Creating a successful shot from a difficult situation requires more than just technique, you need to be confident that you can achieve your goal. Often when we’re faced with a difficult short sided flop over a bunker, we try to hit one of the most difficult shots possible… the super flop. Although, this trajectory can be very useful, we need to look into the easiest way to hit a shot like this so that we feel confident in our decision. We need to know that ball contact will be clean and easy.
We’ve all seen Phil Mickleson hit his crazy flops that look like a full swing, lots of dynamic action and hand speed. Let’s face it, we’re not Phil. Often the biggest mistake is from overusing the hands and arms to hit down on the ball. This can make contact very scary as our fear of skulling the shot will cause us to dig down at the ball.
To counteract this tendency and shallow out the club’s angle of attack, please keep your right arm straight. We want your hands and the club to stay as far away as possible, which will also keep the handle in front of your chest. This goes for the backswing as well as the downswing.
This will also encourage a large shoulder turn to generate the power source that we removed by taking out the lever at your right elbow as well as quieting the wrist action. This will help give your motion an longer yet more rhythmic action.
We’ve all seen Phil Mickleson hit his crazy flops that look like a full swing, lots of dynamic action and hand speed. Let’s face it, we’re not Phil. Often the biggest mistake is from overusing the hands and arms to hit down on the ball. This can make contact very scary as our fear of skulling the shot will cause us to dig down at the ball.
To counteract this tendency and shallow out the club’s angle of attack, please keep your right arm straight. We want your hands and the club to stay as far away as possible, which will also keep the handle in front of your chest. This goes for the backswing as well as the downswing.
This will also encourage a large shoulder turn to generate the power source that we removed by taking out the lever at your right elbow as well as quieting the wrist action. This will help give your motion an longer yet more rhythmic action.