- 2 days ago
In this video Andy Sullivan offers his advice on the 5 most important golf shots to master!
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00:00Hello and welcome to this video in which we're looking at the five most important
00:11must-have golf shots. If you're playing any competitive golf at all this summer,
00:16this video should really help you out. We're going to take a look at everything from how
00:20to hit fairways on tight drives, shot shaping, how to hit those really awkward half-pitch shots,
00:25plug lies in bunkers and holding out from close range. Now the advice in this video comes from
00:31Andy Sullivan. We were given some time with Andy earlier on this year through Ping. His style is
00:36really sort of really effective but really simple and easy to put into play. Guys if you're new to
00:41the Golf Monthly channel please do hit the subscribe button to make sure that you don't miss any of our
00:45videos. Hit the like button as well if you like what you're watching but let's take a look at
00:49the five most important must-have golf shots starting with how to hit the fairway on a tight drive.
00:55Okay so this is the 18th hole here at Stratford. Your home club. My home club, yeah. It's a tight
01:06little tee shot. You have got to find the right side of the fairway to have a go at it in two.
01:11What's the process you go through when you're under pressure, when you've got to pull the big stick,
01:18you've got to hit a good drive, you've got to make a good golf swing. What's the process of making sure
01:21that you do that? I think freeing yourself up and picking a really specific target. You know,
01:27not just picking a tree, pick a branch out. You know, really try and tune in on exactly where you
01:32want to hit it and exactly what you want to do with it. So in my routine before, I'll be trying,
01:36I'll be picking the shot now. So I'll pick the shot here now. I'm going to be instantly thinking,
01:40right, I'm going to start it at that flag at the green there, right on the flag. I'm going to just move
01:45it over to that tree stump that's 10 yards right of it. So in my mind, I know exactly what shot I'm
01:50going to hit. What I'm going to do after that, I'm going to try and get in my routine thing,
01:54right. Just that five yard played, what I normally do. And then from there onwards,
01:59you know, like I said, I've done all the groundwork now. I'm into the shot. I've just got to free it up
02:05now and just commit to that swing. That's the biggest thing when you've got a tight tee shot.
02:09What do you mean by committing to that swing?
02:11To that swing is, you know, whatever you're going to do with that ball, you've got to just go through
02:16with it and free it up and just hit it. Not just go, no second questions in there. You just got to go,
02:21right, that's exactly what I've got to do. So you're almost like building yourself up to it,
02:26not just going, you can't be second guessing tight tee shots. And if you are second guessing,
02:32change, do something different. Or do something different. Hit three wood or something,
02:37hit an iron. If you've got that little bit of element of doubt. Stop. You need to change.
02:43Okay. Okay. Go on then. Hit it for us. Let's see.
02:47Good shot. Straight down the middle. That'll work. Yeah. Well, guys, there you go. There you have it. If you are faced with a really difficult drive, you're under pressure, you're feeling nervous, pick a very, very specific target.
02:52Really think about what you're going to do. Visualise the shot and commit to it. Right?
02:57100%. I mean, half of it for me is built up in your mind when a Tight T shot. So as soon as you get go into it.
03:06A tight tee shot, you need to go out and do it. I'm not sure if you get engaged, you don't have to go out and do it properly.
03:09Right? Now that's why I took an exercise. I'll take a look at it when you go out and do it.
03:12Yeah. Going down and check this out. That's going to be a really że one key pointy.
03:14Are you sure? I'm going to sell it again. I think that one thing you have is getting a really difficult drive.
03:18going to do visualize the shot and commit to it right 100 i mean half of it for me is is is built
03:24up in your mind when a tight tee shot so as soon as you can just focus on exactly what you're going
03:29to do with it free it up and let it go so do those things find the fairway make par
03:39okay so we are stuck on the 18th here behind a little copse of trees you've got 165 yeah 165 yeah
03:47and yeah i mean to be fair you can go left or you can go right here yeah it's quite an interesting
03:52one really i mean it's fully stymied i mean either way he's got to be moving a long way right's got
03:57to be moving a good 70 80 yard left close to it as well so you know the ball's got to be moving
04:05quite a lot here so i mean these are really high tariff shots that you're trying to hit here so i
04:11i mean likelihood of it coming off which way you go what which which is option number one i mean
04:17for me here if i if i was playing this i mean i i'd i'd be hollywood in it and going left towards
04:23the car park and trying to get it sliding in only because that's my favorite shot yeah yeah yeah
04:28that's what i'd go to so okay i mean for me i'd just try and get it left and chop it in
04:33right's probably the better shot where the pin is but we'll go left first we'll go left
04:36fine so talk to me about how you play the shot i mean you're just trying to put as much left or
04:41right spin on it as possible but here we've got to deal with height as well i mean we can't go over
04:45it and move it that much so we've got to keep it down low and get it cut in so i mean it's a really
04:51tough shot i'm going to put it more in the back of my stance really work the club miles outside and
04:55then try and swing as far left as i can just to get that the revolutions going on but because you need
05:00to keep it low you can't open the face or can you you can yeah you just gotta make sure you cover the
05:04ball so when i mean when i mean cover the ball your spine angle's still got to be over the ball
05:08you can't back out of it no because then you're going to put loft on it so by getting the back of
05:11a stance and cutting across it as much as i can it's going to get the revolution right i'm looking
