Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
When you’re faced with any given situation on the golf course, you’ve got to ask yourself a question: How am I going to hit this shot? The way you approach a shot might be different from how your playing partner does, or how a pro does. Like a snowflake, no two methods will be exactly similar.
While there are some methods that are accepted as the prototypical techniques for certain shots, it doesn’t mean they are the only ways to hit them. The most important thing is choosing a method that helps you become consistent.
Take the flop shot, for example. If you’ve studied this shot at all, you’ll know there are a few points in the technique that are widely taught. But just because that technique is widely accepted doesn’t mean it’s the only way to hit the shot.
In the video below, GOLF Top 100 Teachers Joe Hallett and Bryan Lebedevitch outline a couple of different ways you can approach the flop shot.
2 ways to hit a flop
Option 1
The first way to hit a flop is what we’ll call the safe method. This shot requires much less fine tuning than the second method and should be used by players who might not be as confident in their short games.
To hit this shot, set up with a wide stance and an open clubface. Put the ball slightly forward in your stance and then during the takeaway, focus on getting very wide. Then during the follow through, don’t release your wrists and focus on taking the hands out of the shot.
“I want to eliminate all of those variables that can make that shot so tough,” Hallett says.
Option 2
The second method is a more high-level technique that requires a little more confidence to pull off.
For this shot, once again put the ball in the front of the stance and then set up with your feet a little closer together. Hinge your wrists on the takeaway and then during the downswing, aggressively release them and allow the clubhead to pass your hands near impact.
“Have a little more of a free feeling of the clubhead into the finish,” Lebedevitch says.
Which is better?
Each method for the flop shot outlined above has its merits, and you can’t go wrong with either method. But which shot is better? Well, it all depends on which gives you the most confidence. Try them both out and see which you can execute on a consistent basis. Once you do that, you’ll have your answer.
