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In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by PGA Professional Alex Elliott to talk through the 7 shots every golfers needs, and how to play them.
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00:03Hello everyone, Neil Tappin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to this video in which
00:07we're going to take a look at the seven shots that every golfer needs. Now these are things
00:10from the tee all the way through to the green that are really going to help you shoot lower
00:14scores. They're not necessarily the flashy shots that everyone wants to hit but they
00:17certainly are the ones that are going to help you get your handicap down so they are well
00:21worth learning. Now the advice in this video comes from PGA Pro Alex Elliott. He'll offer
00:26you everything you need to know and how to play these shots. Guys, if you need to the
00:29Golf Monthly channel, please do hit the subscribe button to make sure that you don't miss any
00:32of our videos. Hit the like button if you like what you're watching but let's head out now
00:35onto the golf course here at West Hill and look at the seven shots that every golfer needs.
00:45If you want to keep your score ticking over, you're going to need to be able to play this
00:48sort of half-pitch shot and it's one that so many golfers struggle with, myself included
00:53Alex. Why is it that people struggle with this shot, do you think? For me, it's the lack
00:57of speed, so it's a lack of commitment and not set up to it correctly. Anything that we're talking
01:03around short game, we've got to be set up to it correctly because we've not got the speed,
01:07we've not got the momentum, we've not got that time to compensate and hit the shot.
01:11Yeah, so there's nothing you can do about the fact that you can't put much speed into the shot,
01:15it is what it is, but how do you set up to it properly so that you can take the
01:19kind of bad
01:19shots out of play? So straight away, I want to feel as though I grip in the middle,
01:24so I have even amounts of grip at the top and the bottom. Okay. So shortening the length of
01:29the club and if you think about it, we're looking for accuracy, we're not looking for distance,
01:32so all these things are everything that's going to help us give control rather than give distance.
01:37Okay, fine. I like to feel ball in the middle of stance, shoulders parallel to target line,
01:43but lower half slightly open and this is the best thing for me. I'd encourage a lot of you to
01:47make
01:48some one-handed practice swings because it's amazing. Anytime you make a one-handed practice swing,
01:51actually, most people swing it on plane and most people swing it really good. So I would put my
01:56right hand onto my left elbow and just make some practice swings back and through, really trying to
02:02concentrate on, can I create this L shape? So every time you do this, I've not even thought about doing
02:07this, I've made the club feel light. It's not feeling heavy and too far around the corner, it's not too
02:13far
02:13out and in front of my hands, it's not heavy in each direction. Anytime the club feels light,
02:19it's a lot easier for me to control speed. Can I just ask you, why do you open up your
02:23hips?
02:24What does that do for you? By opening your stance up a little bit, what does that do?
02:27It helps us clear that left side. So a lot of people go wrong when it's very scoopy,
02:33so if I was to stand very square on, this would encourage sort of a more scoopy nature to the
02:38motion. Right. So I'd always start with a bit of a routine, club down behind the ball, everything
02:43starts parallel, ball in the middle of the stance, lower half opens, weight goes left, a little bit
02:49of a waggle. Yeah, very nice. And we get a good bit of consistency. We've got a routine. Anytime
02:59we've got a routine, we can trust it. And the one thing you have to do with this shot is
03:03practice.
03:08A stock shot. Alex, it's something that everyone needs, right? Everyone needs a shot they can rely
03:14on, a swing thought that they can have that's really going to just help them get the ball in
03:18play. What's your advice here? I think a stock shot, we've got to have it when we're under pressure
03:24or when we're not playing our best golf. And if we can get the ball around the golf course that
03:28way,
03:28that's our best golf. I think it's most impressive golf. Stock shot that gets us around the course.
03:33Okay. So I think most golfers will tend to fade to slice it. So I think it's working out on
03:38the day.
03:39Is it more fadey today? Or is it a little bit straighter? Because sometimes we have days where
03:42we feel better and it becomes a bit more of a straight shot. So I tend to get five golf
03:46balls
03:47before I got on the golf course. And maybe these are my last five before I actually walked the first
03:51tee. No real swing thoughts. What I would try and do here is- No swing thoughts at all. No,
03:56I want you to, at this point, we've gone through that process of working on a swing thought and maybe
03:59getting a feel into the swing. What happens if I naturally make a swing, what ball flight comes
04:05out? Because if we can let the ball flight dictate our swing, then that's a great place to be in.
