- 2 years ago
In this video Andy Sullivan offers his advice on the 5 most important golf shots to master!
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00:00 [Music]
00:06 Hello and welcome to this video in which we're looking at the five most important must-have golf shots.
00:12 If you're playing any competitive golf at all this summer, this video should really help you out.
00:18 We're going to take a look at everything from how to hit fairways on tight drives, shot shaping,
00:23 how to hit those really awkward half-pitch shots, plug lies in bunkers and holing out from close range.
00:29 Now the advice in this video comes from Andy Sullivan. We were given some time with Andy earlier on this year through Ping.
00:35 His style is really effective but really simple and easy to put into play.
00:40 Guys, if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel, please do hit the subscribe button to make sure that you don't miss any of our videos.
00:45 Hit the like button as well if you like what you're watching.
00:48 But let's take a look at the five most important must-have golf shots, starting with how to hit the fairway on a tight drive.
00:54 [Music]
00:59 Okay, so this is the 18th hole here at Stratford. Your home club?
01:03 My home club, yeah. You know, it's a tight little tee shot. You have got to find the right side of the fairway to have a go at it in two.
01:11 What's the process you go through when you're under pressure, when you've got to pull the big stick, you've got to hit a good drive,
01:19 you've got to make a good golf swing. What's the process of making sure that you do that?
01:22 I think freeing yourself up and picking a really specific target. Not just picking a tree, pick a branch out.
01:29 Really try and tune in on exactly where you want to hit it and exactly what you want to do with it.
01:34 So in my routine before, I'll be picking the shot now. So I'll pick the shot here now.
01:39 I'm going to be instantly thinking, right, I'm going to start at that flag at the green there, right on the flag,
01:44 and I'm going to just move it over to that tree stump that's 10 yards right of it.
01:48 So in my mind I know exactly what shot I'm going to hit. What I'm going to do after that, I'm going to try and get in my routine and think,
01:54 right, just that 5 yard fade, what I normally do, and then from there onwards, like I said, I've done all the ground work now,
02:03 I'm into the shot, I've just got to free it up now and just commit to that swing.
02:07 That's the biggest thing when you've got a tight tee shot.
02:09 What do you mean by committing to that swing?
02:11 Committing to that swing is whatever you're going to do with that ball, you've got to just go through with it and free it up and just hit it.
02:17 Not just go, no second questions in there, you've just got to go, right, that's exactly what I've got to do.
02:24 So you're almost like building yourself up to it, not just going, hmm, can't be second guessing tight tee shots.
02:31 And if you are second guessing, change, do something different.
02:34 Stop, start again.
02:35 Or do something different.
02:36 Right, fine.
02:37 Hit three wood or something, or hit an iron.
02:38 If you've got that little bit of element of doubt, you need to change.
02:43 Okay, okay, go on then, hit it for us, let's see.
02:47 Good shot, straight down the middle.
03:08 That'll work.
03:09 Yep, well guys, there you go, there you have it.
03:11 If you are faced with a really difficult drive, you're under pressure, you're feeling nervous, pick a very, very specific target,
03:17 really think about what you're going to do, visualise the shot and commit to it, right?
03:21 100%, I mean half of it for me is built up in your mind when a tight tee shot,
03:26 so as soon as you can just focus on exactly what you're going to do with it, free it up and let it go.
03:31 So do those things, find the fair way, make par.
03:34 Okay, so we are stuck on the 18th here, behind a little copse of trees, you've got 165?
03:45 Yeah, 165, yeah.
03:47 And to be fair, you can go left or you can go right here.
03:50 Yeah, it's quite an interesting one really, I mean it's fully stymied,
03:53 I mean either way's got to be moving a long way, right's got to be moving a good 78 yards, left's close to it as well,
04:03 so the ball's got to be moving quite a lot here, so these are really high tariff shots that you're trying to hit here,
04:10 so the likelihood of it coming off is...
04:13 Which way are you going, which is option number one?
04:16 I mean for me here, if I was playing this, I'd be Hollywooding it and going left towards the car park and trying to get it sliding in,
04:25 only because that's my favoured shot, obviously, because it's what I'd go to,
04:29 so for me I'd just try and get it left and chop it in, right's probably the better shot where the pin is,
04:35 but we'll go left first.
04:37 So talk to me about how you play the shot.
