- 22 hours ago
Golf sometimes affords us the opportunity to show off in front of our buddies and play some amazing shots that have plenty of wow factor. Whether it's the stinger, a high bomb with the driver, a sky-high flop shot or a driver off the deck, we all want to have these shots in our locker. But how do you actually play them? Step up Golf Monthly staff writer and PGA Pro Joe Ferguson to show you exactly how!
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00:00Right, thanks for joining me.
00:01I want to show you some of the coolest shots in golf.
00:04And I'll come here to the beautiful
00:05Santa de Sera Golf Club in Madeira,
00:08one of the coolest spots in golf,
00:10to show you some of the coolest shots.
00:16Okay, so one of the coolest shots always has been
00:19and always will be the bombed driver.
00:22Those players, you can just turn it up a notch
00:24and find another 20 to 30 yards like a Rory,
00:28I think that's really, really cool.
00:29And here's how they do it.
00:31So what you have to do is create optimal launch conditions
00:35of high launch and low spin.
00:37And there's a couple of ways we can go about doing that.
00:39Firstly, tee height seems like a really simple change,
00:43but just getting that ball pegged up nice and high
00:46will allow us to sweep up on the ball
00:48in that kind of tennis forehand motion,
00:51creating a high launch and a low spin,
00:53which can help penetrate with the shot.
00:56Another method of keeping that launch high
00:58is making sure we keep the ball forward in our stance.
01:01So right off the front toe,
01:03might ordinarily be just inside the left heel,
01:05but just nudging it up a scooch
01:07so we can just keep sweeping it on the up
01:09to help with that launch.
01:11Now we're going to try and create a lot more speed as well.
01:14So we're going to need a more solid base
01:15so we don't lose our balance.
01:17So create a bit more width of stance
01:19really helps to create that stability.
01:22Then from there, it's all about speed.
01:24So how do we generate more speed?
01:26One of my favorite methods is just reaching a little bit
01:29in the back swing, creating maximum width.
01:31We're not swaying to do it.
01:33You can only create as much width as your arms are long,
01:36but just making sure I'm getting my arms
01:38as far away from my body,
01:40my hands as high as I can at the top,
01:42to create that centrifugal force,
01:45which is going to produce maximum ball speed.
01:47And then from there, when I've reached as high as I can,
01:49I'm just going to spin my body as hard as I can
01:52and launch it.
01:53And it's going to look a little something like this.
02:01And that's launched nice and high.
02:02Let's bomb straight down there,
02:04right out the center as well to be fair,
02:06so that'll be a big long carry.
02:07So that's all you need to do to be able to bomb driver.
02:11So one of the coolest and most Instagrammable shots
02:13in golf seems to be the Stinger.
02:16A lot of people use it as a safety shot on tighter holes,
02:18and this is quite a tight tee shot,
02:20so it's probably not a bad place to learn it.
02:23So what do we do?
02:24What impact conditions do we need to be able to create
02:26to hit a Stinger?
02:27Well, first of all, dynamic loft needs to be low.
02:30So you want to be taking your longest iron to hit this,
02:33and I've got my three iron here.
02:35So creating less dynamic loft
02:37means creating a little bit of shaft lean
02:39and closing that club base down a little bit.
02:42There's a load of different ways to do this.
02:44So some people like to play the ball a long way back.
02:47To me, that tends to create a steeper attack angle
02:49and can actually impart a little bit more spin
02:51and get it rising.
02:53So I like to play Stinger from kind of my normal ball position,
02:56but what I like to feel
02:58is I try and feel like the back of my glove hand here,
03:01the logo on my glove,
03:02is pointing down at the ground for as long as possible,
03:05which is closing that club base.
03:07If it starts pointing up at the sky,
03:09club face is open,
03:10you're going to have to release it to get it square,
03:12whereas if it's closed here,
03:14we can just turn hard,
03:16hold the club face off,
03:17create that forward shaft lean,
03:19which is going to knock down that dynamic loft
03:21and give us that penetrating ball flight.
03:23So that's one way of feeling it.
03:25Some other people just like to feel like
03:27they cover the ball with their chest
03:30and keep that handle ahead of the club face.
