In this video, Joe 'The Pro' Ferguson talks you through how to play some of the toughest short game shots in golf. Getting out of trouble around the greens is crucial to keeping the momentum of your round going and so it's important you have the skills at your disposal to be able to hit the ball close and tap it in for an easy par rather than racking up a score-killing double bogey. Check out the shots featured in the video listed below.
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00:00I'm Joe Ferguson and I'm going to show you how to get up and down from anywhere, anywhere,
00:06anywhere.
00:07Okay, so you might have noticed that golf is really straightforward.
00:10We often find ourselves in tricky situations around the green.
00:13So I'm going to show you a few scenarios here that you might commonly find yourself in on
00:17the golf course.
00:18And the skills I'm going to show you are going to help you turn three shots into two, keep
00:21the momentum going in your round, and improve your scores.
00:24So let's get to it.
00:33So I found myself in a particularly smelly spot here.
00:35I've missed the green left, I'm on a severe downslope coming over a bunker with not much
00:40green to work with.
00:41One of the first things people do here is they tend to panic and try and help the ball
00:45up in the air.
00:46And that might be the worst thing you can do.
00:47In these scenarios, you can't fight the slope, you have to use the slope.
00:52If you start leaning back to try and help the ball up in the air, you'll bottom out
00:55early, hit the shot fat, and it won't go the required distance.
01:00So one of the first things you need to do is move your body with the slope, get your
01:03shoulders more level, move your sternum in front of the ball to make sure you're using
01:08the slope.
01:09Inevitably, the ball is going to come out lower here because we've got this downslope.
01:12So you need to take your most lofted wedge and even open it up a little bit more to make
01:17sure you get the required height.
01:18So again, move with the slope, move the sternum in front of the ball, try and get your shoulders
01:23more level to the slope, and then just swing down the slope.
01:30Got quite a nice result there, and that's how to cope with a downslope.
01:33Right, I've missed another green and I've found myself in a particularly horrible lie
01:37in the bunker.
01:38It's plugged.
01:39So this is a real problem for me.
01:40I've not got a lot of green to work with and I've got to get this ball out and as close
01:44as possible.
01:45So what do I do?
01:46First things first, I need to get underneath this golf ball.
01:49It's sitting below the surface of the ground.
01:51So I need to do everything in my power to be able to get steep on the ball, increase
01:56my angle of attack, and drive this leading edge of the golf club under the ball.
02:00If you don't do that and you try and help it up, you're going to scull it across the
02:03green.
02:04So the way I do that, I go a little bit wider, I try and move more of my weight forward so
02:08I'm steepening my angle, steepening my angle of descent, and I'm just going to drive this
02:11club in as hard as I can behind the ball and stick it in the ground.
02:16You can open or close the face as much as you want.
02:18Some people prefer to play this square.
02:20I prefer to add a bit of loft because I feel comfortable enough that I'm going to get the
02:23blade under the ball.
02:25So I open it up a little bit.
02:27Wider stance, leaning forward, drive that club as hard as you can, as vertical as you
02:32can behind the ball, and stick it in the ground.
02:35And it pops out nicely.
02:36It's released up pretty close, six or seven feet from there.
02:40I'm really happy with that.
02:41Right, I'm stuffed again.
02:43I'm behind this bunker, I've got a tight pin, not much green to work with, and I'm really
02:48struggling.
02:49The first thing you need to do in this scenario, and this is absolutely crucial, is you have
02:54to assess the lie.
02:55I play a lot of pro-ams, I play with a lot of amateurs who, when they miss a green, have
02:59already decided what shot they're going to play.
03:02And if you come up to the ball and it's lying, sitting down on a bare patch of turf, for
03:07example, and your plan is an open-faced flop shot, well, no one in the world can execute
03:12that.
03:13You've already ruined the shot before you've even started.
03:15So a really key part of short game is learning how to read the lies and knowing what's possible.
03:20Unfortunately, there's no real shortcuts for that.
03:22That's experience.