04:11Okay. How many times have we've all done this? No matter the level of golfer, we've tried so hard to
04:15get it into a certain position. We're not really worried about the ball flight. So for your last five
04:19shots, make a swing. Let's see what ball flight comes out. Right. Okay. So when you're out on the golf
04:24course, Alex, do you not, you play with no swing thought? You're just focusing on the target and the ball
04:29flight?
04:29Right. I separate it like this. I have kind of like a virtual line, which is thinking zone,
04:33playing zone. Right. So I'm quite heavily thinking about technique and swing thoughts right here.
04:38As soon as I step over the line, I let the shot dictate the swing. Right. Okay. Because I use
04:43a
04:43theory. We all practice to improve our technique. So we've got to trust that actually improving our
04:48technique. Why are we improving our technique? So it becomes an inherent movement. So keep reminding me
04:53what my kind of blue star, my gold star, my blueprint is. So when I get over here, I trust
04:58that what
04:59I've done in my routine is going to somewhat come into my golf swing, but simply shot dictates the
05:04swing. Okay. So your stock shot would tend to be a little fade with it. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
05:08Okay. Some days it comes out a little bit
05:10straighter. So it's for me just finding out what it is. And I would tend to split these five golf
05:14balls
05:15up three with my seven, nine and two with driver. Go on then, hit a couple for us.
05:26There's one, a little bit of a fade, little fade. So straight away, I've got a little bit of feedback.
05:31Again, no real thoughts. Just seeing what ball flight comes out.
05:40Again, a little bit of a fade. So I'm getting some feedback right now knowing that just out on the
05:44golf course today, I can expect a little bit more of a fade. Yeah. And you can see now that
05:49that's
05:49building a picture in Alex's mind, should be building a picture in your mind of exactly the
05:54sort of shape you'll have. So when you get into the golf course, you can have a positive image
05:57in your mind before you play the shot. And if you can do that, you should be able to get
06:01the ball
06:02around the golf course in fewer shots. Okay. So I guess this one, Alex, is on the list because
06:11it's one of the most intimidating shots that people face, isn't it? So having to hit a chip shot over
06:16a bunker, it's tricky for anybody. In this scenario, you've got a little bit more green to work with,
06:22with the flag. But if the flag was a little bit closer to the bunker, this would be a very
06:25intimidating shot for a lot of people. How do you play it? I think a lot of people go wrong
06:29with this
06:30kind of shot straight away is, especially if this flag was a little bit closer, is the Phil Mickelson
06:34million-dollar shot of trying to land it just over the bunker and take all the risk into play.
06:39Right, yes. I always try and think if there's not a lot of green between the
06:42fringe and the flag over the bunker, try and land it in the hole. So I always overcompensate
06:46and take 10, 15, even 20 foot past the flag. Right, so you're taking the bunker out.
06:50Yeah. I think for a lot of golfers, if we can avoid going in here, we avoid that card wrecker.
06:55Okay. And we can keep our score going. That also begs the question, how do you avoid hitting it
07:0050 yards over the back? Definitely. So the setup that I like to use is,
07:04is ball position in the middle of my stance, choose my most lofted wedge, which is my 58 degree.
07:09I then really want to feel a little bit of separation between upper and lower. So I feel
07:14like my shoulders point towards or parallel with target, but my lower halves and my feet and my hips
07:19are slightly open. If we think in the long game, everything that we're looking for is to be
07:23open at impact and be through to target. Whereas in the short shot, we've not got the speed,
07:28we've not got the momentum for that. So it's almost like preempting where we want to be.
07:32Okay, fine. So I lay the field, just get that split and almost feel the stance is very,
07:36very narrow, ball in the middle, underarm throwing it through towards target. And really trust that
07:42I've got to put the speed in. Now, if I took a really long backswing, I might tend to deaccelerate
07:48into the ball to control the distance that way. Right. However far back you go is how far through we
07:52go.
07:53Let's imagine the flag is a little bit closer to us than it is. Because with this shot,
07:57it would be a slightly more straightforward shot, but if the flag was a bit closer to us.
08:00So again, I would picture landing it into the hole. I wouldn't open the face too much. I've
08:04chosen my most lofted wedge and trust the fact that the loft is going to come from what club
08:09I've taken. Okay. Ball in the middle, weight slightly left.