03:33So all they're doing is having a race
03:34between their hands and their club head
03:36and trying to make sure their hands win that race to impact,
03:39because if your club head wins the race,
03:41you're adding loft and it's going to pop up.
03:44So here's how to play it.
03:46In over the ball,
03:47take your normal grip.
03:48Like I said,
03:49I don't like to change ball position that much,
03:51and I'm just going to go with my feeling
03:52of keeping that glove hand down to the ground
03:55and covering the ball in my chest
03:57and forcing it forward nice and low.
04:04Well, that's a pretty good example.
04:05That's about 10 to 12 feet off the ground,
04:08I would say, drilling up through there,
04:11and a really nice result on a very, very tight hole.
04:13Not only does it look cool,
04:15it's also pretty functional.
04:17Speaking of cool,
04:18what would be really cool is if you're enjoying this video,
04:20please hit the like button,
04:22comment down below,
04:23tell me about some of the cool shots you've played,
04:25and if you're not subscribed to the channel,
04:27do it now.
04:28It's free and you can see all of our upcoming videos.
04:31Okay, so one of the coolest shots in golf,
04:33for me, will always be the flop shot.
04:36This is probably made most famous by Phil Mickelson
04:38when he first came out in the early 90s.
04:40And what is a flop shot?
04:42It's a shot where you've got an open face,
04:44the ball's going to go sky high,
04:45come down like a butterfly with sore feet,
04:48land softly on the ground and not go very far.
04:50You've got to use it in the right situation.
04:52I think I might be in that situation here,
04:54at the beautiful Paliero Golf Club in Madeira.
04:57I've got a chip, I've missed the green left,
04:59and I'm coming down here onto a super severe down slope.
05:04You can see how this is.
05:05And if I play a normal chip shot here,
05:07which I'll show you now,
05:09I don't think I've got any chance
05:10of stopping this ball quick enough by the hole.
05:14So you just hit that down slope and off it goes.
05:17So one of the first things you need to do
05:19is open the club face before you take your grip.
05:22I see so many people taking their normal grip
05:24with a square club face,
05:25and trying to squeeze the club open like that.
05:28But all that's going to happen is
05:29your hands are going to return
05:31to a more comfortable position at impact,
05:33club face will be two square,
05:34and the ball will go miles.
05:36So open that club face first,
05:37get that in behind the ball.
05:38That gives you a good sense of how much ground
05:40you've got to work with under there as well.
05:42So place it in behind the ball,
05:43then take your grip.
05:45You want the ball slightly forward in your stance,
05:47and we want a pretty level impact through the ball here.
05:51So we don't want to be chopping down on it.
05:52We don't want to be certainly scooping up on it.
05:55I want you to feel like the club face is dead level
05:57with the ground,
05:58and you're just going to cut the legs from under the ball.
06:01But we've opened the face a lot, right?
06:03So we're going to need to give it a bit more momentum,
06:05and that's where the big swing comes in,
06:08so we can send the ball a good way up in the air,
06:10and it's not going to go too far forward.
06:13So we've got the club face open,
06:15and we're just going to take a big old swing,
06:18slide the club under the ball,
06:20up in the air, pop it down, and that's beautiful.
06:23I managed to stop that just short of the hole
06:25on a really, really tricky, tricky shot,
06:28and I've got a really good chance to save my par.
06:31Okay, so sometimes you can find yourself on a golf course
06:33in a particularly troublesome spot,
06:35but believe it or not,
06:35you can use some cool shots to get out of it.
06:37I'm going to show you one here.
06:39So the situation I'm in,
06:40I've missed this fairway to the right,
06:42and I'm stuffed behind these trees.
06:44I could be pragmatic,
06:46and I could nudge it out,
06:47and chip it just into the fairway,
06:48and play from there, but that's no fun,
06:50so I'm going to play a cool shot and get out of it.
06:52So I'm going to move this ball around the trees.
06:55So how do I do that?
06:56Well, it's simple geometry.
06:57I've just got to make sure my club face
07:00is pointing left of the path of my club,
07:03so the path being the direction the club's traveling in,
07:05and the club face being where it points at impact.
07:08If I make sure that club face is left of the path,
07:11that spin axis is going to tilt,
07:12and the ball is going to move right to left.
