A simple 2-step guide to hit a stinger

Welcome to GOLF.com’s newest instruction series — Easy Way Out. With helpful tips from the game’s top instructors, you’ll learn how to hit golf’s toughest shots in a few simple steps.

Ever since Tiger Woods made the stinger famous, amateurs have been obsessed with learning how to hit that low, rising ball flight on command. 

While it might seem difficult, you really only need to remember a few keys to pull off this shot.

Use these two simple keys from Keith Bennett, a PGA pro at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, to learn how to execute a stinger properly and impress the usual suspects from your weekly foursome. 

Create shaft lean

If you want to hit a stinger, shaft lean is key to creating that low, penetrating ball flight. You can create some shaft lean by pressing your hands forward at address. However, to hit a stinger, you’ll need more shaft lean than that, and as Bennett demonstrates, there’s another adjustment you can make to promote a more descending angle of attack. 

“To help us with that, we’re going to make sure that our ball position is favoring our trail foot,” Bennett says. 

Think: handle ahead, hit down

Once you’re set, make a few practice swings with two keys in mind: handle ahead and hit down. Bennett explains that in order to hit a stinger successfully, you need the handle ahead through impact and a downward angle of attack.

“As I come into the ball I’m thinking handle ahead, tons of shaft lean, hitting down on that golf ball,” Bennett says, “That’s going to make it come out low and then rise into the air.”