- 6 days ago
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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00:00Hello 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
00:35to the golf course here at West Hill and look at the seven shots that every golfer needs.
00:41If 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
01:03talking around short game, we've got to be set up to it correctly because we've not got
01:07the speed, we've not got the momentum, we've not got that time to compensate and hit the
01:11shot. Yeah, so there's nothing you can do about the fact that you can't put much speed into
01:15the shot, it is what it is, but how do you set up to it properly so that you can take the
01:19kind of bad shots 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
01:29of the club. And if you think about it, we're looking for accuracy, we're not looking for
01:32distance. So all these things are everything that's going to help us give control rather
01:36than give distance. Okay, fine. I like to feel ball in the middle of stance, shoulders parallel
01:42to target line, but lower half slightly open. And this is the best thing for me. I'd encourage
01:47a lot of you to make some one-handed practice swings because it's amazing. Anytime you make a
01:51one-handed practice swing, actually, most people swing it on plane and most people swing it really
01:55good. So I would put my right hand onto my left elbow and just make some practice swings back
02:00and through, really trying to concentrate on, can I create this L shape? So every time you do this,
02:06I've not even thought about doing this. I've made the club feel light. It's not feeling heavy and too
02:11far around the corner. It's not too far out and in front of my hands. It's not heavy in each direction.
02:16Anytime the club feels light, it's a lot easier for me to control speed. Can I just ask you,
02:22why do you open up your hips? What does that do for you? By opening your stance up a little bit,
02:26what does that do? It helps us clear that left side. So a lot of people go wrong when it's very
02:32scoopy. So 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 starts
02:43parallel, ball in the middle of the stance, lower half opens, weight goes left, a little bit of a waggle.
02:54Yeah, very nice. And we get a good bit of consistency. We've got a routine. Anytime we've
02:59got a routine, we can trust it. And the one thing you have to do with this shot is practice.
03:03A 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 way,
03:28that's our best golf, I think. That's most impressive golf. Stock shot that gets us around
03:33the course. So I think most golfers will tend to fade to slice it. So I think it's working out on
03:38the day. Is 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 balls before
03:47I got on the golf course. And maybe these are my last five before I actually walked the first tee.
03:52No 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
03:59maybe getting 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.
04:10Okay. How many times have we've all done this? No matter level of golfer, we've tried so hard to get
04:15it into a certain position. We're not really worried about the ball flight. So for your last five shots,
04:20make a swing. Let's see what ball flight comes out. Right. Okay. So when you're out on the golf course,
04:25Alex, do you not, you play with no swing thought? You're just focusing on the target and the ball
04:29flight. 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.
04:42Because I use a theory, we all practice to improve our technique. So we've got to trust that actually
04:47improving our technique. Well, why are we improving our technique? So it becomes an inherent movement. So I'm
04:52keep reminding me what my kind of blue star, my gold star, my blueprint is. So when I get over here,
04:58I trust that what I've done in my routine is going to somewhat come into my golf swing, but simply shot
05:03dictates the swing. Okay. So your stock shot would tend to be a little fade, would it? Yeah,
05:07definitely. Yeah. Definitely. Some days it comes out a little bit straighter. So it's for me,
05:11just finding out what it is. And I would tend to split these five golf balls up,
05:15three with my seven iron 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.
05:33Again, 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 that'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 your mind
05:58before you play the shot. And if you can do that, you should be able to get the ball around the golf
06:02course in fewer shots. Okay. So I guess this one, Alex, is on the list because it's one of the most
06:11intimidating shots that people face, isn't it? So having to hit a chip shot over a bunker,
06:17it'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 with
06:29this kind of shot straight away is, especially if this flag was a little bit closer, is the Phil
06:33Mickelson million-dollar shot of trying to land it just over the bunker and take all the risk into
06:38play. Right, yes. I always try and think if there's not a lot of agreement between the fringe
06:42and the flag over the bunker, try and land it in the hole. So I always overcompensate and take 10,
06:4715, even 20 foot past the flag. Right. So you're taking the bunker out. Yeah. I think for a lot of golfers,
06:52if we can avoid going in here, we avoid that card wrecker. Okay. And we can keep our score going.
06:57That also begs the question, how do you avoid hitting it 50 yards over the back? Definitely.
