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How to Hit the Flop Shot
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Near the green but have very little green to work with? No problem. In this video, I'll show you how to hit a flop shot like Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and all the pros.
- Set the ball forward in your stance to shallow out the swing arc
- Open the club face by turning it in your hands and not turning the body
- Keep your weight left the entire time
- Be aggressive
The flop shot is one of those shots that you only want to pull out as an absolute last measure.
Because it's the lowest percentage shot that you could possibly play when you're that close to the green.
You're hitting the ball high up in the air with a really open club face, with typically a pretty big swing.
It's not setting you up for accuracy, but sometimes it's the only shot you got and you have to play it.
So how do you play this shot and give yourself the best chance of success?
What's exactly what I'm going to show you today in this video, how to hit a flop shot.
And I'm going to show you from the hardest lie possible.
This is a bare dirt muddy lie.
We just had hurricane Irma blow through here in Florida.
So I'm looking at moldy dirt, hardly any grass at all.
It's a miserable lie.
This is a terrifying shot for most people.
I'm going to show you how to be able to play it every time.
So what do we need to do to hit this shot?
Well, first off, hopefully you're never faced with this shot and thinking, Oh, the flop shot's a great idea here because it's not, this is only again, because I've got no other options.
So if you're in grass, it's got a little more, uh, you know, a little more grass to it, or you're out of the rough, this shot's a thousand times easier, but why not start with the hardest one first, right?
So what are the key ingredients to hitting a successful flop shot?
The first one is loft.
Nothing is more important to a flop shot than having as much loft on the club as you need, or you can get.
And a lot of that has to do with the bounce on the wedge.
Now, in my case, my wedges are ground down off the heel and taking a lot of the bounce off.
So when it sits down, I have maybe two degrees of bounce, three degrees of bounce.
Now, the downside of this is when I get into soft stuff, soft ground, a soft, you know, muddy turf or in the sand, I have to be really careful to keep that club from digging.
I just have to release it a little bit differently.
But on shots like this, it works out perfect because it allows me to lay the face open as much as humanly possible.
So you'll notice I'm going to set up as if I'm going to hit this shot perpendicular to you.
So 90 degrees to the camera angle.
And I want you to see how I'm going to set up for this from your perspective, as if you were standing directly in front of me.
So from your perspective, it looks like the shaft is leaning way away from you, way away from the target.
But the reality is, I'm just setting up open and letting the face rotate so that the face is rotating toward the target.
Or maybe just a little bit right of it.
But it's not going to be squared up and pointing at the target.
It's going to be open.
And to do that, I have to set up more open or rotate myself around this way.
And that's what allows the clubface angle to be pointing more toward the target.
This shot's very difficult if you're pointing one way and the clubface is pointing way off the other way.
So we want to get relatively close to the target line.
Now, as I do that, the second thing I'm going to do, and if you've seen the bunker series, the bunker shot video, it's going to be the exact same thing.
I'm going to squat down to lower the handle of the club.
Now, as I do this, look what happens to the loft on the face.
I'm adding loft.
Now, this is also going to put the club back more on the trailing edge of the flange.
So if you, again, if you have a lot of balance on your wedge, like a lot of people do, this is going to put the leading edge up in the air.
And now this starts looking really scary because I've got a quarter inch between the ground and my leading edge of the clubface.
So that's going to be pretty tough to do off a tight lie.
So there has to be a balance here.
You might not be able to get the clubface super open or as lean back and down as you want because the leading, because of the balance is not going to allow you to do that, but find the balance where the club, the leading edge is close to the ground.
It may be off a little bit, but that's okay because as you come through, you're going to tend to de-loft the clubface a little bit anyway.
So that's normal.
Squatting down, handle down, face open.
Now, The last little trick that I'm going to give you is a grip trick, and that is to take your grip and weaken it.
Now, this is something where I want you to experiment with because there's, This is where you can start having a lot of fun with these shots and getting really goofy and hitting some, really, really crazy, super short shots with a big swing.
It's a fun trick shot, but sometimes you need to do that because you've got to get through really thick grass, but you don't want the ball to go very far.