03:23That's going round the chip and green, throw some balls down in different lies, and work
03:27out what's possible.
03:28Fortunately, in the lie that I've missed the green with here, it's perked up a little bit.
03:32So I've got an opportunity to throw this ball up in the air and get it stopping relatively
03:36quickly.
03:37The first thing I need to do is add loft.
03:40One of the key ways of doing this is make sure you open the face before you take your
03:44grip.
03:45I see a lot of people taking their grip, manipulating the face open, and all that's going to do
03:48is return back closed.
03:50So open the face, then take your grip.
03:54So I'm going to have a relatively wide stance to support what's going to be a relatively
03:59aggressive swing.
04:00Because we've opened the face here, loft's pointing up, so I need to give it some more
04:04momentum.
04:05Another good tip here is to keep a really light grip pressure.
04:08We don't want any tension in the hands, and we also want the club to feel possibly like
04:12it's passing the hands a little bit, and we don't want any shaft lean or drive that's
04:16going to take loft off that, because we're already putting quite an aggressive swing
04:19on it.
04:20So light grip pressure, open the face, allow the club head to pass the hands and just slip
04:24under the ball, and play it with confidence.
04:29Just let it pop up, land soft, and we're in a good position to save par again.
04:34Right, this is particularly horrible.
04:36I found myself in a bunker here, and this must be the best part of 50 yards, 40-50 yards.
04:41Really awkward range, a load of bunker to carry, and this is where panic can really
04:45set in.
04:46One of the most common mistakes I see is people automatically reach for their most lofted
04:50club and just go and try and get really close to the ball, pick it off, and get a little
04:54bit of a cleaner strike.
04:55Now that's really high tariff.
04:57Looks great if you can execute it, but as a percentage play, I'd like you to consider
05:01something else.
05:02Have a little go, reach for your pitching wedge, even your nine iron, and just try and
05:06play it like a basic splash shot that you would around the green, and trust that the
05:09extra length in the shaft, the less loft, will propel the ball the correct distance.
05:14I find it easier not to change too many variables by moving about where I'm trying to get in
05:19the sand.
05:20If I just play the normal splash shot with my pitching wedge that I would around the
05:23green, hopefully it will come out a little bit stronger and make the required distance.
05:32That's a great result.
05:33That's pitched.
05:34It's spun up lovely.
05:35The compact sand's helped there a lot, but that's a really good way of coping with a
05:39very, very awkward shot.
05:42Right, it's happened again.
05:43I've missed another green, and here at the Oxfordshire, around the greens, there's some
05:47particularly juicy, thick rough.
05:49That's okay if your ball's sat on top of it, but the two lies I've got here, it's right
05:53down in it.
05:54So I need a method of coping and getting these balls out of there.
05:58Primarily, the number one thing I need to do, because these balls are kind of below
06:02the surface of where I want them to be, I've got to get this club head under the ball.
06:06The first method I use is probably a more traditional method, and it's about just steepening
06:11my attack angle to make sure this club, instead of coming in nice and shallow and impacting
06:17the grass here and getting tangled up, I need to do what I can to steepen this attack angle
06:21and just pop the ball out.
06:22So I'm just going to essentially feel like I'm dropping the club onto the back of the
06:26ball with a bit of a stabbing motion and just get the ball moving forward.
06:30Steep a little bit further forward, a little bit of shaft lean to help that leading edge
06:34get through the turf, and I'm just going to drop the club on the back of the ball, and
06:38it's going to pop out with a bit of release and roll out, and I've got the green to be
06:42able to play that shot.
06:43Sometimes, however, you don't have as much green, and this is a bit more of an American
06:48style shot.
06:49You might see this a bit more on the PGA Tour, where they tend to play it almost like a bunker
06:52shot with grass.
06:54So you're deliberately impacting behind the ball, you're accepting that you're not going
06:57to pick the ball first.
06:59You're opening the blade and you're trying to slip the club through the grass as you
07:03would the sand.
07:04It will come out a bit higher, a little bit softer.