04:39 I mean you're just trying to put as much left or right spin on it as possible, but here we've got to deal with height as well,
04:44 I mean we can't go over it and move it that much, so we've got to keep it down low and get it cutting,
04:49 so it's a really tough shot, I'm going to put it more in the back of my stance, really work the club,
04:54 miles outside and then try and swing as far left as I can just to get the revolutions going on the ball.
05:00 But because you need to keep it low, you can't open the face, or can you?
05:03 You can, yeah, you've just got to make sure you cover the ball,
05:05 so when I mean cover the ball, your spine angle's still got to be over the ball,
05:08 you can't back out of it, because then you're going to put left on it,
05:11 so by getting the back of the stance and cutting across it as much as I can,
05:14 it's going to get the revolutions going that way.
05:16 Right, I'm looking forward to this.
05:17 Yeah, I bet you are.
05:19 Oh!
05:20 What a golf shot.
05:29 Go on, skip through the...
05:31 Oh, that could be money, by the way.
05:34 Is that on the green?
05:35 Got to be. I think it's just on the left side.
05:37 What a shot. What a shot.
05:39 Right, now I'm going to ask Andy to do it again, but with the opposite ball flight.
05:43 We'll go for exactly the same divot.
05:45 This divot is...
05:46 No editing here, guys. No editing here.
05:48 Look at that.
05:49 Right, go on.
05:51 Right, so if I was going the other way, I'd actually take less club,
05:54 because you're shutting down a draw anyway.
05:56 So I hit that with four iron, just trying to really work it low and cut it round.
06:00 Here, I'd probably go six iron.
06:03 I mean, I say six iron, I've got to try and keep it under that tree.
06:08 But the ball's got to move quite a long way, so...
06:10 Is it easier to move it with a straighter face?
06:12 Yeah, I think with a draw, when you're drawing it,
06:16 you're shutting down the club that much, it's going to move.
06:19 Fade is almost a harder shot to keep it low there.
06:22 When you're trying to draw it low, it's almost easier because you're shutting it down.
06:25 It's more of a natural thing.
06:26 That's why I've just gone up a few clubs, just to promote it again.
06:29 Same similar thing, I'm just going to get it back at the stance,
06:32 really close the club face down, because I've really got to get this moving,
06:35 and I'm just going to literally come so far inside,
06:38 so I'm going to try and go past my right heel here,
06:40 and then just swing it so far out to the right.
06:43 And I'm hoping that I don't hit that guy's mansion on the right there.
06:47 Go on.
06:49 This will be impressive two out of two.
06:52 I'm looking forward to seeing where this divot goes.
06:54 What a shot.
07:00 Might be a bit long, but...
07:03 Lacking a bit of control on landing, but par for that.
07:06 What a goal shot. Guys, thank you very much for watching.
07:09 That really is an interesting insight into somebody
07:12 who's competing out on tour and having to sort of...
07:14 You get yourself in the old situation where you need to manufacture a shot.
07:17 You do get them shots, yeah.
07:18 I mean, but just quickly, look at them divots.
07:20 You've got one going this way and one going completely opposite way.
07:23 I mean, it's literally a 90-degree angle, that.
07:25 So, for me, if you're going to move the ball,
07:27 just swing as far the other way as you can that you want to move it to.
07:30 So when you're out on the golf course, playing with your mates,
07:33 be creative, try a few of these different things.
07:35 You never know, you might just pull it off.
07:38 (BIRDIE)
07:40 This is a 50-yard pit shot.
07:43 This is absolute meat and drink to you.
07:45 This is instilling real fear in my game.
07:48 What advice would you give me?
07:50 How do you play this shot so that you take...
07:52 Kind of you're taking, for us, you're taking bogey out play
07:55 and giving yourself a chance of making birdie.
07:57 For me, if you're going to learn from the best,
08:00 I'd say you watch the types of your Luke Donald, your Ernie Elves.
08:04 The rhythm they play these shots with,
08:07 and you hardly ever see them take a divot.
08:09 The divot is minimal, so they're taking the ground out of play for me.
08:12 So all that is for me is just getting a little bit shallower
08:15 and just brushing that grass, just clipping it off the top.
08:18 I mean, you see it with a lot of amateurs,
08:20 and the first thing they want to do,
08:22 they want to get the club in the ground, they guarantee the strike.
08:24 Well, you're de-lofting the club then,
08:26 so you're wasting your time with your lob wedge already.
08:28 You might as well play it with a 9-iron if you're going to do that.
