Chipping/Pitching onto Slow Greens

[Cantankerish]

5 hours ago, billchao said:

How do you slide the LW under the ball and pop it straight up from the fairway without intentionally doing it? That's a difficult shot to execute. 

The "phenomenon" of the club sliding under the ball sitting up in the rough can happen with any wedge with the face opened up. It's the difficulty of the lie combined with the pin position forcing you to hit a soft shot that stops quickly, that's when it typically occurs.

Skill, baby.  I can do things with a golf club that others can only dream of.  Those dreams are nightmares, of course.  But still...

(I am fond of an experience I had once, elevated green on a par 5.  My 2nd shot went off to the right side of the green and I am thinking up and down for a birdie.  Ball is on the slope of a fairly steep incline with thick rough and a bunker between me and the green.  Pin just beyond the close edge.  My 3rd shot goes 15 up or so and then...behind me! 60 degree loft + about 35 degrees of slope makes for a pretty stupid shot.  I did not think that would happen because I was not myself standing at that angle - or even possible, but yet, it did. Live and learn.)

Anyway, yeah.  I have opened the face for a flop and seen the ball go only a few feet with a full swing.  The face carpets nearly clean right under the ball and I barely make contact. I have to admit that I am not entirely certain of the loft of this club.  It is not written on the club, and I bought it used.

I also do this trick where I make contact slightly higher on the ball than I want, and I get a nifty line drive that my high school baseball coach would have been proud of.  Yeah, the ball goes 40 yards past the other side of the green and my buds congratulate me on demonstrating the worst that can happen. Good times.

Seriously though, my last few rounds I have used the sand wedge (56) in those circumstances and I have had much more success.  I am likely to continue doing this for the time.  That club is too frustrating for my skill level with it.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Cantankerish
spelling

[billchao]

48 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

I am fond of an experience I had once, elevated green on a par 5.  My 2nd shot went off to the right side of the green and I am thinking up and down for a birdie.  Ball is on the slope of a fairly steep incline with thick rough and a bunker between me and the green.  Pin just beyond the close edge.  My 3rd shot goes 15 up or so and then...behind me! 60 degree loft + about 35 degrees of slope makes for a pretty stupid shot.  I did not think that would happen because I was not myself standing at that angle - or even possible, but yet, it did. Live and learn.

I've had similar experiences of popping up a LW. It's not the club's fault. Gotta pay attention to the lie and what you can do with it. Live and learn, as you said.

53 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

Anyway, yeah.  I have opened the face for a flop and seen the ball go only a few feet with a full swing.  The face carpets nearly clean right under the ball and I barely make contact.

From the fairway? You specifically mentioned fairway in your last post, that's why I'm asking. Like I said, that's incredibly difficult to do on purpose, nevermind by accident. And why are you hitting a flop shot from the fairway, anyway?

56 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

Seriously though, my last few rounds I have used the sand wedge (56) in those circumstances and I have had much more success.  I am likely to continue doing this for the time.  That club is too frustrating for my skill level with it.

Do you always play pitch shots with an open face? If so, I'd say don't open the face so much, so often, or even at all. Not every short game shot requires an open face. The LW is not as hard to hit as conventional wisdom says it is.

[Cantankerish]

18 minutes ago, billchao said:

From the fairway? You specifically mentioned fairway in your last post, that's why I'm asking. Like I said, that's incredibly difficult to do on purpose, nevermind by accident. And why are you hitting a flop shot from the fairway, anyway?

Do you always play pitch shots with an open face? If so, I'd say don't open the face so much, so often, or even at all. Not every short game shot requires an open face. The LW is not as hard to hit as conventional wisdom says it is.

Yes, definitely from the fairway.  From rough also.  It is frustrating. I actually think that I was not always intentionally opening the face.  I was just not paying enough attention to that detail.  Why am I choosing to hit a flop shot from the fairway?  That's easy. I do not always make sound decisions with shot selection.  Actually, for awhile I thought I was hitting that shot better than my chip at the 30 - 40 yard distances.  I did not really appreciate how difficult a shot it was.  I have put a lot of work learning how to chip with different clubs, lies, etc since then.  So I have not been flopping from fairway for a few months.

So.much.to.learn.

[Buckeyebowman]

12 hours ago, billchao said:

How do you slide the LW under the ball and pop it straight up from the fairway without intentionally doing it? That's a difficult shot to execute. 

The "phenomenon" of the club sliding under the ball sitting up in the rough can happen with any wedge with the face opened up. It's the difficulty of the lie combined with the pin position forcing you to hit a soft shot that stops quickly, that's when it typically occurs.

That's easy! I did it last Saturday! Basically, I flipped. Didn't maintain the shaft lean. The ball didn't pop straight up in the air, but it didn't reach the green either. My worst shot of the day, as otherwise I played pretty well. 

[RWC]

12 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

That's easy! I did it last Saturday! Basically, I flipped. Didn't maintain the shaft lean. The ball didn't pop straight up in the air, but it didn't reach the green either. My worst shot of the day, as otherwise I played pretty well. 

Nice to know someone else has perfected that shot as well. It seems to be one of my favorites. When I go back to a 9 iron, I seem to maintain the shaft angle and hit the right distance. Damn this is a crazy game!