05:16forward to this yeah i bet you are what a golf shot go on skip through the oh this is that could be money
05:32by the way is that on the green got to be i think it's just on the left side what a shot what a shot
05:39right now i'm going to ask andy to do it again but with the opposite ball flight we'll go for exactly
05:44the same divot this divot is no editing here guys no editing here look at that all right go on
05:51right so if i was going the other way i'd actually take less club because you're shutting down a draw
05:55anyway yes so i don't need i mean i hit that with four i'm just trying to really work it low and cut it
05:59round here i'd probably go six iron i mean i say six iron i mean i've got to try and keep it under
06:06that tree but the ball's got to move quite a long way so is it easier to move it with a straighter
06:11face yeah yeah i think i think i think with the draw when you're drawing it you're shutting down the
06:17club that much it's gonna move yes fade is almost a harder shot to keep it low there yes when you're
06:22trying to draw it low it's almost easy because you're shutting it down anyway that's why i've just
06:26gone up a few clubs just to to promote it again same similar thing i'm just going to get it back
06:30of the stance really close the club face down because i've really got to get this moving and
06:35i'm just going to literally come so far inside i'm going to try and go past my left right heel here
06:40and then just swing it so far out to the right okay and i'm hoping that i don't hit that guy's
06:46mansion on the right there go on this would be impressive two out yeah i'm looking forward to
06:53seeing where this divot goes what a shot
07:02might be a bit long but lacking a bit of control on landing but yeah
07:06what a goal shot guys thank you very much for watching and that really is an interesting insight
07:11into somebody who's competing out on tour and having to sort of you get yourself in the old
07:15situation where you need to manufacture a shot you do get them shots yeah i mean but just we'll just
07:18quickly look look at them divots you've got one going this way and one going completely opposite
07:22away i mean it's literally a 90 degree angle isn't it so for me if you're going to move the ball just
07:28swing as far the other way as you can that you want to move it to so so when you're out on the golf
07:31course playing with your mates be creative try a few of these different things you never know you might
07:36just pull it off this is a 50-yard pitch shot this is absolute meat and drink to you this is instilling
07:46real fear in my game what how what advice would you give me what how do you play this shot so that you
07:51take kind of you're taking for us you're taking bogey out of playing giving yourself a chance of making
07:56birdie for me you i mean if you're gonna if you're gonna learn from the best i'd say you watch the
08:01types of your luke donald your ernie elves you know the rhythm they play these shots with and you
08:07hardly ever see them take a divot the divot is minimal so they're taking the ground out of play
08:12for me so that all that is for me is just getting a little bit shallower and just brushing that grass
08:16just clipping it off the top i mean you see it with a lot of a lot of amateurs and the first thing
08:21they want to do they want to get the club in the ground to guarantee the strike yes well you do
08:25lost in the club then so you you're wasting your time with your lob wedge already yeah you might as
08:28well play it with a nine iron if you're going to do that but for me it is literally as simple as
08:33you you've just got to be very you know feel like it's a very rhythmical swing shallow it out a
08:38little bit just a nice body turn but a lot of us out and i'm sure a lot of people watching this
08:43will have been taught i was taught for a lot of short game shots you know ball back hands forward
08:48yeah drive it in a bit it's very i mean i you know it's very old school way of doing it that was
08:53the way you guarantee a strike now you know everyone's trying to play play the shots to the back of the club
08:58using the bounce more so you're taking the leading edge out of the play and the back of the club
09:02here is hitting the ground so you've got loft on the club the whole time you're not de-lofting it
09:06yes which is giving you more you know using the loft that you've got in the hand instead of just
09:11taking it away from you yeah if you're going to use if you're going to use a 60 or 54 well you're
09:16using the loft for a reason you know what i mean but when i'm when i mean rhythmical as well i'm not
09:21about someone just going oh it's nice and slow and not moving your body you watch the best guys do it
09:26and they're still their bodies turning onto it face onto it even from 50 yards you see a lot of guys
09:31in 50 yards and and they stop they get stuck yeah yeah you still got to rotate onto it to make that
09:38continuance yeah that's the biggest thing but for me again like i say it's just it's that rhythmical
09:44feeling and just trying to clip it off the top yeah and club you're going for i've got a 60 degree here
09:49from 50 yards so i mean again you're not going to get a massive amount of spin on it so you're going to
09:53pitch it five yards short and just let it trickle out right no excuses go on no excuses
10:08well there you have it lovely shot andy very nice a really good demonstration about how to sort of
10:13take the fear out of some of those short game shots definitely i mean i think that i think what most
10:17people get scared of is the leading edge but you're not trying to hit it with the leading edge you know
10:21you're trying to use the loft that you've got there i mean i've took a minimal divot that's the biggest
10:24key so as you start to take in less divots from there you're going to get cleaner strikes you're
10:29going to get a more consistent flight less spin on the ball and hopefully you know you'll be able
10:33to control them distances a lot better from that area now andy you threw your bunker you bought into
10:43this bunker yeah and then you've made it even worse for yourself so frankly i don't know how you're going to get
10:47this out yeah i mean we might as well exaggerate if we're going to do it um it's a weird one like