So to do that, as you weaken your left hand and right hand grip, and as you come through to release the club, it's actually not going to de-loft the club as you come through.
Whereas if you have a strong grip and release it, it's going to turn the toe in and that's going to take loft off, which is the last thing we want to do.
Remember, the most important thing is having enough loft to get the ball up in the air, but allow us to swing with some speed.
So once we put these things together, the rest of it's pretty simple.
We make a normal swing relatively.
Now, to be honest with you, I try to swing a little bit more around when I hit this shot.
I let the club work around a little bit more because I'm wanting the club to come through really shallow.
I don't want to pick my club up and come down really steep.
Not only is that going to de-loft the club, but it's going to make my angle of attack really severe.
And if I don't, if I miss it just a little bit, I'm going to lay the sod over this thing or hit it in the teeth and that's scary.
So I will allow the club to work around my body a little bit more, to allow the club to come through.
Really nice and shallow.
So put all those things together.
You've got a wide open face, an open stance, squatting down a little bit, swing a little bit more around with a weaker grip, and you better pull this flop shot off no problem.
So let's put them all together here.
Little baby flop shot, didn't go very far, and that will get you out of trouble more times than not.
Because it's the lowest percentage shot that you could possibly play when you're that close to the green.
You're hitting the ball high up in the air with a really open club face, with typically a pretty big swing.
It's not setting you up for accuracy, but sometimes it's the only shot you got and you have to play it.
So how do you play this shot and give yourself the best chance of success?
What's exactly what I'm going to show you today in this video, how to hit a flop shot.
And I'm going to show you from the hardest lie possible.
This is a bare dirt muddy lie.
We just had hurricane Irma blow through here in Florida.
So I'm looking at moldy dirt, hardly any grass at all.
It's a miserable lie.
This is a terrifying shot for most people.
I'm going to show you how to be able to play it every time.
So what do we need to do to hit this shot?
Well, first off, hopefully you're never faced with this shot and thinking, Oh, the flop shot's a great idea here because it's not, this is only again, because I've got no other options.
So if you're in grass, it's got a little more, uh, you know, a little more grass to it, or you're out of the rough, this shot's a thousand times easier, but why not start with the hardest one first, right?
So what are the key ingredients to hitting a successful flop shot?
The first one is loft.
Nothing is more important to a flop shot than having as much loft on the club as you need, or you can get.
And a lot of that has to do with the bounce on the wedge.
Now, in my case, my wedges are ground down off the heel and taking a lot of the bounce off.
So when it sits down, I have maybe two degrees of bounce, three degrees of bounce.
Now, the downside of this is when I get into soft stuff, soft ground, a soft, you know, muddy turf or in the sand, I have to be really careful to keep that club from digging.
I just have to release it a little bit differently.
But on shots like this, it works out perfect because it allows me to lay the face open as much as humanly possible.
So you'll notice I'm going to set up as if I'm going to hit this shot perpendicular to you.
So 90 degrees to the camera angle.
And I want you to see how I'm going to set up for this from your perspective, as if you were standing directly in front of me.
So from your perspective, it looks like the shaft is leaning way away from you, way away from the target.
But the reality is, I'm just setting up open and letting the face rotate so that the face is rotating toward the target.
Or maybe just a little bit right of it.
But it's not going to be squared up and pointing at the target.
It's going to be open.
And to do that, I have to set up more open or rotate myself around this way.
And that's what allows the clubface angle to be pointing more toward the target.
This shot's very difficult if you're pointing one way and the clubface is pointing way off the other way.
So we want to get relatively close to the target line.
Now, as I do that, the second thing I'm going to do, and if you've seen the bunker series, the bunker shot video, it's going to be the exact same thing.
I'm going to squat down to lower the handle of the club.
Now, as I do this, look what happens to the loft on the face.
I'm adding loft.
Now, this is also going to put the club back more on the trailing edge of the flange.
So if you, again, if you have a lot of balance on your wedge, like a lot of people do, this is going to put the leading edge up in the air.
And now this starts looking really scary because I've got a quarter inch between the ground and my leading edge of the clubface.
So that's going to be pretty tough to do off a tight lie.
So there has to be a balance here.
