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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 you 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,
03:56at this point, we've gone through that process of working on a swing thought and maybe getting a feel
04:00into the swing. What happens if I naturally make a swing, what ball flight comes out?
04:06Because if we can let the ball flight dictate our swing, then that's a great place to be in.
04:11Okay. How many times we've all done this,
04:12no matter level of golfer, we've tried so hard to get it into a certain position. We're not really
04:17worried about the ball flight. So if your last five shots make a swing, let's see what ball flight comes
04:22out. Right. Okay. So when you're out on the golf course, Alex, do you not, you play with no swing
04:27thought? You're just focusing on the target and the ball flight. I separate it like this. I have
04:31kind of like a virtual line, which is thinking zone, playing zone. So I'm quite heavily thinking
04:36about technique and swing thoughts right here. As soon as I step over the line, I let the shot dictate
04:41the swing. Right. Okay. Because I use a theory, we all practice to improve our technique. So we've got
04:46to trust that actually improving our technique. Why are we improving our technique? So it becomes an
04:50inherent movement. So I'm keep reminding me what my kind of blue star, my gold star, my blueprint is.
04:57So when I get over here, I trust that what I've done in my routine is going to somewhat come
05:01into
05:01my golf swing, but simply shot dictates the swing. Okay. So your stock shot would tend to be a little
05:07fade with it. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Definitely. Some days it comes out a little bit straighter. So it's
05:11for me just finding out what it is. And I would tend to split these five golf balls up, three
05:15with my seven,
05:16nine 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 to the golf course, you can have a positive image in
05:58your
05:58mind before you play the shot. If you can do that, you should be able to get the ball around
06:02the golf
06:02course in fewer shots.
06:09Okay. So I guess this one, Alex, is on the list because it's one of the most intimidating shots
06:12that people face, isn't it? So having to hit a chip shot over a bunker, it's tricky for anybody.
06:19In this scenario, you've got a little bit more green to work with with the flag. But if the flag
06:23was a little bit closer to the bunker, this would be a very intimidating shot for a lot of people.
06:27How do you play it? I think a lot of people go wrong with this kind of shot straight away
06:30is,
06:31especially if this flag was a little bit closer, is the Phil Mickelson million-dollar shot of trying
06:35to land it just over the bunker and take all the risk into play. Right, yes. I always try and
06:40think
06:41if there's not a lot of green between the fringe and the flag over the bunker, try and land it
06:44in
06:44the hole. So I always overcompensate and take 10, 15, even 20 foot past the flag. Right, so you're
06:49taking the bunker out. Yeah. I think for a lot of golfers, if we can avoid going in here,
06:54we avoid that card wrecker. Okay. And we can keep our score going. That also begs the question,
06:59how do you avoid hitting it 50 yards over the back? Definitely. So the setup that I like to use
07:04is ball position in the middle of my stance, choose my most lofted wedge, which is my 58 degree.
07:10I 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 half, so 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 open at
07:24impact and be through to target. Whereas in the short shot, we've not got the speed, we've not got the
07:28momentum
07:29for that. So it's almost like pre-empting where we want to be. Okay, fine.
07:32So I lay the field, just get that split and almost feel the stance is very, very narrow,
07:36ball in the middle, underarm throwing it through towards target. And really trust that I've got to
07:43put the speed in. Now, if I took a really long backswing, I might tend to deaccelerate into the
07:48ball to control the distance that way. Right.
07:50However far back you go is how far through we go. Let's imagine the flag is a little bit closer
07:55to us than it is because with this shot, it would be a slightly more straightforward shot,
07:59but if the flag was a bit closer to us. So again, I would picture landing into the hole.
08:03I wouldn't open the face too much. I've chosen my most lofted wedge and trust the fact that the
08:07loft is going to come from what club I'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 single
08:23person, we'd rather have a 10-foot putt past the flag or even 20-foot putt than be in the
08:28bunker in front of us. Yeah. If you can, devote a little bit of time to that in practice because
08:31it's the sort of shot you're going to need from time to time out on the golf course and avoiding
08:35the bunker and avoiding hitting over the back is the only way 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
08:59game. Definitely. I think what most people are looking for with their irons, hands ahead of the
09:02golf ball, hit the ball and turf. That's everything this shot's sort of tending itself to be. So it
09:08can actually have some great benefits technical-wise. Yeah. Okay. So how do you play it? How can
09:12people play 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.
