The Punch Shot

There are many times during a round of golf when you need to hit the ball low. Maybe it's a shot into the wind. Maybe there is an opening in front of the green. Maybe the pin is set way back. But it seems that no matter what the reason for the shot, it is usually played the wrong way.

Here is the typical way someone would go about hitting it low:

They will set up with the ball placed well back in the stance. From there, they'll take a short, quick, steep swing to try to keep the ball down.

Unfortunately, this is not the way this shot is suppose to be played. The biggest problem is that when you swing steep with the ball set far back, this will impart a large amount of backspin on the ball, which will lift it up in the air. The idea when hitting it low is to decrease the amount of backspin on the ball.

This can be done three ways: hitting a less lofted club, swinging softer, or approaching the ball from a more shallow angle. Or a combination of the three, which I prefer.

-Take 1 or 2 more clubs
-Place ball in center of stance
-Choke down on the club a little bit
-Swing nice and smooth, if not soft

This soft swing will generate much less spin on the ball, and consequently it will have a much flatter trajectory to it. If you have to hit a 5-iron from 140 yards, then do it. The last thing you would want is to try to power an 8 or 9 iron and balloon the ball into the air.

Try this sometime and you will enjoy playing on windy days.