08:18And trust that it's going to land over, roll just past the flag. And I'd always say to every
08:23single person, we'd rather have a 10-foot putt past the flag, or even 20-foot putt,
08:27than be in the bunker in front of us. Yeah. If you can, devote a little bit of
08:30time to that in practice, because it's the sort of shot you're going to need from time to time out
08:34the golf course. And avoiding the bunker, and avoiding hitting it over the back, is the only
08:38way to keep your score intact.
08:45Okay. So this one is about the punch. Now, a lot of people watching this might think to themselves,
08:49well, I want to master a normal golf shot before I develop the punch. But actually,
08:55it's a shot well worth practicing, isn't it? Because it can teach you an awful lot about your game.
08:59Definitely. I think what are most people looking for with their irons? Hands ahead of the golf ball,
09:03hit the ball and turf. That's everything this shot's sort of tending itself to be. So you can
09:08actually have some great benefits technical-wise. Yeah. Okay. So how do you play it? How can people
09:12play it in the sort of most simple and effective way? So first off, we've got to think of like,
09:17we're trying to lower the ball flight. So we want a little bit less speed and less spin. So less
09:21speed
09:21and less spin, a little bit more gripping down. Yeah. So by having, when you have more spin,
09:25more backspin, and it doesn't matter what level you are. I think a lot of people
09:28associate backspin with like, tall level. Yeah, definitely. But everyone creates backspin.
09:32The harder you hit it, the more you create, the higher the ball will go. That's the basic physics,
09:35right? Exactly. Yeah. So shorten the lever, so ultimately making, gripping the golf club closer
09:40towards the steel. Ball towards the back of our stance. So I try and tend to use my reference points
09:46as where my buttons are on my shirt. Yeah. Just to ride my buttons, no specific point really. Start
09:50everything feeling like it's working parallel to target. I then open up the lower half and weight goes left.
09:56Why do you open up the lower half? Now, without going into too much detail,
09:59the more you hit down on it, the more lighter this ball is going to want to squirt a little
10:02bit out to the right. So I open up my stance and feel as though I swing down my feet
10:07line
10:07and hit down on it that way. Right. Okay. Go on then, hit one for us then, Alex, can you?
10:11Clip down, gripping down more towards the steel. Start with everything parallel,
10:14and that's a really nice point. Open up the lower half, weight goes left. Swing down the feet line and
10:20keep the weight left. And I'm really trying to feel like I make a three-quarter back swing to
10:26three-quarter. Yeah. And you should notice that it doesn't look like Alex is really,
10:31I think I have a, certainly I have a tendency to try and hit the ball too hard when I'm
10:35doing it.
10:35And then you just create that ball, you create the sort of spinny flight that you're looking to
10:39avoid. So it's really important, isn't it? Yeah. And I kind of attach that to gears of a car.
10:44So we probably, you hit our normal shops to nine and kind of gear four out of five. Whereas I
10:49try
10:49and feel it more in gear three, a little bit smoother, a little bit slower. Yeah.
10:57Okay. So our next one relates to how to chip from a bad line. Alex, we have given you a
11:01particularly
11:02bad line here. Indeed. And it's one of those situations that you're going to need to have
11:05a shot that helps you in this scenario, because this can be a real card record, can't it? Yeah. I
11:10mean,
11:10we've all been there late in the round, 16th, 17th, 12th, just missed the green and we end up in
11:15this.
11:16Yeah. So you need to find a technique that is going to take the duff and the thin,
11:21and even actually from a lie like this, the double hit out of the equation.
11:24Yeah. That's what I'm worried about right now.
11:26So what are you doing here to escape and get a good contact on the ball?
11:30For me, there's two factors. It's club selection and how we settle to the ball. I think these two things
11:34have got to be on point to allow us to, I think our level expectation, we don't expect to get
11:38it too close
11:39here. It's like you said before, get it on the green, worst case scenario, bogey, not turning
11:43that into a double or a triple. So I always like to advocate using a more specialist wedge. So we
11:49have wedges that are part of the set. Sometimes a bit more of a cavity on the back. This is
11:53more
11:53of like a specialist wedge, bounce, it's got a little bit more bounce on than a traditional wedge out
11:58of a set. And this just helps us in terms of interaction on the ground. So my preferred wedge for
12:03this is 50 degree, 52, or even 48 could be as long as it's a specialist wedge will really help
12:09us
12:09play this shot. Okay. So fine. Technically then, how are you changing it from your normal chipping
12:16technique? So my normal chipping technique, I would stand a little bit open. I wouldn't be as close to
12:20it. This whole, my sole of the club would be on the ground and I would feel very similar to
12:25a chip
12:25and run shot that I would underarm throw it back and through. Whereas this setup changes completely.
