In this video Andy Sullivan offers his advice on the 5 most important golf shots to master!
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00:00Hello and welcome to this video in which we're looking at the five most important
00:11must-have golf shots. If you're playing any competitive golf at all this summer
00:16this video should really help you out. We're going to take a look at everything
00:20from how to hit fairways on tight drives, shot shaping, how to hit those really
00:24awkward half pitch shots, plug lies in bunkers and holing out from close range.
00:29Now the advice in this video comes from Andy Sullivan. We were given some time
00:33with Andy earlier on this year through Ping. His style is really
00:37effective but really simple and easy to put into play. Guys if you're new to the
00:41Golf Monthly channel please do hit the subscribe button to make sure that you
00:44don't miss any of our videos. Hit the like button as well if you like what
00:47you're watching. But let's take a look at the five most important must-have golf
00:51shots starting with how to hit the fairway on a tight drive.
00:58Okay so this is the 18th hole here at Stratford, your home club. My home club yeah
01:04you know it's a tight little tee shot. You have got to find the
01:08right side of the fairway to have a go at it in two. What's the
01:13process you go through when you're under pressure? You've got to
01:17pull the big stick, you've got to hit a good drive, you've got to
01:19make a good golf swing. What's the process of making sure that you do that?
01:22I think freeing yourself up and picking a really specific target.
01:26Not just picking a tree, pick a branch out. Really try and tune in
01:30on exactly where you want it and exactly what you want to do with it. So in my
01:34routine before I'll be picking the shot now. So I'll pick the shot
01:38here now. I'm gonna be instantly thinking right I'm gonna start at that flag at
01:42the green there, right on the flag. I'm gonna just move it over to that tree
01:46stump that's ten yards right of it. So in my mind I know exactly what
01:50shot I'm gonna hit. What I'm gonna do after that, I'm gonna try and
01:53get in my routine thinking right, just that five yard play, what I normally do and then
01:58from there onwards, like I said, I've done all the groundwork now, I'm
02:03into the shot, I've just got to free it up now and just commit to that swing.
02:07That's the biggest thing when you've got a tight tee shot. What do you mean by
02:10committing to that swing? Whatever you're gonna do with that
02:13ball, you've got to just go through with it and free it up and just hit it.
02:19No second questions in there. You've just got to go right, that's
02:22exactly what I've got to do. So you're almost like building yourself up to it.
02:26Not just going hmm, can't be second-guessing tight tee shots. No. And if
02:31you are second-guessing, I'd change. Stop, start again. Or do something
02:35different. Hit three wood or something. Hit an iron. If you've got
02:39that little bit of element of doubt, stop. You need to change. Okay, okay, go on then.
02:45Hit it for us, let's see.
02:48Good shot. Straight down the middle. That'll work. Yep. Well guys, there you go, there you have it. If you are faced with a really difficult drive, you're under pressure, you're feeling nervous, pick a very, very specific target. Really think about what you're going to hit.
03:08Visualise the shot and commit to it, right? 100%. I mean, half of it for me is built up in your mind when a tight tee shot. So as soon as you can, just focus on exactly what you're going to do with it, free it up and let it go. So do those things, find the fair way, make par.
03:39Okay, so we are stuck on the 18th here, behind a little copse of trees. You've got 165? Yeah, 165, yeah. And to be fair, you can go left or you can go right here. Yeah, it's quite an interesting one really. I mean, it's fully stymied. I mean, either way, it's got to be moving a long way. Right's got to be moving a good 70, 80 yards. Left's close to it as well. So, you know, the ball's got to be moving quite a lot here.
04:06So, I mean, these are really high tariff shots that you're trying to hit here. So, I mean, likelihood of it coming off... Which way? Which is option number one? I mean, for me here, if I was playing this, I mean, I'd be Hollywooding it and going left towards the car park and trying to get it sliding in. Only because that's my favoured shot, obviously, because it's what I'd go to. So, I mean, for me, I'd just try and get it left and chop it in.