08:31 But for me, it's literally as simple as you've just got to be very...
08:35 It's a very rhythmical swing, shallow it out a little bit,
08:39 just a nice body turn.
08:41 But a lot of us, and I'm sure a lot of people watching this will have been taught,
08:45 I was taught for a lot of short game shots,
08:47 ball back, hands forward, drive it in a bit.
08:50 It's a very old-school way of doing it.
08:53 That was the way you'd guarantee a strike.
08:55 Now everyone's trying to play the shots to the back of the club
08:58 using the bounce more.
08:59 So you're taking the leading edge out of play,
09:01 and the back of the club here is hitting the ground,
09:03 so you've got loft on the club the whole time.
09:05 You're not de-lofting it, which is giving you more...
09:08 Using the loft that you've got in the hand
09:10 instead of just taking it away from you.
09:12 If you're going to use a 60 or a 54,
09:15 well, you're using the loft for a reason.
09:17 Do you know what I mean?
09:18 But when I mean rhythmical as well,
09:20 I'm not on about someone just going, "Oh, it's nice and slow,"
09:23 and not moving your body.
09:24 You watch the best guys do it,
09:26 and their body's turning onto it, face onto it,
09:29 even from 50 yards.
09:30 You see a lot of guys in 50 yards...
09:32 - And they stop. - They get stuck.
09:36 You've still got to rotate onto it to make that continuance.
09:39 That's the biggest thing.
09:40 But for me, again, like I say,
09:42 it's that rhythmical feeling and just trying to clip it off the top.
09:46 And the club you're going for is...
09:48 I've got 60 degree here from 50 yards.
09:50 Again, you're not going to get a massive amount of spin on it,
09:53 so you're going to pitch it 5 yards short and just let it trickle out.
09:56 - Right. No excuses. Go on. - No excuses.
09:58 Well, there you have it. Lovely shot, Andy. Very nice.
10:11 A really good demonstration about how to take the fear out
10:14 of some of those short-game shots.
10:15 Definitely. I think what most people get scared of is the leading edge.
10:19 But you're not trying to hit it with the leading edge.
10:21 You're trying to use the loft that you've got there.
10:23 I mean, I took a minimal divot. That's the biggest key.
10:25 As soon as you start to take in less divots from there,
10:28 you're going to get cleaner strikes,
10:29 you're going to get a more consistent flight, less spin on the ball,
10:32 and hopefully you'll be able to control those distances a lot better from that area.
10:35 Now, Andy, you threw your ball into this bunker
10:43 and then you've made it even worse for yourself.
10:45 So, frankly, I don't know how you're going to get this out.
10:48 I mean, we might as well exaggerate if we're going to do it.
10:51 It's a weird one. There's all kinds of methods.
10:55 People think you should shut the face down to get it coming out.
10:58 - Yeah, that's how I would have been taught. - Yeah.
11:00 I don't really like that because generally it's going to come out left
11:03 and you're not getting it the direction you want to get it going.
11:07 And it's fast as well, isn't it? It's running.
11:09 - Yeah, exactly. - It's hitting a lot.
11:10 I mean, a lot of the time when you're in a plug bunker shot,
11:12 you actually just want it pretty much just popping just out of the bunker
11:15 and releasing down to the flag.
11:18 I mean, this is an extremely difficult one.
11:20 It's straight down the hill, so you just want it
11:22 just landing on this fringe and just releasing down.
11:24 - Yeah. - But me and my friend
11:26 started playing this shot a few years ago
11:28 and it was weird and we just thought we'd try something different.
11:32 And I was hitting these bunker shots, plug bunker shots,
11:34 and I was going in so steep and so hard
11:36 and I was trying to recoil the club out
11:38 and the ball just come popping out.
11:40 So we just took it to another level and just thought
11:42 if we just hammer it in and just see what happens
11:44 and just leave the club in there and it just pops out every time.
11:47 So it's a weird way of doing it,
11:50 but that's the way I've created it over a few years
11:52 and it's been working.
11:54 So it's a bit of problem solving.
11:56 Do you do that sort of thing a bit?
11:58 Sometimes, if I'm struggling with a shot
12:00 that I haven't really got something to go to with,
12:02 I would like to find something that I think,
12:04 "Well, I can go with that and I'll stick to that."
12:06 It's not often you get a plug ball.
12:08 I mean, if you do, it's very rare,
12:11 but I would want something in place to have that scenario covered.