12:31I like to feel I get the toe on the ground. I walk a little bit closer to it and
12:35I grip it just
12:36short of the steel. So all I'm trying to feel is that I keep my weight left and I get
12:42the toe
12:43brushing the ground. So ultimately we feel as though the toe is working and scooping this ball up.
12:51It's like pops it up. Okay. It's the best way I can describe it. It's like a knife in buddha.
12:54It's
12:54like a sharp edge getting into that bad lie and popping it out and up. Okay. Go on then, show
12:59us how it's done.
12:59So we're in there. I have a few practice swings. I think it's important to have a practice swing and
13:03commit to
13:04this because a lot of people would see this and be like, ah, I'm scared. Yeah, and probably also to
13:07practice it from time to time. Definitely. You know, it's very tempting when you're practicing
13:11your chipping just to give yourself a perfect lie and practice those ones that just spin a little
13:14bit on the second bounce. But actually in reality, it's these shots that are going to really help
13:18you out on the course. These are the ones that keep momentum. You know, if you get up and down
13:21for
13:21par here or not even that, you just don't make a card wrecker, then you're going to feel good walking
13:28onto the next tee. Yeah. So a few practice swings, just get the toe, interact on the ground,
13:32try and feel it's more of a wooden motion, no real set in the wrist. I try and feel my
13:37thumbs
13:38are really pointing down to the ground, walking in, weight left.
13:45Oh, that's really well played. Do you know, that got a little shooty bounce, but it's fine.
13:49I mean, from there, I'm more than happy with that shot. It's a really good shot. It's probably a
13:55little bit unlucky actually. So, you know, it's one of these things that can be tempting not to
13:58practice this shot. When you are confronted with a situation like this on the golf course,
14:02you'll need the technique. Hopefully Alex's that he's shown you there will help you.
14:11Okay. So the next one relates to putting and in particular putting from long range.
14:15If you can get down in two from this area more often, it's going to make a massive difference
14:20to your momentum and your scoring, and it's just going to help you all around the whole of your game.
14:25How do you prepare? And then what do you do to make sure that you're getting the ball consistently
14:29right in terms of the distance? So preparation is key, getting the speed of the greens. Out on the
14:34course, I'm picturing a bin lid around the hole. So not really from this distance looking to hold it.
14:39If we do, absolutely fantastic. I think we can get into a bit of trouble trying to hold a put
14:44of this
14:44length and it going three to that four feet past. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what do you do pre-round
14:48then
14:49to help you get a better judgment for pace? This might sound quite counterintuitive really,
14:52but I don't put towards a hole. I have two golf balls. What I would do is I'd put into
14:57free space
14:58and I'd almost try and play balls. I'd try and hit my second ball onto my first, because if I
15:03can do
15:03that, it's a lot harder to do that than it is to get it inside that bin lid. Okay. So
15:07why do you take
15:08the hole out of the equation then? So there's no real outcome in terms of something that I can
15:13make it relative to the course. So I'm literally tuning into not actually holding a put, but getting
15:17pace. I think a lot of golfers think they're better at pace than they are reading the put,
15:23and they don't actually tune into this enough. So then Alex, what are you doing on the course
15:26in a situation like this to make sure that you get that pace right? What I would do is,
15:31similar to what we might do on a long chip and run, I would walk half the distance,
15:35make a triangle between me and the hole, walk back, and this gives us a great perception of distance.
15:43Right, yeah. So looking at something this way,
15:45it makes it sometimes look a little bit shorter. Yeah, it shorts it a little bit.
15:49Yeah. And just taking a walk on that journey, you get a little bit of feedback. Is it uphill?
15:54Is it downhill? Is it left to right? Because sometimes we've all been there. We've looked
15:57at a put from this side, we've gone on the other side, and we're like, it looks totally different.
16:02Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it gives us a real good
16:04instincts come into play. It gives us a real good view of what the hole and what the put is
16:08like.