07:02So the setup that I like to use is ball position in the middle of my stance. Choose my most lofted
07:07wedge, which is my 58 degree. I then really want to feel a little bit of separation between upper and
07:13lower. So I feel like my shoulders point towards or parallel with target, but my lower halves and my feet
07:19and my hips are slightly open. If we think in the long game, everything that we're looking for is to
07:23be open 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.
07:31Okay, 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 into the
07:48ball to control the distance that way. However far back you go is how far through we go.
07:52Let's imagine the flag is a little bit closer to us than it is, because with this shot, it would
07:57be 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 chosen my
08:05most lofted wedge and trust the fact that the loft is going to come from what club I've taken.
08:10Okay. 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 bunker
08:28in front of us. Yeah. If you can devote a little bit of time to that in practice, because it's the
08:32sort of shot you're going to need from time to time out on the golf course and avoiding the bunker and
08:36avoiding hitting over the back is the only way to keep your score intact.
08:39Okay. 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 it's a shot well
08:56worth 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
09:12people play it in the sort of most simple and effective way? So first off, we've got to think
09:17of like, we'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 down. 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. Yeah. Everyone creates backspin. The harder you hit it,
09:32the more you create, the higher the ball will go. That's the basic physics, right? Exactly.
09:36Yeah. So shorten the lever. So make ultimately making, gripping the golf club closer towards
09:41the steel. Ball towards the back of our stance. So I try and tend to use my reference points as
09:46where my buttons are on my shirt. Yeah. Just to ride my buttons, no specific point really. Start
09:51everything feeling like it's working parallel to target. I then open up the lower half and weight
09:55goes left. Why do you open up the lower half? Now, without going into too much detail, the more you hit
09:59down on it, the more light this ball is going to want to squirt a little bit out to the right. So I open up my
10:04stance and feel as though I swing down my feet line and hit down on it that way. Right. Okay. Go on,
10:09then hit one for us then, Alex. So clip down, gripping down more towards the steel. Start with
10:13everything parallel. And that's a really nice point. Open up the lower half, weight goes left,
10:19swing 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. Yeah.
10:27And you should notice that it doesn't, 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 just
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. So we'd probably, you hit our
10:46normal shops to nine and kind of gear four out of five. Whereas I try and feel it more in gear three,
10:50a 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 particularly
11:02bad line here. And it's one of those situations that you're going to need to have a shot that
11:06helps you in this scenario, because this can be a real card record, can't it? Yeah. I mean,
11:10we've all been there late in the round, 16th, 17th, 12th, just missed the green and we, we end up in
11:15this. Yeah. 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. Yeah. That's what I'm
11:24worried about right now. So, so what, what are you doing here to escape and get a good contact on
11:29the ball? For me, there's two factors. It's club selection and how we settle to the ball. I think
11:33these two things have got to be on point to allow us to, I think our level expectation, we don't expect to
11:38get it too close here. It's like I said before, get it on the green, worst case scenario, bogey,
11:43not turning that into a double or a triple. So I always like to, um, advocate using a more
11:48specialist wedge. So we have wedges that are part of the set. Sometimes a bit more of a carity on the
11:52back. This is more of like a specialist wedge, uh, bounce got a little bit more bounce on than a
11:56traditional set out, uh, wedge out of a set. And this just helps us in terms of interaction on the
12:01ground. So my preferred wedge for this is 50 degree, 52, or even 48 could be as long as it's a
12:07specialist wedge will really help us play this shot. Okay. So fine. Technically then. Yeah.
12:14How are you changing it from your normal chipping technique? So my normal chipping technique,
12:17I would stand a little bit open. I wouldn't be as close to it. This whole, my soul of the club would
12:22be on the ground and I would feel very similar to a chip and run shot that I would underarm throw it
12:27back and through. Whereas this setup changes completely. I like to feel I get the toe on the
12:33ground. I walk a little bit closer to it and I grip it just short of the steel. So all I'm trying to
12:39feel is that I keep my weight left and I get the toe brushing the ground. So ultimately we feel as
12:46though the toe is working and scooping this ball up. It's like pops it up. Okay. It's the best way I
12:53can describe it. It's like a knife in Buddha. It's like a sharp edge getting into that bad lie and popping
12:57it out and up. Okay. Go on then. Show us how it's done. So we're in there. I have a few practice swings.