09:20So less speed and less spin, a little bit more gripping. Yeah. So, so, so by having,
09:24when you have more spin, more backspin, it doesn't matter what level you are. I think a lot of people
09:28associate backspin with like tall level, but everyone creates backspin. The harder you hit it,
09:33the more you create, the higher the ball will go. That's the basic physics, right? Exactly.
09:36Yeah. So shorten the lever. So ultimately making, gripping the golf club closer towards the steel.
09:42Ball towards the back of our stance. So I try and tend to use my reference points as where my
09:46buttons are on my
09:47shirt. Yeah. Just to ride my buttons. No specific point, really. Start everything feeling like it's
09:52working parallel to target. I then open up the lower half and weight goes left. Why do you open up
09:57the
09:57lower half? Now, without going into too much detail, the more you hit down on it, the more lighter this
10:01ball is going to want to squirt a little bit out to the right. So I open up my stance
10:04and feel as though
10:05I swing down my feet line and hit down on it that way. Right. Okay. Go on, then hit one
10:10for us then, Alex, can you?
10:11Clip down, gripping down more towards the steel. Start with everything parallel. And that's a really nice point.
10:16Open up the lower half. Weight goes left. Swing down the feet line and keep the weight left.
10:23And I'm really trying to feel like I make a three-quarter back swing to three-quarter.
10:27Yeah. And you should notice that it doesn't look like Alex is really, I think I have a,
10:32certainly I have a tendency to try and hit the ball too hard when I'm doing it. And then you
10:35just
10:35create that ball, you create the sort of spinny flight that you're looking to avoid. So it's really
10:40important, isn't it? Yeah. And I kind of attach that to gears of a car.
10:45So we'd probably, you hit our normal shops to nine and kind of gear four out of five. Whereas
10:49I try and 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,
11:01we have given you a particularly bad line here. Indeed.
11:02And it's one of those situations that you're going to need to have a shot that helps you in this
11:06scenario because this can be a real card record, can't it? Yeah. I mean, we've all been there late
11:12in the round, 16th, 17th, 12th, just missed the green and we end up in this. Yeah. So you need
11:17to
11:17find a technique that is going to take the duff and the thin, and even actually from a lie like
11:22this,
11:22the double hit out of the equation. Yeah. 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? For me, there's two
11:30factors.
11:31It's club selection and how we set up to the ball. I think these two things have got to be
11:35on point
11:35to allow us to, I think our level expectation, we don't expect to get it too close here. It's like
11:40said before, get it on the green. Worst case scenario, bogey, not turning that into a double
11:44or a triple. So I always like to advocate using a more specialist wedge. So we have wedges that are
11:50part of the set. Sometimes a bit more of a carity on the back. This is more of like a
11:53specialist wedge.
11:54The bounce has got a little bit more bounce on than a traditional set out,
11:57the wedge out of a set. And this just helps us in terms of interaction on the ground.
12:02So my preferred wedge for this is 50 degree, 52, or even 48 could be as long as it's a
12:07specialist wedge
12:08will really help us play this shot. Okay. So fine. Technically then,
12:13Yeah. How are you changing it from your normal chipping technique?
12:16So my normal chipping technique, I would stand a little bit open. I wouldn't be as close to it.
12:20This whole, my soul of the club would be on the ground. And I would feel very similar to a
12:25chip and run shot
12:26that I would underarm throw it back and through. Whereas this setup changes completely. I like to
12:31feel I get the toe on the ground. I walk a little bit closer to it and I grip it
12:36just short of the
12:38steel. So all I'm trying to feel is that I keep my weight left and I get the toe brushing
12:43the ground.
12:44So ultimately we feel as though the toe is working and scooping this ball up. It's like it pops it
12:51up.
12:52Okay. It's the best way I can describe it. It's like a knife in butter. It's like a sharp edge.
12:55Yeah. Getting into that bad lie and popping it out and up.
12:58Okay. Go on then. Show us how it's done. So we're in there. I have a few practice swings. I
13:01think it's
13:02important to have a practice swing and commit to this because a lot of people would see this and be
13:06like, ah, I'm scared. Yeah. And probably also to practice it from time to time. Definitely.
13:09You know, it's very tempting when you're practicing your chipping just to give yourself a perfect lie
13:12and practice those ones that just spin a little bit on the second bounce. But actually
13:16in reality, it's these shots that are going to really help you out on the course.
13:19These are the ones that keep momentum. You know, if you get up and down for par here or
13:22not even that, you just don't make a card wrecker, then you're going to feel good walking onto the next
13:28tee.
13:28Yeah. So a few practice swings. Just get the toe
13:31interact on the ground. Try and feel it's more of a wooden motion. No wheel set in the wrist. I
13:37try and feel my
13:37thumbs are 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.
