As the greens of golf courses get faster and firmer, the ability to hit a flop shot around the greens becomes essential if you want to save par.
Many courses, especially during competitive play, will tuck a pin as close as 6 feet away from the fringe. This creates some rather difficult chip shots around the greens, most certainly when a player misses the green on the same side as the pin (known as “short siding”).
If you want to get your game to a high level, one of the necessary shots is a flop shot. This is one of several shots that the better amateurs and pros are able to hit.
Having some versatility in your short game will be helpful if you want to shoot lower scores more consistently!
The fastest way to truly get better at golf is to get up and down for par at least 50% of the time.
Take special note of the scrambling percentage of 54%. When a scratch golfer misses the green in regulation, they are able to get up and down 54% of the time on average. Working towards getting to 54% is a key to quickly reducing your score. The flop shot is one shot you will want to be able to hit to increase your chances of getting to the goal of 54%.
| Greens in Regulation | 67% |
| Fairways Hit | 53% |
| Putts Per Hole | 1.67 |
| Scrambling | 54% |
| Sand Saves | 59% |
| Average Driving Distance | 251 |
How To Hit A Flop Shot? (5 Tips)
- Ball Forward
- Select the Right Club
- Open the Club Face
- Keep a Consistent Pace
- Use The Bounce
Tip #1: Ball Forward
You will want to play the ball from the middle of your stance all the way to your front foot, depending on the lie and how high you need to hit the ball.
The more your ball is sitting up and the more you put the ball forward, the higher the shot will fly. These are two of the variables, assuming an open club face.
Playing the ball forward allows the club to slide under the ball and utilize the loft to send it high into the air. Oftentimes, the loft is essential to help us stop the ball on the green. From these rough lies, we are not going to generate a lot of spin.
Playing the ball forward allows you to get the ball in the air at a higher level.
The one time you will want to play the ball more towards the back is when you have a really bad lie. Take a safe route, ensure you hit the ball first and get it on the green. The ball can still fly higher, but you won’t be able to control the overall distance as well the worse the lie is.
Resource: Tips for Chipping (Top 5 Tips)
Tip #2: Select The Right Club
The key here is to make sure you have at least a 58 degree lob wedge. The higher handicap players, who might only have a pitching wedge or sand wedge might struggle with this shot. I would recommend the 60 degree lob wedge with some bounce on it.
ONe thing I would recommend is testing out different clubs around the practice green and see how they react to different lies and what height the ball flies at. I am confident you will find great value in the 60 degree lob wedge. It is a verstaily club that can be used for a variety of shots around the greens.
Course have been built with more sand and more undulation in the last 30 years than the previous 30 years. Having a 60 degree lob wedge is near essential in today’s game.
Tip #3: Open the Clubface
Even with a 60 degree wedge, you will want to open the lob wedge up a little bit, providing a little bit of extra loft. This will vary from shot to shot depending on the height you need to hit the flop shot.
The higher you need to hit the shot, the more you will want to open the clubface.
A key here is to practice around a practice green and see how the ball reacts at different points with various amounts of loft added.
Another key is that when you open the clubface, you will need to aim slight to the left with your stance line (for right handed golfers). This is a result of the clubface opening up and being aimed slightly out to the right. You will want to balance this out by opening your stance or having a stance that is left.
Some golfers will swing along their stance line and hit a cut like shot for the flop shot, while others will keep it somewhat square and drop the clubface in there and pop the ball up in the air.
Resource: The Basics of Chipping
Tip #4: Keep a Consistent Pace
The lie is so important in the shot. The number of variables include:
- The lie
- The distance
- The height needed
- What club you are using
- How much loft you have added
Whatever your setup is, the key will be to keep a consistent pace throughout the shot. The person who slows down will not hit a good shot and too much extra speed at the bottom can cause inconsistency in the distance control.
When a golfer struggles with this shot, they usually fail to commit to the shot and stall out as they approach the golf ball, leading to inconsistent contact and poor results.
The best golfers might develop three different paces for their flop shot. One being slow, one being medium and one being quicker pace.
If you can experiment with these different paces and swings lengths around the practice green, you can set up a system for your flop shots and become a very good scrambler around the greens.
Tip #5: Use The Bounce
In recent years, I have seen more and more golf professionals advocating for the use of the bounce on the bottom of the club. This takes the leading edge out of play and from the player digging in and stubbing the shot.
Utilizing the bounce allows the golfer to even hit slightly behind the ball and end up with decent results.
Now Phil Mickelson using the leading edge on just about every shot, so there are differnet ways to hit this shot. Phil wil play the ball either off his back foot or in front of his front foot. For high shots he has the ball foward, for lower shots, the ball is off the back foot.
He has his system! And it has worked!
The key for you is to understand the different approaches and experiment and commit to one that can work for your game and the type of grass in your areas where you play the most golf.
Below, I provide with you a great video by Phil explaining his approach and another one that promotes using the bounce.
Resource: Use the Bounce When Chipping (7 Tips)
Phil Mickelson: His Flop Shot Approach
Using the Bounce: Monte Scheinblum
How To Practice Your Short Game
When I am practicing my short game, after hitting a variety of chip shots for 15-20 minutes, I like to test and assess my game with the following drill:
- I throw the ball to a random spot around the practice green.
- I go through my process of deciding what shot I am going to hit.
- I hit the shot towards the determined hole.
- I see if I can then make the putt.
- I keep track out of 20 attempts how many times I can hit one chip and one putt out of the 20 attempts.
- I monitor this over time and expect a number between 14 and 15 out of 20. This will often translate to around 50-60% scrambling rate on the golf course.
I find this to be helpful vs simple block practice as I am forced to hit different shots, from different lies to different holes and then make the putt. It keeps the pressure on because I have a goal out of 20 how many times I expect to be successful. It also gives me a benchmark to track over time to see if I am improving.
Resource: 22 Practice Games
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
4 – Practice Frequently
Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:
- Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.