How to play the flop shot

The flop is a high-risk shot, but there are times when it’s the only way you can get the ball close to the hole if you’re out of position and need to stop the ball quickly. The idea is to launch the ball as steeply as you can so it lands softly with minimal release. It’s only a shot you should take on when you don’t have any other choice.

1Ball forward and face wide open

The ball wants to be at the low point of your swing arc. Open the clubface as much as you dare. Having a club with relatively low bounce will help because this keeps the leading edge close to the ground, even as you open the face. An open face makes it point to the right, but you can negate that by dropping the handle lower.

3Plenty of clubhead speed

Go through to a three-quarter finish to make sure you don’t quit on it through impact. You can use three different finish positions from the same backswing to change

2 Try a weaker grip

Weakening your grip, so the left hand turns more to the left and you get the right hand a bit more on top of the shaft, will help you keep the face open. Make sure you open the face at address before you take this weaker grip, rather than rotating your forearms to open the face when you’re already gripping it. the ball flight. The more wrist hinge and higher the clubhead in the finish position, the higher the flight will be. Working to a specific follow-through in the short game can help take the nerves out of the strike.

I like to set up with my feet and body square to the target, or even a little bit closed, to encourage a really shallow swing that cuts the legs off the ball as it slides underneath. You don’t want to set up open because this makes your attack angle steeper, which is the opposite of what you want for this shot.

The ball should be directly below your lead shoulder

A weak grip will help keep the face open