04:32Right's probably the better shot where the pin is, but we'll go left first. We'll go left, fine. So, talk to me about how you play the shot. I mean, you're just trying to put as much left to right spin on it as possible, but here we've got to deal with height as well. I mean, we can't go over it and move it that much, so we've got to keep it down low and get it cutting. So, I mean, it's a really tough shot. I'm going to put it more in the back of my stance, really work the club, miles outside and then try and swing as far left as I can just to get the revolutions going on the ball.
05:00Because you need to keep it low, you can't open the face, or can you?
05:02You can, yeah. You've just got to make sure you cover the ball. So, when I mean cover the ball, your spine angle's still got to be over the ball. You can't back out of it, because then you're going to put left on it. So, by getting the back of the stance and cutting across it as much as I can, it's going to get the revolutions going that way.
05:15Right, I'm looking forward to this.
05:16Yeah, I bet you are.
05:17What a golf shot. Go on, skip through the...
05:30Oh, that could be money, by the way.
05:33Is that on the green?
05:34Got to be. I think it's just on the left side.
05:37What a shot. What a shot. Right, now I'm going to ask Andy to do it again, but with the opposite ball flight.
05:43We'll go for exactly the same divot.
05:45This divot is...
05:46No editing here, guys. No editing here.
05:48Look at that.
05:49Right, go on.
05:50Right, so if I was going the other way, I'd actually take less club, because you're shutting down a draw anyway.
05:55Yes.
05:56So, I don't need... I mean, I hit that with four iron, just trying to really work it low and cut it round. Here, I'd probably go six iron. I mean, I say six iron. I mean, I've got to try and keep it under that tree. But the ball's got to move quite a long way, so...
06:10Is it easier to move it with a straighter face?
06:12Yeah, I think with a draw, when you're drawing it, you're shutting down the club that much, it's going to move.
06:18Yes.
06:19Fade is almost a harder shot to keep it low there.
06:21Yes.
06:22When you're trying to draw it low, it's almost easier because you're shutting it down.
06:25It's more of a natural fade.
06:26That's why I've just gone up a few clubs, just to promote it again.
06:29Same similar thing, I'm just going to get it back at the stance, really close the club face down, because I've really got to get this moving.
06:35And I'm just going to literally come so far inside, so I'm going to try and go past my right heel here, and then just swing it so far out to the right.
06:42Okay.
06:43And I'm hoping that I don't hit that guy's mansion on the right there.
06:47Go on.
06:50This will be impressive two out of two.
06:52I'm looking forward to seeing where this divot goes.
06:58What a shot.
07:02Might be a bit long, but...
07:03Lacking a bit of control on landing, but far from that.
07:06What a golf shot.
07:07Guys, thank you very much for watching.
07:09That really is an interesting insight into somebody who's competing out on tour and having to sort of...
07:14You get yourself in the old situation where you need to manufacture a shot.
07:16You do get them shots, yeah.
07:17I mean, but just quickly, look.
07:19Look at them divots.
07:20You've got one going this way and one going completely opposite way.
07:22I mean, it's literally a 90 degree angle, that.
07:24Isn't it?
07:25So, for me, if you're going to move the ball, just swing as far the other way as you can that you want to move it to.
07:30So, when you're out on the golf course, playing with your mates, be creative.
07:33Try a few of these different things.
07:35You never know.
07:36You might just pull it off.
07:42This is a 50-yard pit shot.
07:43This is absolute meat and drink to you.
07:45This is instilling real fear in my game.
07:48What advice would you give me?
07:50How do you play this shot so that you take...
07:52Kind of you're taking, for us, you're taking bogey out of play and giving yourself a chance of making birdie.
07:57For me, if you're going to learn from the best, I'd say you watch the types of your Luke Donald, your Ernie Elves,
08:04the rhythm they play these shots with, and you hardly ever see them take a divot.
08:09The divot is minimal.
08:10So, they're taking the ground out of play for me.
08:12So, all that is for me is just getting a little bit shallower and just brushing that grass.
08:16Just clipping it off the top.
08:18I mean, you see it with a lot of amateurs, and the first thing they want to do,
08:22they want to get the club in the ground to guarantee the strike.
08:24Yes.
08:25You're wasting the club then.
08:26So, you're wasting your time with your lob wedge already.
08:28You might as well play it with a 9-iron if you're going to do that.