13:01I think it's important to have a practice swing and commit to this because a lot of people would
13:05see this and be like, ah, I'm scared. Yeah. And probably also to practice it
13:08from time to time. Definitely. You know, it's very tempting when you're practicing your chipping
13:11just to give yourself a perfect lie and practice those ones that just spin a little bit on the
13:15second bounce. But actually in reality, it's these shots that are going to really help you out on the
13:19course. These 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 tee.
13:28Yeah. So a few practice swings. Just get the toe, interact on the ground. Try and feel it's more
13:33of a wooden motion. No real set in the wrist. I try and feel my thumbs are really pointing down to
13:39the ground. Walking in, weight left. Oh, that's really well played. Do you know, that got a little
13:48shooty bounce, but it's fine. I 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, you know, it's one of these
13:57things that can be tempting not to practice this shot. When you are confronted with a situation
14:01like this on the golf course, you'll need the technique. Hopefully Alex's that he's shown you
14:04there 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 to your
14:20momentum and your scoring and it's just going to help you all round 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
14:33course, 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 of this
14:44length and it going three to that four feet past. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what do you do pre-round then to help
14:49you 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 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 can do that,
15:04it's a lot harder to do that than it is to get it inside that bin lid.
15:06Okay. So why do you take the hole out of the equation then?
15:09So there's no real outcome in terms of something that I can make it relative to the course. So I'm
15:15literally tuning into, not actually holding a putt, but getting pace. I think a lot of golfers
15:19think they're better at pace than they are at reading the putt and they don't actually tune into
15:24this enough. So then Alex, what are you doing on the course in a situation like this to make sure
15:28that you get that pace right? What I would do is, similar to what we might do on a long chip and run,
15:34I would walk half the distance, make a triangle between me and the hole, walk back,
15:40and 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 shortens 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 the other side and we're like, it looks totally different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it gives us
16:03a real good instincts come into play. It gives us a real good view of what the hole and what the putt is like. So as I'm
16:09preparing for a putt, I'm looking at the hole, I'm making that stroke back and through, asking myself
16:14a question, is that enough? If it's not, take it a little bit further back, a little bit further
16:18through, really getting some great feedback for hitting that putt. Over the golf ball now, one look
16:24towards target, pull the trigger. Yeah, very good. Now we've made that stress-free, we're more than happy
16:34from 35, 40 feet, walking up to that, tapping it in. We may even mark it to be sure, but definitely
16:39takes stress-free. Put those tips into play and it should help you whenever you're in this sort
16:44of situation and 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 have played,
16:57but how many of you actually practice it? And I think that's the key point, isn't it, Alex?
17:01Definitely. Because it's a shot that technically, there's not an awful lot of
17:05difficulty with it, but it does require practice if you want to consistently get the ball up and down.
17:10Yeah, 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 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?
17:29Yeah, so next resort in my head, I'm going, right, if I can chip it, let's run it. So,
17:33yes, I can chip and run this. Now, I try and think of it in a simple analogy of if I was going
17:39to underarm throw it and the strings of the badminton racket here are ultimately in my palm
17:43or the club face, how much impetus would I have to put into it? I know it's a lot easier for me to
17:49land it five yards 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.
18:05Yeah.
18:06And especially because there's a little bit of a raise here and get to a point and sort
18:10of give myself 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. I think
18:34most people watching this one as well, no matter what your handicap is. Whereas if I was trying to
18:38land it with my 58 off this lie as well, which is tight.
18:41Fairly tight, yeah. What would be the mistakes that people make with this shot?
18:45I think, like what I said there, is standing to it like a full shot,
18:49letting the club work too around the body. Okay.
18:51And then, I always think, make gravity on your side. So, getting closer to the golf ball,
18:57and I use this term lightly, straighter back, straighter through. It's never quite straight
19:00back, straight through. Yeah.
19:01But it allows you to easily drop the golf club on the back of the ball, rather than
19:06too much around the corner. We're sort of fighting it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:09And scooping it. Okay.
19:10So, 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,
19:27it's one of the safest shots you can hit. You know, if you are prone to the odd, you know, chunky 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 a double
19:38bogey from this scenario very often. No, I would say, your worst chip and run's never going to be
19:42as worse as your worst lofted shot. Yeah. Okay. So, practice that. Hopefully, you'll improve.
19:47There 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 any,
19:56if there are any shots that really would help players get round in as few shots as possible. And also, if you do use any of these
20:02techniques regularly, let us know. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts. But that's all now from West
20:07Hill. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time.
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