You might not be able to get the clubface super open or as lean back and down as you want because the leading, because of the balance is not going to allow you to do that, but find the balance where the club, the leading edge is close to the ground.
It may be off a little bit, but that's okay because as you come through, you're going to tend to de-loft the clubface a little bit anyway.
So that's normal.
Squatting down, handle down, face open.
Now, The last little trick that I'm going to give you is a grip trick, and that is to take your grip and weaken it.
Now, this is something where I want you to experiment with because there's, This is where you can start having a lot of fun with these shots and getting really goofy and hitting some, really, really crazy, super short shots with a big swing.
It's a fun trick shot, but sometimes you need to do that because you've got to get through really thick grass, but you don't want the ball to go very far.
So to do that, as you weaken your left hand and right hand grip, and as you come through to release the club, it's actually not going to de-loft the club as you come through.
Whereas if you have a strong grip and release it, it's going to turn the toe in and that's going to take loft off, which is the last thing we want to do.
Remember, the most important thing is having enough loft to get the ball up in the air, but allow us to swing with some speed.
So once we put these things together, the rest of it's pretty simple.
We make a normal swing relatively.
Now, to be honest with you, I try to swing a little bit more around when I hit this shot.
I let the club work around a little bit more because I'm wanting the club to come through really shallow.
I don't want to pick my club up and come down really steep.
Not only is that going to de-loft the club, but it's going to make my angle of attack really severe.
And if I don't, if I miss it just a little bit, I'm going to lay the sod over this thing or hit it in the teeth and that's scary.
So I will allow the club to work around my body a little bit more, to allow the club to come through.
Really nice and shallow.
So put all those things together.
You've got a wide open face, an open stance, squatting down a little bit, swing a little bit more around with a weaker grip, and you better pull this flop shot off no problem.
So let's put them all together here.
Little baby flop shot, didn't go very far, and that will get you out of trouble more times than not.
1.1 The Most Important Video You'll Watch - Learning
1.2 Introduction to The GOAT Code
1.3 The GOAT Delivery Position (GDP)
1.4 The GOAT Grip
1.5 The GOAT Setup
1.6 GOAT Ball Position
1.7 Trail Hand Putting Drill
1.8 Tiger Woods Tee Drill
1.9 Add Lead Hand to Putting Stroke
1.10 Skills Assessment Challenge: Putting
4.1 Core Activation - Chair Drill
4.2 Core Activation - Medicine Ball Throws
4.3 Core Activation - Slam Ball
4.4 Core Activation - Punching Bag Power
4.5 20 Yard Wedge Shot Basics
4.6 Skills Assessment Challenge: 20 Yard Shots
4.7 40 Yard Wedge Shots - The Magic!
4.8 GOAT Power Sequence
4.9 The GOAT Drill
4.10 How to Increase Hand Speed - J Release
4.11 The Importance of the Waggle for Speed
4.12 How the Lead Side Works for Power
4.13 Magic of Supination
4.14 80 Yard Shots - Down the Line
4.15 80 yd Shots - Face On
4.16 Tiger Woods 80 yd Face On Reference Video
4.17 How to Coil Around the Trail Leg
4.18 GOAT Backswing
4.19 Rotation & Footwork
4.20 GOAT Downswing - The Whip Effect
4.21 The GOAT 9 to 3 Drill
4.22 160 yd Shots - GOAT Speed Sequence
4.23 Instant Over the Top Cure
Webinar 1: The Core
Webinar 2: Core Power & Putting
Webinar 3 - Compression & Clubface Control
Webinar 4 - Fascia & Effortless Power
Webinar 5: The GOAT Hands Webinar
Q-n-A Webinar 1: May 7
Q-n-A Webinar 2: May 14
Q-n-A Webinar 3: May 21
Q-n-A Webinar 4: May 28
Q-n-A Webinar 5: June 4
Q-n-A Webinar 6: June 11
Q-n-A Webinar 7: June 18
Q-n-A Webinar 8: June 25