07:14The more I can create that differentiation
07:16between face and path, the more the ball is going to move.
07:20So how do I do it?
07:21Well, first, with set up.
07:23So I can preset a path that's right
07:25by simply aiming my body to the right.
07:27So that's going to influence my club traveling over there.
07:30And then from there, all I want to do
07:31is tow the club face in.
07:33So when it comes to impact,
07:34the club head's going to be traveling that way,
07:36but the club face is going to be pointing that way.
07:38So you're going to see a sweeping hook.
07:40The more you can do it,
07:41the more curvature you're going to get.
07:43And you're going to have to practice this,
07:44because it's more about experience
07:46and knowing how much you can push it.
07:48So here, I'm going to aim my body
07:49that feels like at that tree in the distance there.
07:52I'm going to tow the club in.
07:53And then it's just about commitment.
07:54It's about swinging up that line and understanding
07:59it's going to hook around those trees.
08:01And that's a beautiful example.
08:03And I've got that about 190 yards up the fairway, I think.
08:06So I've just gained myself nearly 200 yards
08:09from being boring and chipping out
08:10by using a really cool shot.
08:13Okay, so I'm in a really difficult situation here.
08:15And this could be classed as one of the most difficult
08:17shots in golf, the 40 to 50 yard bunker shot.
08:19But if you get it right and you play it in the right way,
08:22it can turn into one of the coolest shots in golf.
08:24I've done another video about trying to be a bit more
08:26pragmatic and playing it with a nine-nine
08:28and a pitching wedge,
08:29and just playing it as a normal splash shot.
08:31And that's a really functional way to play it,
08:33but sometimes you just can't.
08:34Sometimes you've got to carry a lot of stuff,
08:36and if you can get it really precise on strike,
08:39you can carry it all the way,
08:40zip it up straight away or even spin it back,
08:43and that looks really, really cool.
08:44So the way to do that,
08:45you need to take your most lofted wedge,
08:47and it's really about precision of strike.
08:49Instead of a normal splash shot,
08:51where you might be trying to impact
08:52about an inch or two behind the ball,
08:54we're going to actually get pretty close to ball first here.
08:57It's not actually going to be ball first,
08:59but it's going to be very close to,
09:00and that's where the sort of precision element comes in.
09:03Because if you do get ball first,
09:04with the momentum I'm going to put into it,
09:06it's going to go a long, long way,
09:08and if I don't quite get it as precise as I want,
09:11it's just going to flub out.
09:12So you've got to be super, super precise here.
09:15It's all about commitment,
09:16and just nipping as close to the ball as you can.
09:19So I'm going to play it pretty similar
09:20to a normal bunker shot,
09:21but I'm just aiming for a point in the sand,
09:24about a centimeter behind the ball,
09:25and I'm going to go full commitment with full speed,
09:28to get plenty of carry.
09:32And that's pretty much perfect.
09:34That's got all the way to the pin, and zoop!
09:37And that is a cool shot.
09:39One of the coolest shots in golf,
09:41and also one of the most difficult,
09:43is the driver off the deck.
09:45And you need a very specific set of circumstances
09:48to use this shot,
09:49and it really is a bit of a last throw of the dice.
09:51And it's handy I've got a slight upslip
09:53to help with the elevation.
09:54Now this shot used to be a lot more difficult
09:56with the older, smaller style drivers,
09:59but the MOI and the launch conditions
10:01of these new modern drivers make it a little bit easier.
10:05So you need a decent lie, which I've got here,
10:08and then I actually don't change that much.
10:09I'm just really focusing on the quality of strike.
10:12Obviously when you're hitting off a tee peg,
10:14your angle of attack will be a little more up.
10:16This ball is now obviously at ground level,
10:19so I'm probably going to move it back,
10:20maybe half a ball in my stance,
10:22just to make sure I'm not quite catching it on the up.
10:24I want this sort of dead level.
10:26But aside from that,
10:28it's just a case of getting set, committing,
10:30making a really good swing,
10:34and then all I'm doing is really focusing on strike
10:37and making sure I pick it clean and get it going.
10:43That's just about spot on,
10:46cutting onto the pin.
10:48Yeah, that is exactly the result I wanted,
10:51and that's a cool shot.
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