Flop shot spin!!

[Sean Dainty]

I liked the comment about course management....the flop shot from a fairway lie is extremely difficult! Why would you put yourself in this position more than once during a round (other than missing it in that spot), if even at all? Play to your strengths and the easier shot.

[iacas]

Guys, if you want a high, soft shot there's some amount of "flipping" going on in the motion. There has to be. Look at the pitching video Dave and I made. The shaft will still be ahead of the ball but the clubhead will be passing it right at about impact or close to it.

If you have 10 degrees of shaft lean you've not exposed much or any bounce. If you have shaft lean of 3 degrees you still have 7 or 8 degrees of bounce to use.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by iacas

Guys, if you want a high, soft shot there's some amount of "flipping" going on in the motion. There has to be. Look at the pitching video Dave and I made. The shaft will still be ahead of the ball but the clubhead will be passing it right at about impact or close to it.

If you have 10 degrees of shaft lean you've not exposed much or any bounce. If you have shaft lean of 3 degrees you still have 7 or 8 degrees of bounce to use.

I'm all about releasing the club after impact, but some people seem to confuse that with flipping before impact for all short game shots, so that's why I'd be leary about just telling someone to do it. I'd rather show them.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by Sean Dainty

I liked the comment about course management....the flop shot from a fairway lie is extremely difficult! Why would you put yourself in this position more than once during a round (other than missing it in that spot), if even at all? Play to your strengths and the easier shot.

Stop saying that!  It's one of my most reliable short game shots.  Not exactly sure why, but from all but the thinnest turf I can pretty much count on a good result.  That is, unless I think about how the shot is supposed to be difficult..... As long as I just set up and hit the ball, it seems to work.

I should say, it's my most reliable way to hit to a particular set of distances and stop quickly.  In an absolute sense, an ordinary chip works reliably, but it is guaranteed a lot more roll-out.  If I don't care about blowing by the hole, I'd probably chip, but it's not an enormous risk to pull this shot out.

I think I do more or less what Zeph is saying (though I skimmed so maybe not)---I let the bounce give me a bit of room for error.  If something goes wrong, that improves the chance of a relatively safe stub instead of a bladed ball screaming 60 yards past the target... It gets a lot of side-spin, though, to the point that it sometimes looks like it rolls out straight right after a little bounce forward.

[jamo]

I love the flop shot. In fact, I have a slow-mo video of one somewhere...

[EverythingGolf]

Here is a great flop shot...lol

[Zeph]

Originally Posted by Sean Dainty

I liked the comment about course management....the flop shot from a fairway lie is extremely difficult! Why would you put yourself in this position more than once during a round (other than missing it in that spot), if even at all? Play to your strengths and the easier shot.

If only I had the skills to avoid having to hit high pitch shots from the fairway.

I hit my share of bad shots, and it's not like missing the green with a yard or two, it's being 10-20 yards short and stuff like that, which can put me in a position where I need a high pitch from a tight lie. I can't plan my shots with that big a miss in mind.

Originally Posted by sean_miller

I'm all about releasing the club after impact, but some people seem to confuse that with flipping before impact for all short game shots, so that's why I'd be leary about just telling someone to do it. I'd rather show them.

Not flipping like a 36 handicapper, but not driving the club forward either. On a normal shot I want the hands to lead the clubhead enough to avoid hitting it fat. On a pitch shot, the hands will lead less, at impact probably aligned with the hands. How that feels is individual, you can try letting gravity do the work or just letting the club go. We're talking about pitch and flop shots here, nobody has said you should do this with every short game shot. On a chip shot, you don't want to do it. Letting the club go, or "releasing" it, is an important part of a pitch shot, which is why I'm pointing it out.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Zeph

If only I had the skills to avoid having to hit high pitch shots from the fairway.

I hit my share of bad shots, and it's not like missing the green with a yard or two, it's being 10-20 yards short and stuff like that, which can put me in a position where I need a high pitch from a tight lie. I can't plan my shots with that big a miss in mind.

Not flipping like a 36 handicapper, but not driving the club forward either. On a normal shot I want the hands to lead the clubhead enough to avoid hitting it fat. On a pitch shot, the hands will lead less, at impact probably aligned with the hands. How that feels is individual, you can try letting gravity do the work or just letting the club go. We're talking about pitch and flop shots here, nobody has said you should do this with every short game shot. On a chip shot, you don't want to do it. Letting the club go, or "releasing" it, is an important part of a pitch shot, which is why I'm pointing it out.

I think the comment in the other post you were quoting was aimed at the OP who seems to often find himself shortsided facing a flop shot. It was suggested that in his case (the OP's) a flop shot is not always the best option. It certainly isn't always the best option from the fairway 20 yards out. I also hit high little pitches from the fairway (from 12-15 yards to the pin with a tight lie is a money LW shot - nudge the ball up the cup and sometimes it even goes in) but I don't think I ever use a true "flop shot" motion for that because it's not necessary like it is from other lies to other pins.

Regarding high cappers being flippers. I'm not sure that's always an accurate generalization. I don't recall ever being a flipper. What I mean is, I don't ever recall having an aha moment where I realized that was a weak and inconsistent move. There are some shots that seem flippy (like the flop - flip and flop) and releasing post-impact and flipping are not the same thing. Anyone who insists that a post-impact release of the club is a flip is either a poser or a tool (of course I could be wrong). To a lot of people who played certain other stick and ball sports before golf, true "flipping" is counterintuitive (e.g. baseball, tennis, squash, hockey) for most shots. There are some little shots in raquet sports that require a flip, and if someone played a lot of badminton rather than tennis or hockey, yeah they might be a decent athlete and still have a well developed flip/twitch motion, but it's not likely, because they still have the feeling of what it takes to powerfully propel an object with another object. The problem with golf though, is a lof ot non-athletes take up the "sport" with no previous ball and stick experience. They hear "release", they see other hackers flip, then voila - a lifelong struggle to rid it from their game.

endrant/

[EverythingGolf]

Open your stance, open the club face so it is facing your target and swing along your body line. You will love it!!

[ohiolefty]

One other thing you can try is applying lob/flop principles....but with a lower trajectory...less wrist set and action...a lower-flighted lob shot. I use this a lot because if I'm short-sided on my home course with it's small, turtle-back greens, a lot of times playing a high lob is going to give me back or sidespin that I don't want. If the lie is good...I can hit an open-faced pitch/chip with 'dead hands' that pretty much stops like a wet dishrag.