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. Exactly. But how do you set up to it properly so that you can
01:18take the kind 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. 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
02:49waggle. Yeah, 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. Okay. So I think most golfers will tend to fade to slice it. So I think it's working
03:38out on the day. Is it more fadey today or is it a little bit straighter? Because sometimes we have
03:42days where we feel better and it becomes a bit more of a straight shot. So I tend to get five golf balls
03:47before I 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, I want you to,
03:56at this point, we've gone through that process of working on a swing thought and maybe getting a
04:00feeling to the swing. What happens if I naturally make a swing, what ball flight comes out? Because
04:06if we can let the ball flight dictate our swing, then that's a great place to be in. How many times
04:11have we've all done this? No matter level of golfer, we've tried so hard to get it into a certain
04:15position. We're not really worried about the ball flight. So for your last five shots, make a swing,
04:21let'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. 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,
05:02but simply shot dictates the swing. Okay. So your stock shot would tend to be a little fade,
05:07would it? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Definitely. Some days it comes out a little bit straighter. So
05:11it's for me just 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. A little fade. So straight away,
05:30I've got a little bit of feedback. Again, no real thoughts. Just seeing what ball flight comes out.
05:34Again, 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.
05:47Yeah. And you can see now that that's building a picture in Alex's mind. It should be building a
05:52picture in your mind of exactly the sort of shape you'll have. So when you get into the golf course,
05:56you can have a positive image in your mind before you play the shot. And if you can do that,
06:00you should be able to get the ball around the golf course in fewer shots.
06:09Okay. So I guess this one, Alex, is on the list because it's one of the most intimidating shots
06:12that people face, isn't it? So having to hit a chip shot over a bunker, it's tricky for anybody.
06:19In this scenario, you've got a little bit more green to work with with the flag. But if the flag
06:23was a little bit closer to the bunker, this would be a very intimidating shot for a lot of people.
06:27How do you play it? I think a lot of people go wrong with this kind of shot straight
06:30away is, especially if this flag was a little bit closer, is the Phil Mickelson million dollar
06:34shot of trying to land it just over the bunker and take all the risk into play.
06:39Right. Yes.
06:39I always try and think if there's not a lot of green between the fringe and the flag over
06:43the bunker, try and land it in the hole. So I always overcompensate and take 10, 15,
06:48even 20 foot past the flag.
06:49Right. So you're taking the bunker out.
06:50Yeah. I think for a lot of golfers, if we can avoid going in here, we avoid that card wrecker.
06:55Okay. And we can keep our score going.
06:57That also begs the question, how do you avoid hitting it 50 yards over the back?
07:01Definitely. So the setup that I like to use is ball position in the middle of my stance,
07:06choose my most lofted wedge, which is my 58 degree. I then really want to feel a little bit
07:12of separation between upper and lower. So I feel like my shoulders point towards or parallel with
07:17target, but my lower halves and my feet and my hips are slightly open. If we think in the long game,
07:21everything that we're looking for is to be open at impact and be through to target. Whereas in the
07:26short shot, we've not got the speed, we've not got the momentum for that. So it's almost like
07:30preempting where we want to be.
07:31Okay, fine.
07:32So I lay the field, just get that split and almost feel my stance is very, very narrow,
07:36ball in the middle, underarm throwing it through towards target. And really trust that I've got to
07:43put the speed in. Now, if I took a really long backswing, I might tend to de-accelerate into the ball
07:48to control the distance that way. However far back you go is how far through we go.
07:53Let'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
08:04chosen my most lofted wedge and trust the fact that the loft is going to come from what club I've
08:09taken. 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.
08:29Yeah, if you can, devote a little bit of time to that in practice because it's the sort of shot
08:32you're going to need from time to time out on the golf course. And avoiding the bunker and
08:36avoiding hitting it 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
08:49themselves, well, you know, I want to master, you know, a normal golf shot before I develop
08:54the punch. But actually, it's a shot well worth practicing, isn't it? Because it can teach
08:58you an awful lot about your game.
08:59Definitely. I think what are most people looking for with their irons? Hands ahead of the golf
09:02ball, hit the ball and turf. That's everything this shot sort of tending itself to be. So you
09:08can actually have some great benefits technical-wise.
09:10Yeah. Okay, so how do you play it? How can people play it in the sort of most simple and
09:14effective way?
09:15So, first off, we've got to think of, like, we're trying to lower the ball flight. So we
09:19want a little bit less speed and less spin. So less speed and less spin, a little bit
09:22more gripping down.