08:31But for me, it is literally as simple as you've just got to feel like it's a very rhythmical swing,
08:37shallow it out a little bit, just a nice body turn.
08:40But a lot of us, and I'm sure a lot of people watching this will have been taught,
08:44I was taught, for a lot of short game shots, ball back, hands forward, drive it in a bit.
08:50It's a very old school way of doing it.
08:53That was the way you'd guarantee a strike.
08:54Now, everyone's trying to play the shots to the back of the club using the bounce more.
08:58So, you're taking the leading edge out of the play, and the back of the club here is hitting the ground.
09:03So, you've got loft on the club the whole time.
09:05You've got de-loft in it, which is giving you more, using the loft that you've got in the hand
09:10instead of just taking it away from you.
09:12If you're going to use a 60 or a 54, well, you're using the loft for a reason.
09:17Do you know what I mean?
09:18But when I mean rhythmical as well, I'm not on about someone just going,
09:22oh, it's nice and slow and not moving your body.
09:24You watch the best guys do it, and they're still, their body's turning onto it, face onto it,
09:29even from 50 yards.
09:30You see a lot of guys from 50 yards, and they stop.
09:34They get stuck.
09:35Yeah.
09:36You've still got to rotate onto it to make that continuance.
09:39That's the biggest thing.
09:40But for me, again, like I say, it's that rhythmical feeling and just trying to clip it off the top.
09:46Yeah.
09:47And club you're going for?
09:48I've got a 60 degree here from 50 yards.
09:50I mean, again, you're not going to get a massive amount of spin on it,
09:53so you're going to pitch it five yards short and just let it trickle out.
09:56Right. No excuses. Go on.
09:57No excuses.
10:08Well, there you have it.
10:09Lovely shot, Andy.
10:10Very nice.
10:11A really good demonstration about how to take the fear out of some of those short game shots.
10:15Definitely.
10:16I mean, I think what most people get scared of is the leading edge,
10:19but you're not trying to hit it with the leading edge.
10:21You're trying to use the loft that you've got there.
10:23I mean, I've took a minimal divot.
10:24That's the biggest key.
10:25As soon as you start to take in less divots from there, you're going to get cleaner strikes,
10:29you're going to get a more consistent flight, less spin on the ball,
10:32and hopefully you'll be able to control those distances a lot better from that area.
10:40Now, Andy, you threw your ball into this bunker,
10:43and then you've made it even worse for yourself.
10:45So, frankly, I don't know how you're going to get this out.
10:47Yeah, I mean, we might as well exaggerate it if we're going to do it.
10:52It's a weird one.
10:53There's all kinds of methods.
10:55People think you should shut the face down to get it coming out.
10:58Yeah, that's how I would have been taught.
11:00Yeah, I don't really like that because generally it's going to come out left
11:03and you're not getting it the direction you want to get it going.
11:07And it's fast as well, isn't it? It's running.
11:09Yeah, exactly.
11:10I mean, a lot of the time when you're in a plug bunker shot,
11:12you actually just want it pretty much just popping just out of the bunker
11:15and releasing down to the flag.
11:18I mean, this is an extremely difficult one.
11:20It's straight down the hill, so you just want to land on this fringe
11:23and just release it down.
11:25But me and my friend started playing this shot a few years ago,
11:27and it was weird.
11:28We just thought we'd try something different,
11:31and I was hitting these bunker shots, plug bunker shots,
11:34and I was going in so steep and so hard,
11:36and I was trying to recoil the club out,
11:38and the ball had just gone popping out.
11:40So we just took it to another level and just thought,
11:42if we just hammer it in and just see what happens
11:44and just leave the club in there, and it just pops out every time.
11:48It's a weird way of doing it,
11:50but that's the way I've created it over a few years,
11:52and it's been working.
11:54So it's a bit of problem solving.
11:56Do you do that sort of thing a bit?
11:58Sometimes, if I'm struggling with a shot
12:00that I haven't really got something to go to with,
12:02I would like to find something that I think,
12:04well, I can go with that and I'll stick to that.
12:06It's not often you get a plug ball.