10:53there's there's all kinds of methods people think you should shut the face down to get it coming out
10:58yeah that's how i would have been yeah i i don't really like that because generally it's going to
11:02come out left and you're not getting it where the direction you want to get it going and it's fast
11:08as well isn't it it's running yeah exactly i mean a lot of time when you're in a plug bunker shot you
11:12actually just want it just pretty much just popping just out of the bunker and releasing down to the
11:16flag um i mean this this is an extremely difficult one it's straight down the hill so you just want
11:21to just land on this fringe and just releasing down yeah um but me and my friends started playing
11:26this shot a few years ago and and it was weird we just thought just thought we'd try something
11:31different and i was hitting these bunker shots plug bunk shots and i was going in so steep and so hard
11:36and i was trying to recoil the club out and the ball just come popping out so we just took it to
11:42another level and just thought if we just hammer it in and just see what happens and just leave the
11:45club in there and it just pops out every time so it's a weird way of doing it but that's the way
11:50sort of i've created over a few years and it and and it's been you know so it's like it's a bit of
11:55problem solving something that you do that sort of thing a bit sometimes if i'm struggling with a
11:59shot that i haven't really got something to go to with i i would like to find something that i think
12:04well i can go with that and i'll stick to that you know it's not often you get a plug ball i mean if you do
12:10it's very rare but i would want something in place to have that scenario covered you know what
12:14i mean i wouldn't want to be there going well do i play it that way because then i'm going to be
12:18in a bit of indecision yeah i'd rather just go right that's the way i'm going to play it
12:22this is how we do it yeah so you're going to swing really hard at it i'm just gonna i'm just
12:26gonna get all my weight on my left side again because i want the club coming in steep i've got
12:30to get through the sand get to the back of the ball somehow so i want to get all my weight on
12:34left side so i'm going to get steep on it but i'm just going to leave the club in there i'm just
12:38going to literally i'm just going to go like that right and hopefully because i'm putting that
12:44much force in the sand is going to move the ball as well because i'm going to be hitting a good good
12:49three inches behind the ball here as well okay let's have a look
12:56that is a great shot and it's come out with a bit of height a bit of control yeah it's not gone on
13:02you know run on for 50 feet is it but the big key is there is not to decelerate into it you have got
13:07to hit that hard get steep on it get down and just leave the club in the ground there and for me it's
13:12been quite successful with that you know the ball comes out pretty consistently high every time and
13:17you've got something that you feel like you can go to with that you're not you're not questioning
13:21yourself over it so much i'll talk us through how to hole out from close range obviously it's an area
13:31of the game that a lot of people like me get very nervous about and you know people can make some
13:36mistakes so what's the process for you how do you what's the right way of looking at these and thinking
13:40about them again read it as a normal putt as you read it and then for me there again it's about that
13:45little word commitment from here you know for me once you've picked that line you've got to commit
13:51to that what you're going to hit there and again a lot of people like to hit them in firmly i'm not a big
13:56big fan of ramming them in firm i like to see it just going a foot by because then if it does hit
14:01the edge it's still going to go it's going to go in if you're done firm and it hits the edges you're
14:05going to lip out and you're probably going to get the same distance back yeah so for me you know
14:09working on a foot by pace picking you picking your line so i've got a line on my ball here commit to
14:15your line and then this is going to sound like a really silly like process but this is what i think
14:19when i'm over the ball all i'm thinking about is keeping my knees as still as possible so it's like
14:24i'm wedged into the ground my feet are wedged into the ground and all i can move is my rocking of my
14:29shoulders so i've picked my line knees planted in the ground feet in the ground and then just
14:36stroke it on your line nice and smooth back and through in we go in she goes and what's your
14:41attitude towards pin in or pin out so a lot of guys are we're getting used to seeing players out
14:46on tour putting from even from quite close range with the flag what's your take on it um you know for me i
14:51i i i think the pin can only be an advantage of when the ball's going in with too much pace
14:56i don't see it being an advantage if your ball's going in a foot by to two feet by just don't see
15:03how that can be an advantage because the ball's generally going to go well no the ball is going
15:07to go in to go in with a foot or two foot of pacing it can only help when it's going six seven feet
15:12by it's going to hit it and go stone dead um i mean there's been a few scenarios this year where i've
15:16seen the ball that's going in at a nice pace like a foot two feet by hit the flag wedge the hole and
15:22come out so you know for me i i prefer it out uh visually it's just the way that you know been
15:29doing it for so long i don't really want to change that um so for me it's a it's a pin out unless you're
15:3450 feet away and you just leave it in that you know that scenario probably plays out for me a few
15:39times but but pin out and every part's going about a foot pass that's the idea that's my key with with
15:44putting everything a football you work on that and it's then green reading becomes a lot easier
15:48there you go guys i hope you enjoyed that really simple advice there from andy
15:52use that next time you play and hole out a little bit more consistently from close range
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