Today I messed around with two different golf shots, the flop shot and the lob shot. They sound pretty much the same, right? I thought so too, but I wanted to see if I could actually tell the difference and figure out when to use each one.
So, I grabbed my clubs and headed out to the range. First up was the flop shot. I used my lob wedge, which has the high loft you need. I started by setting up with an open stance and tried to really hinge my wrists on the backswing. The goal here was to get the club to slide right under the ball.
- Setup: Opened up my stance, and made sure my weight was a bit more on my front foot.
- Swing: Took a big swing, focusing on hinging my wrists a lot.
- Contact: Tried to feel the clubhead sliding under the ball without digging in.
I hit a bunch of these. Some were great, popping up nice and high and landing soft. Others, not so much—I either thinned them or chunked them. It took a while, but I started to get a feel for how much wrist action and how fast a swing I needed to get that high, soft shot.
Next, I switched to what I thought was a lob shot. Honestly, from what I read, it’s basically the same as a flop shot. The idea is to hit the ball high and have it stop quick. I used the same club and pretty much the same technique.
- Setup: Similar to the flop shot, open stance, weight forward.
- Swing: Still focusing on that wrist hinge and a smooth, accelerating swing.
- Contact: Aiming for that same clean, under-the-ball contact.
Practicing these, I realized they’re almost identical in technique. The results were similar too—high shots that didn’t roll much after landing. I guess the main difference might just be in how people talk about them, or maybe there’s a super slight difference in how you hit it that I haven’t figured out yet.
My Conclusion
After spending the day hitting these shots, I realized that for a regular guy like me, a flop shot and a lob shot are basically the same thing. The key is to practice getting that high, soft shot down, no matter what you call it. It’s definitely not easy, but man, it’s satisfying when you pull it off. I’m going to keep practicing these, especially since they can be real lifesavers around the green.
