
Pitching Over a Bunker – No Problem: https://ignitiongolf.com/pitching-over-bunker/
July 17, 2017
JohnBensonI really enjoy playing a flop shot!
I know your legs close together but are your feet slightly open to the left or whole body? (Aiming left of target)
It’s been my first year of practicing your swing and it’s slowly and nicely coming together as i’m now actually playing!
Also for the past six months, I’m using using your pitching and chipping technique. It’s so nice to have an absolute on how to do this, no second-guessing!
July 17, 2017
Paul WilsonJohn,
Glad you like flop shots. They are a great shot. I hit them all of the time.
Yes, stance is open relative to how much open the face is.
Glad you are doing my pitching and chipping techniques. They will save you a ton of shots and you can learn them in no time. Having a good short game takes pressure off of the long game (added benefit).
April 16, 2019
RandyRusinPaul, I tried this the other day and it worked great. First one not so good, but pulled another ball out of pocket and hit again 🙂 Your chipping technique for yardages is working great and opening face and adding yardage is a great tip, What I found when doing this shot is you have to trust it and not decelerate the club, which I did the first time and stuck it into the ground and the ball went 2 yards.
My question is, is there a rule for this as well, sand wedge is one to one ratio if hit square, do you find that opening the face to 1 oclock it cuts the roll 25% and than 2 oclock more again, maybe 50%. You hit that shot 20 yards but it rolled out less than half that it should with ratio. I understand you are hitting it higher, but is there a correlation with opening the face on how much less it would roll. I don’t want to over think this, but i really like your idea of taking all the guess work out of it and trying to dial it all in closer. My short game has been much better since following your tips. I am proud to say I shot my first 36 the other day (with my buddy who usually gets in my head) and it was due to some great up and downs and slowing my swing down and hitting fairways and greens. Thanks again.
April 22, 2019
Paul WilsonRandy,
Trust is huge in learning anything new. Until you see you can do it you won’t trust it. Doesn’t take long though.
There isn’t really a rule for this like there is for chipping. A lot of it is dependent on the lie. Tight lie 5 yards, medium lie 10 yards. Rough 15 yards.
Nice 36. It does sound like you are getting it. We are on tomorrow so remind me to go over it.