Stinger/Knockdown

[golfaddiction]

On the 12th hole at Augusta on Sunday (the 155 yard par 3), Bubba Watson took out an 8 iron, which is way too much club for him, but played a knockdown shot where he swung about 75%, kept it low, and stopped it stiff.

I gave this type of shot a try at the range today, using every club from wedge to 3 wood.  Amazingly, I was able to hit dead straight shots with a low trajectory.  Usually, my full shots balloon upwards and have a left to right lean on them.  It's hard to calculate distances with range balls, but the knockdown shots seemed to go about 90% as far as a full shot.

I've never been a very accurate player (hence my highish handicap), but I was hitting ropes right down the target line.  I'm definitely going to work more of these shots into my game, particularly on tight holes, when it's windy, or when I'm between distances (taking the longer club, of course).

Is it possible that these knockdowns I was hitting are actually stock shots for better golfers?  I can imagine there are flaws in my full swing that are throwing off my impact and causing a "high fade" when I should really be hitting a penetrating straight ball.  Taking a shorter backswing and slamming down through impact may just be what I need to do to correct these flaws.  I'm thinking maybe I should scrap my full swing altogether and work on distance control via the knockdown shot.  Thoughts?

[Shorty]

You would certainly benefit by doing this from, say 100 yards in to about 50 yards in, unless you are on super fast greens or have to hit over bunkers.

[I-league]

keeping your weight forward and making a tighter, more compact swing should logically help you make solid contact. I have found the stack and tilt book helpful in helping me understand these things.

[Bullitt5339]

If I start having trouble with contact with my irons, I will go to a more compact, knock-down style swing for a little while.  It generally gives me the feel through impact back.

[k-troop]

The high, ballooning fade that you're describing does that because it has a lot of spin (and some right spin).  The 3/4 shot reduces spin, so it counters this tendency.  It's a great shot into the wind.

This is pretty much the stock swing for me with a 8-iron on down, unless I really need to hit a high bomb, or I'm trying to spin a shot back into a front pin.  When you get into the mid to long irons, this shot doesn't spin enough to stop quickly on the green unless you're hitting into the wind.

The other thing to think about with this shot is that there's a fine line (at least for me, anyway) between hitting a controlled traj, controlled spin shot like this and trying to "steer" the ball.  Sometimes when I start slowing my swing down to hit this shot, I end up losing the ball all over the place because I'm not releasing the club through impact.  I'll have to make a conscious shift to swing harder and actually hit through the ball to get back on line.  It is a great shot to pull out though when you're hitting a longer club into the wind.

[golfaddiction]

Originally Posted by k-troop

The high, ballooning fade that you're describing does that because it has a lot of spin (and some right spin).  The 3/4 shot reduces spin, so it counters this tendency.  It's a great shot into the wind.

This is pretty much the stock swing for me with a 8-iron on down, unless I really need to hit a high bomb, or I'm trying to spin a shot back into a front pin.  When you get into the mid to long irons, this shot doesn't spin enough to stop quickly on the green unless you're hitting into the wind.

The other thing to think about with this shot is that there's a fine line (at least for me, anyway) between hitting a controlled traj, controlled spin shot like this and trying to "steer" the ball.  Sometimes when I start slowing my swing down to hit this shot, I end up losing the ball all over the place because I'm not releasing the club through impact.  I'll have to make a conscious shift to swing harder and actually hit through the ball to get back on line.  It is a great shot to pull out though when you're hitting a longer club into the wind.

I played the knockdown as my stock iron swing today and more hit greens than I ever have and shot the best I ever have.  I hit some poor tee shots, but I literally didn't miss anything inside 150 yards.  I wasn't scared of any distance being between clubs and I used all my wedges from various lengths depending on the situation.  By the end of the round I didn't even think of it as playing a knockdown, although technically I probably wasn't.  My "new" swing is just more controlled and comes off with a lower trajectory.

[xmanhockey7]

My swing used to be way past parallel even with a wedge. I started hitting the ball much better when I got the point where I'd take a "shorter" swing. Now my driver is just short of parallel and most my irons are 45* past 90*. Def made me a much better ball striker.

ETA: I only hit knock down shots into the wind or when hitting a 3/4 8 irons or something like that. It's not a stock shot.