16:08So as I'm preparing for a put, I'm looking at the hole, I'm making that stroke back and through,
16:13asking myself a question, is that enough? If it's not, take it a little bit further back,
16:18a little bit further through, really getting some great feedback for hitting that put.
16:22Over the golf ball now, one look towards target, pull the trigger.
16:30Yeah, very good.
16:32Now we've made that stress-free. We're more than happy from 35, 40 feet, walking up to that,
16:37tapping it in. We may even mark it to be sure, but definitely take stress-free.
16:40Put those tips into play and it should help you whenever you're in this sort of situation
16:44and you've got a scorecard in your hand and you need to keep it ticking over.
16:53Okay, so this one is about the chip and run. Now, I'm sure it's a shot that most of you
16:57have played,
16:57but how many of you actually practice it? And I think that's the key point, isn't it, Alex?
17:01Because it's a shot that technically, there's not an awful lot of difficulty with it,
17:06but it does require practice if you want to consistently get the ball up and down.
17:11Yeah, and I think because it's not a glamorous shot, it's not the shot people see on TV all
17:15the time. It's like, I don't really want to practice that one too much. But I tend to get a
17:19lot of people, especially on playing lessons, things like that, using a rule, if we can put it,
17:23let's put it. So in this situation here, we probably can't put this. I know the turf's great here.
17:27It's quite a long shot, really, to play, isn't it?
17:29Yeah. So next resort in my head, I'm going, right, if I can chip it, let's run it. So yes,
17:33I can chip and run this. Now, I try and think of it in a simple analogy of, if I
17:38was going to
17:39underarm throw it and the strings of the badminton racket here are ultimately in my palm or the club
17:44face, how much impetus would I have to put into it? I know it's a lot easier for me to
17:49land it five
17:49yards in front of me than 25 yards next to the flag on a five pence piece.
17:54Okay. So when you're planning the shot, how are you figuring out where to land it,
17:59how much to run it, what club to hit, all of those elements?
18:02So I would tend to, on a shot like this, maybe have a little bit of a walk.
18:06Yeah.
18:06And especially because there's a little bit of a raise here and get to a point and sort of give
18:11myself an angle from the side of what does this shot look like? Because from the side,
18:15you get a much better perception of distance. Yeah.
18:17When we're looking this way at something, it looks a little bit shorter.
18:20A little bit shorter.
18:20Yeah. So I tend to get to the side of it, have a little bit of a look, always walk
18:25to where I
18:25want to land it on as well. So you've almost got a reference of even subconsciously, well,
18:31that was about 10 yards. I know I can back myself to a 10 yard chart. I think most people
18:35watching
18:35this one as well, no matter what your handicap is. Whereas if I was trying to land it with my
18:3858
18:39off this lie as well, which is just tight.
18:42Fairly tight, yeah. What would be the mistakes that people make with this shot?
18:44I think like what I said there is standing to it like a full shot, letting the club work too
18:50around
18:50the body. Okay.
18:51And then I always think make gravity on your side. So getting closer to the golf ball, and I use
18:57this
18:57term lightly, straighter back, straighter through. It's never quite straight back, straight through,
19:01but it allows you to easily drop the golf club on the back of the ball rather than too much
19:07around
19:07the corner. We're sort of fighting it and scooping it. Okay.
19:10So everything's on your side then. A little bit closer, a little bit easier and make it a little
19:14bit more wooden. Okay. Go on. Let's have a look.
19:21There you go. Really good. And I think the point about this shot is, Alex, that it's just,
19:26it's one of the safest shots you can hit. You know, if you are prone to the odd, you know,
19:30chunky chip
19:31around the greens or thinning one through the back and you're playing in competition, it's just a
19:35fairly easy shot to play. You know, you're not going to make double bogey from this scenario.
19:39I would say your worst chip and run is never going to be as worse as your worst lofted shot.
19:44Yeah. Okay. So practice that. Hopefully you'll improve. There you have it. That was our list
19:48of the seven most important golf shots that every golfer needs. Guys, before you go, please do hit
19:53the pause button and let us know. Firstly, if you think we've missed any, if they think there are any
19:56shots that really would help players get round in as few shots as possible. And also, if you do use
20:01any of
20:02these techniques regularly, let us know. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts. But that's all now from
20:07West Hill. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.
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