12:14 Do you know what I mean? I wouldn't want to be there going,
12:16 "Well, do I play it that way?"
12:18 Because then I'm going to be in a bit of indecision.
12:20 I'd rather just go, "Right, that's the way I'm going to play it."
12:22 This is how we do it.
12:24 So you're going to swing really hard at it and then leave the club in there.
12:26 I'm just going to get all my weight on my left side again
12:28 because I want the club coming in steep
12:30 because I've got to get through the sand and get to the back of the ball somehow.
12:33 So I want to get all my weight on my left side
12:35 so I'm going to get steep on it, but I'm just going to leave the club in there.
12:38 I'm just going to literally go like that.
12:41 Right.
12:43 And hopefully, because I'm putting that much force in,
12:45 the sand is going to move the ball as well
12:47 because I'm going to be hitting a good three inches behind the ball here as well.
12:51 Okay. Let's have a look.
12:53 That is a great shot.
12:58 It's come out with a bit of height, a bit of control.
13:01 It's not gone on, run on for 50 feet, is it?
13:04 But the big key is there is not to decelerate into it.
13:07 You have got to hit that hard, get steep on it, get down,
13:09 and just leave the club in the ground there.
13:12 And for me, it's been quite successful with that.
13:14 The ball comes out pretty consistently high every time,
13:17 and you've got something that you feel like you can go to with that.
13:20 You're not questioning yourself over it so much.
13:22 Talk us through how to hole out from close range.
13:30 Obviously, it's an area of the game that a lot of people like me get very nervous about,
13:34 and people can make some mistakes.
13:36 So what's the process for you?
13:38 What's the right way of looking at these and thinking about them?
13:41 Again, read it as a normal putt as you read it.
13:43 And then for me there, again, it's about that little word "commitment" from here.
13:47 You know, for me, once you've picked that line,
13:50 you've got to commit to what you're going to hit there.
13:52 And again, a lot of people like to hit them in firmly.
13:55 I'm not a big fan of ramming them in firm.
13:58 I like to see it just going a foot by,
14:00 because then if it does hit the edge, it's still going to go in.
14:03 If you hit them firm and it hits the edges, you're going to lip out,
14:05 and you're probably going to get the same distance back.
14:07 So for me, working on a foot by pace, picking your line.
14:12 So I've got a line on my ball here.
14:14 Commit to your line.
14:15 And then this is going to sound like a really silly process,
14:18 but this is what I think when I'm over the ball.
14:20 All I'm thinking about is keeping my knees as still as possible.
14:24 So it's like I'm wedged into the ground.
14:25 My feet are wedged into the ground,
14:27 and all I can move is my rocking of my shoulders.
14:30 So I've picked my line, knees planted in the ground,
14:34 feet in the ground, and then just stroke it on your line,
14:37 nice and smooth, back and through.
14:39 In we go.
14:40 In she goes.
14:41 And what's your attitude towards pin in or pin out?
14:43 So a lot of guys, we're getting used to seeing players out on tour putting,
14:47 even from quite close range with the flag in.
14:49 What's your take on it?
14:50 For me, I think the pin can only be an advantage
14:54 of when the ball's going in with too much pace.
14:57 I don't see it being an advantage if your ball's going in a foot by
15:01 or two feet by.
15:02 I just don't see how that can be an advantage because the ball's
15:06 generally going to go--well, no, the ball is going to go in--
15:08 It's going to go in.
15:09 --with a foot or two foot of pacing.
15:10 It can only help when it's going six, seven feet by.
15:12 It's going to hit it and go stone dead.
15:15 I mean there's been a few scenarios this year where I've seen the ball
15:17 that's going in at a nice pace, like a foot, two feet by,
15:21 hit the flag, wedge the hole, and come out.
15:23 So for me, I prefer it out visually.
15:27 It's just the way that I've been doing it for so long,
15:30 I don't really want to change that.
15:32 So for me, it's a pin out, unless you're 50 feet away
15:35 and you just leave it in.
15:37 That scenario probably plays out for me a few times.
15:40 But pin out and every putt's going about a foot past.
15:42 That's the idea with pace.
15:43 Yeah, that's my key with putting is everything a foot by.
15:46 You work on that, and then green reading becomes a lot easier.
15:49 There you go, guys.
15:50 I hope you enjoyed that.
15:51 Really simple advice there from Andy.
15:53 Use that next time you play and hole out a little bit more consistently
15:56 from close range.
15:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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