12:08I mean, if you do, it's very rare,
12:10but I would want something in place to have that scenario covered.
12:14Do you know what I mean?
12:15I wouldn't want to be there going, well, do I play it that way?
12:17Because then I'm going to be in a bit of indecision.
12:19I'd rather just go, right, that's the way I'm going to play it.
12:22This is how we do it.
12:23So you're going to swing really hard at it.
12:25I'm just going to get all my weight on my left side again
12:28because I want the club coming in steep
12:30because I've got to get through the sand and get to the back of the ball somehow.
12:33So I want to get all my weight on my left side
12:35and I want to get steep on it,
12:36but I'm just going to leave the club in there.
12:38Literally, I'm just going to go like that.
12:41Right.
12:43And hopefully, because I'm putting that much force in,
12:45the sand is going to move the ball as well
12:47because I'm going to be hitting a good three inches behind the ball here as well.
12:51OK, let's have a look.
12:56That is a great shot.
12:58It's come out with a bit of height, a bit of control.
13:01It's not gone on, you know, run on for 50 feet, is it?
13:04But the big key is there is not to decelerate into it.
13:07You have got to hit that hard, get steep on it, get down
13:09and just leave the club in the ground there.
13:11And for me, it's been quite successful with that.
13:13You know, the ball comes out pretty consistently high every time
13:17and you've got something that you feel like you can go to with that.
13:20You're not questioning yourself over it so much.
13:27I'll talk us through how to hole out from close range.
13:30Obviously, it's an area of the game that a lot of people like me get very nervous about.
13:34And people can make some mistakes.
13:36So what's the process for you?
13:38What's the right way of looking at these and thinking about them?
13:40Again, read it as a normal putt, as you read it.
13:43And then for me there, again, it's about that little word commitment from here.
13:47You know, for me, once you've picked that line,
13:50you've got to commit to what you're going to hit there.
13:52And again, a lot of people like to hit them in firmly.
13:55I'm not a big fan of ramming them in firm.
13:58I like to see it just going a foot by
14:00because then if it does hit the edge, it's still going to go in.
14:02If you hit them firm and it hits the edges, you're going to lip out
14:05and you're probably going to get the same distance back.
14:07So for me, working on a foot by pace, picking your line.
14:12So I've got a line on my ball here.
14:14Commit to your line.
14:15And then this is going to sound like a really silly process,
14:18but this is what I think when I'm over the ball.
14:20All I'm thinking about is keeping my knees as still as possible.
14:23So it's like I'm wedged into the ground.
14:25My feet are wedged into the ground.
14:27And all I can move is my rocking of my shoulders.
14:30So I've picked my line.
14:32Knees planted in the ground, feet in the ground.
14:35And then just stroke it on your line, nice and smooth, back and through.
14:38In we go.
14:39In she goes.
14:40And what's your attitude towards pin in or pin out?
14:43So a lot of guys, we're getting used to seeing players out on tour putting,
14:47even from quite close range with the flag in.
14:49What's your take on it?
14:50For me, I think the pin can only be an advantage
14:54of when the ball's going in with too much pace.
14:56I don't see it being an advantage
14:58if your ball's going in a foot by or two feet by.
15:01I just don't see how that can be an advantage
15:04because the ball is generally going to go in
15:08with a foot or two foot of pacing.
15:10It can only help when it's going six, seven feet by.
15:12It's going to hit it and go stone dead.
15:14I mean, there's been a few scenarios this year
15:16where I've seen the ball that's going in at a nice pace,
15:19like a foot, two feet by, hit the flag, wedge the hole and come out.
15:23So for me, I prefer it out visually.
15:27It's just the way that I've been doing it for so long,
15:29I don't really want to change that.
15:31So for me, it's a pin out,
15:33unless you're 50 feet away and you just leave it in.
15:36That scenario probably plays out for me a few times.
15:39But pin out and every putt's going about a foot past.
15:42That's my key with putting is everything a foot by.
15:45You work on that and then green reading becomes a lot easier.
15:48There you go, guys.
15:49I hope you enjoyed that.
15:50Really simple advice there from Andy.
15:52Use that next time you play
15:54and hole out a little bit more consistently from close range.