13:53It's a really good shot. It's probably a little bit unlucky actually. So,
13:56you know, it's one of these things that can be tempting not to practice this shot.
13:59When you are confronted with a situation like this out on the golf course, you'll need the
14:02technique. 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
14:28consistently right in terms of the distance? So preparation is key, getting the speed of the
14:32greens. Out on the course, I'm picturing a bin lid around the hole. So not really from this distance
14:38looking to hold it. If we do, absolutely fantastic. I think we can get into a bit of trouble trying
14:43to
14:43hold a put of this length and it going three to that four feet past. Yeah. So what do you
14:47do
14:48pre-round then to help you get a better judgment for pace? This might sound quite counterintuitive
14:52really, but I don't put towards a hole. I have two golf balls. What I would do is I'd put
14:57into free 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 putt but getting
15:17pace. I think a lot of golfers think they're better at pace than they are reading the putt and they
15:23don't actually tune into this enough. So then Alex, what are you doing on the course in a situation like
15:27this?
15:28To make sure that you get that pace right? What I would do is, similar to what we might do
15:32on a
15:33long chip and run, I would walk half the distance, make a triangle between me and the hole. Walk back
15:39and this gives us a great perception of distance. Right, yeah. So looking at something this way,
15:45we can make it sometimes look a little bit shorter. Yeah, it shorts it a little bit, yeah. Yeah.
15:49And just taking a walk on that journey, you get a little bit of feedback. Is it uphill? Is it
15:54downhill? Is it left to right? Because sometimes we've all been there. We've looked at a putt from
15:58this side, we've got on the other side and we're like, it looks totally different. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:02So it gives us a real good instincts come into play. It gives us a real good view of what
16:07the hole
16:07and what the putt is like. So as I'm preparing for a putt, I'm looking at the hole and making
16:12that
16:12stroke back and through, asking myself a question, is that enough? If it's not, take it a little bit
16:17further back, a little bit further through, really getting some great feedback for hitting that putt.
16:22Over the golf ball now, one look towards target, pull the trigger.
16:30Yeah, very good. Now we've made that stress-free, we're more than happy from 35, 40 feet, walking
16:36up to that, tapping 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
16:57played, but how many of you actually practice it? And I think that's the key point, isn't it, Alex?
17:01Because, you know, it's a shot that technically there's not an awful lot of sort of difficulty
17:06with it, but it does require practice if you want to, you know, 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
17:20people, especially on like playing lessons, things like that, using a rule. If you 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? Yeah.
17:29So next resort in my head, I'm going, right, if I can chip it, let's run it. So yes, I
17:33can chip and
17:34run this. Now, I try and think of it in a simple analogy of if I was going to underarm
17:39throw it or
17:40and the strings of the badminton racket here are ultimately in my palm or the club face,
17:45how much impetus would I have to put into it? I know it's a lot easier for me to land
17:49it 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.
18:21Yeah. So I tend to get to the side of it, have a little bit of a look,
18:24always walk to where I want to land it on as well. So you've almost got a reference of,
18:29even subconsciously, well, that was about 10 yards. I know I can back myself to a 10 yard chart.
18:34I think most people watching this one as well, no matter what your handicap is.
18:37Whereas if I was trying to land it with my 58 off this lie as well, which is just tight.
18:42Very tight. Yeah. What would be the mistakes that people make with this shot?
18:45I think like, like, like what I said there is standing to it like a full shot,
18:49letting the club work to around the body. Okay.
18:51And then I always think, make gravity on your side. So getting closer to the golf ball,
18:56and I use this term lightly, straighter back, straighter through. It's never quite straight back,
19:01straight through, but it allows you to easily drop the golf club on the back of the ball,
19:05rather than too much around the corner. We're sort of fighting it and scooping it.
19:10Okay. So everything's on your side, then a little bit closer, a little bit easier,
19:13and make it a little bit 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,
19:35it's just a fairly easy shot to play. You know, you're not going to make double bogey from this.
19:39No, I would say your worst chip and run is never going to be as worse as your,
19:43the worst lofted shot. Yeah. Okay. So practice that. Hopefully you'll improve.
19:46There you have it. That was our list of the seven most important golf shots that every golfer needs.
19:51Guys, before you go, please do hit the pause button and let us know, firstly, if you think we've missed
19:55any,
19:56if they think there are any shots that really would help players get round in as few shots as possible.
20:00And also, if you do use any of these techniques regularly, let us know.
20:04We'd be interested to hear your thoughts. But that's all now from West Hill.
20:07Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.
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