09:23Yeah, so by having, when you have more spin, more backspin, it doesn't matter what level
09:27you are. I think a lot of people associate backspin with, like, tall level.
09:30Yeah, definitely.
09:30But everyone creates backspin. The harder you hit it, the more you create, the higher the ball
09:34will go. That's the basic physics, right?
09:35Exactly.
09:36Yeah.
09:36So, shorten the lever. So, ultimately, making, gripping the golf club closer towards the
09:41steel. Ball towards the back of our stance. So I try and tend to use my reference points
09:46as where my buttons are on my shirt.
09:47Yeah.
09:48Just to ride my buttons. No specific point, really. Start everything feeling like it's
09:52working parallel to target. I then open up the lower half and weight goes left.
09:56Why do you open up the lower half?
09:57Now, without going into too much detail, the more you hit down on it, the more lighter this
10:01ball is going to want to squirt a little bit out to the right. So I open up my stance and
10:05feel as though I swing down my feet line and hit down on it that way.
10:09Right. Okay.
10:09Go on, then. Hit one for us, then, Alex, can you?
10:10So, clip down, gripping down more towards the steel. Start with everything parallel.
10:14And that's a really nice point. Open up the lower half. Weight goes left. Swing down the
10:19feet line and keep the weight left.
10:21And I'm really trying to feel like I make a three-quarter back swing to three-quarter
10:27fall.
10:27Yeah. And you should notice that it 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
10:35you just create that ball.
10:36Yeah.
10:36You create the sort of spinny flight that you're looking to avoid. So it's really important,
10:41isn't it?
10:41Yeah. And I kind of attach that to gears of a car. So we probably, you hit our normal
10:46shops to nine and kind of gear four out of five. Whereas I try and feel it more in gear
10:50three, a little bit smoother, a little bit slower.
10:53Yeah.
10:54Okay. So our next one relates to how to chip from a bad line. Alex, we have given you
11:01a particularly bad line here.
11:02Indeed.
11:03And it's one of those situations that you're going to need to have a shot that helps you
11:06in this scenario, because this can be a real card record, can't it?
11:10Yeah. I mean, we've all been late in the round, 16th, 17th, 12th, just missed the green
11:14and we end up in this. Yeah. So you need to find a technique that
11:18is going to take the duff and the thin, and even actually from a line like this, the double
11:22hit out of the equation.
11:23Yeah. That's what I'm worried about right now.
11:26So what are you doing here to escape and get a good contact on the ball?
11:30For me, there's two factors. It's club selection and how we settle to the ball. I think these
11:34two things have got to be on point to allow us to, I think our level expectation, we don't
11:38expect to get it too close here. It's like I said before, get it on the green. Worst case scenario,
11:42bogey, not turning that into a double or a triple. So I always like to advocate using
11:48a more specialist wedge. So we have wedges that are part of the set sometimes, a bit more
11:51of a carity on the back. This is more of like a specialist wedge, bounce, got a little bit
11:55more bounce on than a traditional wedge out of a set. And this just helps us in terms of
12:00interaction on the ground. So my preferred wedge for this is 50 degree, 52, or even 48 could
12:07be, as long as it's a specialist wedge, will really help us play this shot.
12:09Okay. So fine. Technically then, how are you changing it from your normal chipping technique?
12:16My normal chipping technique, I would stand a little bit open. I wouldn't be as close
12:20to it. This whole, my sole of the club would be on the ground. And I would feel very similar
12:25to a chip and run shot that I would underarm throw it back and through. Whereas this setup
12:29changes completely. I like to feel I get the toe on the ground. I walk a little bit closer
12:35to it and I grip it just short of the steel. So all I'm trying to feel is that I keep my
12:40weight left and I get the toe brushing the ground. So ultimately we feel as though the
12:47toe is working and scooping this ball up. It's like pops it up.
12:52Okay.
12:53The best way I can describe it is like a knife in buddha. It's like a sharp edge getting
12:56into that bad lie and popping it out and up.
12:58Okay. Go on then. Show us how it's done.
13:00So we're in there. I have a few practice swings. I think it's important to have a practice swing
13:03and commit to this because a lot of people would see this and be like, ah, I'm scared.
13:06Yeah. And probably also to practice it from time to time.
13:09Definitely.
13:10You know, it's very tempting when you're practicing your chipping just to give yourself a perfect
13:12lie and practice those ones that just spin a little bit on the second bounce. But actually,
13:16in reality, it's these shots that are going to really help you out on the course.
