When Should You Hit a Lob Shot?

The short answer: rarely. A 58 or 60 degree wedge already sends the ball high, so a normal pitch with a lofted club is the better choice for most shots around the green. Play a true lob only when you have to carry trouble to a tight pin or land on a higher tier, the lie is good, and you are honestly confident of pulling it off at least 7 times out of 10.

Your wedge is already a lob club

Most golfers reach for the flop shot far more often than they need to, usually because they underestimate how much loft is already in their hands.

Put it in perspective. A 58 or 60 degree wedge has roughly twice the loft of a modern 7-iron. Strike a normal pitch cleanly with it, face square, and the ball already launches steeply and lands softly. Open the face even a little and you add more height again.

So the question is rarely "can I get it high enough?" It is "do I need even more height than my wedge already gives me?" Most of the time, you don't.

What a lob shot actually is

A lob, or flop, shot is a pitch with extra loft and extra speed. The ball spends almost all of its journey in the air and stops quickly when it lands.

To get there you open the face a long way, which adds loft and brings the bounce on the sole into play, then make a long, soft swing so the clubhead has enough speed to slide under the ball. It is much closer to a bunker shot than to a chip. That is exactly why it is risky: you are making a big swing to hit the ball a short distance, and the margin for error at the bottom of the swing is small.

When the lob is the right shot

Go through this checklist before you open the face.

1. Do you need the height? You are short-sided over a bunker or water with very little green between the edge and the pin, the pin is on a tier above you, or you must get over a mound or tree.
2. Will a normal pitch do it? If a stock pitch with your 58 lands on the green and stops near enough, play the pitch.
3. Is the lie good? The ball should be sitting up a little, in light rough or on a soft lie with grass under it. From a tight, bare or firm lie, the bounce skips off the ground and the leading edge meets the middle of the ball. That is the skulled shot across the green.
4. The 7 out of 10 rule. If you would not get this close at least 7 times out of 10, it is not the right shot. Pick the option that leaves you a putt every time.

When to say no

Think about what each shot costs when it goes wrong. A missed lob is rarely a small miss. You either slide under it and leave it in the bunker you were trying to carry, or you thin it across the green into more trouble. Either way, a bogey becomes a double.

A pitch to the fat part of the green, away from the pin, almost never costs more than a bogey. The lob only wins if it finishes close often enough to cover the disasters. For most club golfers, it does not.

Say no when:

• You have plenty of green to work with
• The lie is tight, bare or into firm ground
• You haven't practised the shot recently
• It is downhill to a fast green and a bad strike runs off the other side

How to hit it when you need it

• Open the face first, then grip. Turn the face well open, then take your grip, so it stays open through impact.
• Ball forward, body stacked. Ball on the inside of your lead foot, upper and lower body over the ball, shaft close to vertical. Leaning the shaft forward takes loft off and brings the leading edge into the turf.
• Handle a touch lower. Just a fraction lower than your normal pitch. Too low and the club swings too far around you and catches the ground early.
• Aim at the target. Don't aim well left to allow for the open face. With this much loft the ball follows your swing, not the grooves, and aiming left just encourages you to cut across it.
• Long and soft. A long swing back and a long swing through, clubhead high on both sides, with soft wrists and light grip pressure. Feel the clubhead pass your hands through impact while your weight stays forward. It feels a little scoopy. That is the point.
• Change distance with speed, not length. Keep the same long swing and change how fast the clubhead moves through the ball. With a 58, I rarely go past about 25 to 30 yards. Beyond that, a higher-risk swing gives you very little extra.

You may have seen Phil Mickelson make a violent swing at a flop shot. He has the hands and the hours to manage it. For most golfers, a long, slow, tension-free swing is far more reliable.

Drill: The Lob Ladder

Do this on a practice chipping green.

1. Lay a towel about 5 metres in front of you to act as your bunker.
2. Put targets 3, 6 and 9 metres past the towel.
3. From a good lie, hit 10 lobs to each target with the same long swing, changing only the speed.
4. Count how many carry the towel and finish within a club length of the target.

Pass standard: 7 out of 10 at each target. Then repeat from a tighter lie and watch how your score drops. That is the lesson. If you can't pass this on the practice green, you haven't earned the shot on the course yet.

Bonus test: hit 10 normal pitches with your 58 and 10 lobs to the same target, then compare where they finished. Most golfers are surprised how often the plain pitch wins.

Common mistakes I see

• Not opening the face enough, so the leading edge digs and the shot comes out fat
• Shaft leaning forward from tension, taking the loft away
• A short, quick swing that decelerates into the ball
• Playing the lob from a tight or bare lie
• Aiming well left and cutting across it
• Hanging back and trying to lift the ball into the air

Want total control of your wedges?

My Total Wedge Control course covers pitching, lobs and distance control, so you know exactly which shot to play and how to execute it. Smart short game choices are a big part of breaking 90. Start at perform.golf.

Kerrod Gray is a PGA of Australia Professional, Advanced in Coaching, and the founder of Perform Golf.