07:06It's a little bit more high tariff, this one, so it does need some practice in, but essentially
07:10it is just a bunker shot with grass.
07:13So I'm moving the ball a little bit further forward, a wider stance, I'm opening that
07:16club face, and I'm literally just going to try and play almost a deliberate flat shot
07:20and pop it up.
07:23It's come out a little bit higher, it's come out a little bit strong, that one, but it's
07:26stopped nice and quick.
07:27And it's got me out of what is some particularly thick and juicy rough.
07:31So practice both of those methods and work out what's going to be the best scenario to
07:35use them in.
07:36Right, I'm getting a bit grumpy now.
07:37I might be the unluckiest golfer in the world.
07:40I've hit three glorious shots in here, they've just rolled off the green by a foot, and I'm
07:44presented with this.
07:45They're all up against the collar from the fringe to the rough, and I've got to deal
07:49with it.
07:50I can't just cry about it, I've got to figure out a way of getting these up and down.
07:53The eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed I've got three golf clubs in my hand, and
07:57I'm going to show you three different methods to cope with that.
08:00So I'm going to start with a good old-fashioned belly wedge.
08:03Now a belly wedge is essentially a deliberate fin.
08:06I can't get to the bottom of that golf ball, so I'm going to use the leading edge and try
08:11and get that into the equator of the golf ball, directly halfway up the ball, so it
08:15comes out just rolling like a putt.
08:18So the best way to do it is, the fringe will probably dictate where the club sits anyway,
08:22so I can't get this any lower than that.
08:24I'm going to use my putting grip, and pretty much a putting stance, and I'm just going
08:29to rock my shoulders and try and get the ball moving forward.
08:33It's a little bit quick down that slope, so four or five feet past, but that's a pretty
08:38acceptable result, I'm okay with that.
08:40So that's one method of coping with it.
08:42The next method is three-wood, believe it or not.
08:46The way the sole of the three-wood is designed, obviously we've got a bit more width here,
08:49that helps it stop snagging in this sort of tangly rough behind the ball, so it's a
08:54pretty safe option to help ensure you get some reasonable contact, and get it going
08:58somewhere close.
09:00You do have to be wary, there's generally a little bit more energy on the face of a
09:03three-wood than there would be on a putter or wedge, so it can pop out a little bit quick,
09:07so factor that in and do a bit of practice with this before you use it.
09:10But again, a similar method, putting grip, you can't get to the bottom of the ball, so
09:15you're just sort of giving it a little pop forward, let the slope do the rest, and that's
09:19tracking on a really good line, and just missed.
09:22So a really safe method, I'm happy with both of those, I've got a good chance of saving
09:26my par on both.
09:28The last one's a little bit more elaborate, and I first saw Vijay Singh do this, smallgrass
09:32on the 17th hole, up against a really, really thick collar of rough, and he just manipulated
09:38the putter, instead of having it in its normal orientation, using the face, turning it in
09:43and using the toe end, and you can see what that does to this angle here, all of a sudden
09:47the toe is very, very steep, and low to the ground, and I've got no friction from back
09:52here, so I've already pre-set a descending blow into the ball.
09:56Now there's certain putters you wouldn't want to try this with, so ensure yours is compatible,
09:59you've got a relatively flat toe end, and again, it's just a similar method.
10:04So use your putting stroke, your putting grip, and just bump your shoulders, and allow the
10:08toe end of that putter to just nudge the ball out gently, and get it rolling towards the
10:12hole.
10:13That one's got a little less pace on it, so that one's stone dead.
10:16I'm really happy with all three of those, I've turned what could have been a really
10:19difficult and annoying scenario from a good approach shot there, to a really pretty simple
10:24par.
10:25Right, well I like those tap-in for pars, so hopefully what I've shown you there has
10:31armed you with a skill set that's going to leave you with a lot more of those, keep your
10:34momentum in the rounds, and improve your scoring.
10:37So from me here at the Oxfordshire, that's everything, I'll see you next time.