13:19These are the ones that keep momentum. You know, if you get up and down for par here or not even that,
13:23you just don't make a card wrecker, then you're going to feel good walking onto the next tee.
13:28Yeah.
13:29So a few practice swings. Just get the toe, interact on the ground. Try and feel it's
13:33more of a wooden motion. No real set in the wrist. I try and feel my thumbs are really pointing
13:38down to the ground. Walking in, weight left.
13:45Oh, that's really well played. Do you know, that got a little shooty bounce, but it's fine.
13:49I 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,
13:56you know, it's one of these things that can be tempting not to practice this shot.
13:59When you are confronted with a situation like this on the golf course, you'll need the technique.
14:03Hopefully, Alex's that he's shown you there 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
14:20to your momentum 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?
14:30So, preparation is key, getting the speed of the greens. Out on the course, I'm picturing a bin
14:35lid around the hole. So, not really from this distance looking to hold it. If we do,
14:40absolutely fantastic. I think we can get into a bit of trouble trying to hold a putt of this length,
14:44then it going three to that four feet past.
14:46Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, what do you do pre-round, then, to help you get a better judgment for pace?
14:50This might sound quite counterintuitive, really, but I don't put towards a hole.
14:54I have two golf balls. What I would do is I would put into free space, and I'd almost try and play
14:59balls. I'd try and hit my second ball onto my first, because if I can do that, it's a lot harder to do
15:04that 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,
15:14I'm literally 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 reading the putt, and they don't actually tune into this
15:24enough. So then, Alex, what are you doing on the course in a situation like this to make sure that
15:29you 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.
15:43Right, yeah.
15:43So, looking at something this way, it makes it sometimes look a little bit shorter.
15:47Yeah, it shorts it a little bit, yeah.
15:48Yeah, and just taking a walk on that journey, you get a little bit of feedback. Is it uphill?
15:54Is it downhill? Is it left to right? Because sometimes we've all been there,
15:57we looked at a putt from this side, we got on the other side, and we're like,
16:00it looks totally different.
16:02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:02So, it gives us a real good instincts coming to play, it gives us a real good view of what the hole
16:07and what the putt is like. So, as I'm preparing for a putt, I'm looking at the hole,
16:11I'm making that stroke back and through, asking myself a question, is that enough? If it's not,
16:16take it a little bit further back, a little bit further through, really getting some great feedback
16:20for hitting that putt. Over the golf ball now, one look towards target, pull the trigger.
16:27Yeah, very good.
16:31Now, we've made that stress-free, we're more than happy from 35, 40 feet, walking up to that,
16:36tapping it in, we may even mark it to be sure, but definitely take stress-free.
16:40Put those tips into play and it should help you whenever you're in this sort of situation and
16:45you've got a scorecard in your hand and you need to keep it ticking over.
16:48Okay, 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?
17:01Because it's a shot that technically, there's not an awful lot of difficulty with it,
17:07but 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
17:19a lot of people, especially on playing lessons, things like that, using a rule, if we 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?
17:28Yeah. So next resort in my head, I'm going, right, if I can chip it, let's run it. So yes,
17:33I can chip and run this. Now, I try and think of it in a simple analogy of, if I was going to
17:39underarm throw it and the strings of the badminton racket here are ultimately in my palm or the club
17:44face, how much impetus would I have to put into it? I know it's a lot easier for me to land it five
17:49yards 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 of give
18:11myself 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 just tight.
18:41Fairly tight, yeah. What would be the mistakes that people make with this shot?
18:45I think like, like, like what I said there is standing to it like a full shot,
18:49letting the club work to 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, but it allows you to easily drop the golf club on the back of the ball,
19:05rather than too much around the corner. We're sort of fighting it and scooping it.
19:10Okay. So 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,
19:30you know, chunky chip around the greens or thinning one through the back,
19:33and you're playing in competition, it's just a fairly easy shot to play. You know,
19:37you're not going to make double bogey from this scenario. No, I would say your worst
19:41chip and run's never going to be as worse as your worst lofted shot. Yeah. Okay. So practice that,
19:45hopefully you'll improve. There you have it. That was our list of the seven most important
19:49golf shots that every golfer needs. Guys, before you go, please do hit the pause button and let us
19:54know. Firstly, if you think we've missed any, if they think there are any shots that really would
19:57help players get round in as few shots as possible. And also, if you do use any of these techniques
20:03regularly, let us know. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts. But that's all now from West Hill.
20:07Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.