Is Tiger Woods Golf Swing a Baseball Swing? Pt. 1 of 3
Throw the Club or Push the Club? Pt 2 of 3
Squish the Bug for Effortless Power - Pt 3 of 3
The GOAT Release
The GOAT Release Intro - Endless Conveyor Belt
GOAT Code Secret to Effortless Power - Pt 1 of 4
GOAT Code Effortless Power - Head Movement - Pt 2 of 4
GOAT Code Effortless Power - Using Your Head - Pt 3 of 4
GOAT Code Effortless Power - Take it to the Course - Pt 4 of 4
Creating Torque in the Swing - Pt 1 of 3
Creating Torque in the Golf Swing - Pt 2
Creating Torque - The Magic Pill for the Feel - Pt 3
Bryan's Journey - Introduction
How Bryan's Letting RotarySwing PAY For Itself
Phase 1 - Putting
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Putting
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Putting 2nd Review
Bryan's Journey - The Tiger Tee Drill And An Easier Way
Bryan's Journey - 2 Handed Putting 1st Review
Bryan's Journey - FINAL Two Handed Putting Review
Bryan's Journey - Putting Assessment Test
Phase 2 - Chipping
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Chipping - Baseline And Hidden Errors
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Chipping - Improvements And New Errors
Bryan's Journey - Two Handed Chipping - Good Stuff Happening Here
Bryan's Journey - Chipping Assessment PASSED!
Phase 3 - Pitching
9 Days to AMAZING Ball Striking!
9 Days To Amazing Golf Ball Striking - Intro
Day 1: Impact Control
Day 2: Hitting Low Shots
Day 3: Hitting High Shots
Day 4: How to Hit the Draw
Day 5: How to Hit the Fade
Day 6: High and Low Fade
Day 7: High and Low Draw
Day 8: How to Shape the Driver
Day 9: 9 Ball Shot Shaping Drill
Cheat Sheets for Faster Learning
RSA Introduction
My SECRET Consistency Routine
How to Shallow the Golf Club
Master the Golf Transition
Core Rotation - Left Arm - Club - RSA
RSA Full Swing Kaboodle
RSA Heavy Club Training Program
RSA Overspeed Program
9 to 3 Drill Program for RSA
RSA Power Release Program
Chuck Quinton Live Lessons
How to Shallow Your Hands During Transition
Straighten and Lengthen Your Tee Shots w/ the Driver
How Tiger, Rory & Ernie Use Their Hips for Power
How to Shallow Your Golf Swing Fast and Easy - Live Lesson
Live Lesson - How to Stop Losing Tush Line & Boost Consistency
Why Your Lead Leg Doesn't Straighten at Impact
Do You Start Backswing w/ Hips or Shoulders?
Why You Can't Stop Overusing Your Arms in the Golf Swing
Former Mac O'Grady Student Saves Back Learning DEAD Drill
How to Fix Your Over the Top Move - Live Lesson
Learn What REALLY Matters Most for Effortless Power - Live Lesson
Restore the Athleticism in Your Swing Like this Former NFL QB
Pro Secret #3 - Swing Easy, Hit Hard
The #1 Reason Golfers Are Inconsistent and How to Fix it Permanently
Making Your Golf Swing Feel Natural w/ Baseball Drill - Live Lesson
How to Add Effortless Power Using Your Lower Body
Simple Fix to Make a Full Shoulder Turn
How to Fix Trail Leg Straightening in Backswing
Live Lesson - How to Fix Your Arms by Fixing Your Legs in the Backswing
Should You Restrict Your Hip Turn in the Backswing?
4 Steps to Sequencing the Golf Downswing - Live Lesson
How to Decelerate Your Hips for Effortless Power
Why You DON'T Pull the Butt of the Club Toward the Ball
GOAT Code Power Program
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 1 - Activation
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 2 - Technique
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 3 - Explosiveness
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 4 - Advanced Power
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 5 - Kettlebell
RotarySwing Clinic
Clinic - RST History
Clinic - Problems with Golf Instruction
Clinic - Fundamentals
RotarySwing Clinic - Learning
Clinic - Setup
Clinic - Downswing & Release
Clinic - Lag
Clinic - The Takeaway
Clinic - The Backswing
Clinic - Connecting to Your Core
Clinic - Follow Through
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