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Hitting the Shots You Shouldn't Hit
Feeling lucky? With these tips from Jim McLean, rev up your confidence to go for that miracle.
Low-percentage shots - we know better, don't we? And yet we give in to temptation as surely as dieters give in to chocolate. We have endless reasons or excuses: We've seen the pros pull them off. We're down in our Sunday match and desperate to turn the tide. We want to test our shot-making abilities. And, let's face it, tempting fate is just plain fun.
For once, let's not remonstrate over our recklessness, but celebrate it. Golf is meant to provide pleasure, and if there's anything more pleasurable than pulling off a miracle shot, we haven't found it.
Who better to help us pull off such miracles than Jim McLean? A former PGA of America National Teacher of the Year, McLean has taught more than 100 pros, including PGA Tour winners Vaughn Taylor and Ryan Moore, and LPGA winner Cristie Kerr, and currently owns nine eponymous golf schools worldwide. He's also an instruction editor for Golf Digest.
"You don't want to make it a habit, but trying those super-challenging shots is good for the soul no matter what the result," McLean says. "If you pull one off, it's a moment you never forget. Lifelong golf memories are few and far between."
LONG-IRON UNDER TREE BRANCHES
Degree of difficulty (1 = tap in, and 10 = makes even Phil Mickelson’s knees tremble): 7 ("if you know what you're doing") or 10 ("if you don't")
Don't even think about it if: you don't carry a 3- or 4-iron. "Hybrids are designed to get the ball up in the air quickly."
McLean says: "First, visualize the needed trajectory. Keep your eyes low preshot. Set up with the ball back in your stance and your feet narrowed. Grip an inch or two down on the club. This improves the odds you'll hit the center of the clubface and makes the shaft play stiffer, which helps keep the ball down because it forces you to stand closer to the ball. The lower you need to hit the shot, the more you need to put the ball back in your stance or put your hands ahead. Although it's a long iron, you need to hit down on the shot and take a pretty good divot. Lean forward throughout the swing: Think, ‘start left and stay left.' Then make a normal swing, keeping that front wrist bowed at impact. Unless you need to keep it really low, you've got to swing at least 90 percent, and you never want to swing less than 75 percent."
Post screw-up analysis: "If you've hit a solid shot that didn't carry far enough and stays in the rough - a common mistake - you just haven't swung hard enough. If your ball is rattling around in the trees ahead of you, you've probably scooped at the shot at impact or didn't have the ball far enough back in your stance. A flare to the right and you've chickened out on the downswing."
FLOP SHOT OFF A TIGHT LIE
Degree of difficulty: 8
Don't even think about it if: you can't commit to the shot. "Any panic in you and you'll miss it every time."
McLean says: "You want a wedge without much bounce (the angle of the sole to the ground), preferably a lob wedge. Put your hands slightly forward, which effectively reduces bounce further. Your swing thought should be, ‘Set up tall and stay tall.' Also, set your wrists early, with your head dead steady on the backswing. Starting the downswing, you need to keep your chin up. Dropping the chin is the biggest mistake I see - that scrunches up your arms. You've got to trust gravity and have a very free arm swing. The other major key is to turn your hips through to the target, because body rotation provides much of the needed power."
Post screw-up analysis: "It's easy to quit on the shot and chunk it. That's an embarrassing miss, even though you see it on the PGA Tour all the time. Then you go into fear mode where you skull them."
3-WOOD FROM A FAIRWAY BUNKER
Degree of difficulty: 9.5 ("You almost never see the pros attempt this shot, which should be a clue.")
Don't even think about it if: even a solidly struck shot might not carry the bunker's lip. "That ends the debate."
McLean says: "Play the ball off your left heel, more forward than most people think. You want to catch this shot right at the bottom of the swing arc, nipping the ball off the top of the sand. Start with your hands even with, or a touch behind, the ball. That will keep the true loft on your 3-wood. It's important to have a relaxed grip, because you need a full wrist-set on the backswing - and you need a full backswing. Players tend to get real short with their swing here. Take a solid stance, but don't dig your feet deep in the sand - the club is too long for that. It's similar to the flop shot in that you need to stay tall throughout. If you droop, you're going to hit behind the ball and lose at least 50 percent of your distance."
Post screw-up analysis: "It's easy to catch any fairway bunker shot fat, and this one in particular. It's usually due to trying to help the ball into the air. Remember, in this case a little thin is better than a little fat."
DRIVER OFF THE DECK
Degree of difficulty: 9
Don't even think about it if: you don't know this means "driver off the fairway," or if you're faced with a downhill lie or the ball is in even light rough. "It will nosedive on you."
McLean says: "This shot has gotten harder as technology has improved due to the bigger clubhead size and longer shafts. It requires a lot of swing speed. Set up with your hands even or slightly behind the ball, with the clubface a few degrees open to add loft. The ball should be about even with your left heel. Don't death-grip the club, which is an absolute killer here - driver off the deck tends to make players tense. The other tendency is to get too quick from the top of the swing. Finish your backswing, then shift your weight and brush the grass or even take a small divot."
Post screw-up analysis: "If you drop-kick the shot, it's probably because you hung back on your right side trying to add loft to the club. If it's a low push or slice, you either rushed the swing, were holding the club too tight, or both."
IRON OFF A CART PATH
Degree of difficulty: 6
Don't even think about it if: you're using a brand-new set of irons. "Especially if your spouse bought them - or you're the kind of guy who puts head covers on his irons."
McLean says: "The fear is that hitting down on the ball is going to send a shock through your hands and arms. You can't be afraid of the shot before you hit it. It has to be worth it to you to put a mark on your club. That's going to happen eventually anyway. You want to pick the ball clean. Place the ball forward in your stance, use a low, sweeping takeaway, and allow yourself to make a lateral weight shift. These all will help create a shallower approach path into the ball. Feel like you're making a driver swing - more horizontal than vertical. If you set up properly, this shot is an easy way to impress your friends."
Post screw-up analysis: "A shot shanked way off into right field or terribly thin likely means that you didn't commit to the shot and came up out of your posture too early. That's to be expected."
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