Flop Shot
Also known as: lob shot, Phil shot
A flop shot is a very high, soft-landing chip or pitch played with a wide-open lob wedge that stops quickly. This means used when there is little green between the ball and the hole.
The flop shot is a high-trajectory, soft-landing wedge shot that produces maximum air time and minimum roll. This means the ball flies very high, lands softly, and stops quickly with little or no rollout. It is used in situations where the ball needs to carry a hazard or fringe close to the pin and stop near where it lands. This means a pin tucked close to a bunker edge, a shot from deep rough near the green, or a situation where the only direct line to the hole is over an obstacle. The flop shot is high-risk and requires significant practice — it should only be attempted when the lie and situation justify the commitment.
The technique of the flop shot involves sharply opening the clubface before gripping the club (not just rotating the wrists after gripping). This widens the stance, crouching slightly lower, playing the ball forward in the stance, and making a full, aggressive swing with a very high follow-through. The extreme loft of the opened face produces the high trajectory, while the acceleration through impact creates the spin that stops the ball. The most common error is deceleration. This means the shot looks and feels like it should require a gentle, soft swing, when in reality it requires a committed, accelerating swing through the sand, rough, or turf.
The fundamental risk of the flop shot is contact quality dependency. This means the shot works brilliantly from good lies in fluffy rough. But is extremely difficult from tight lies (where the leading edge can catch the ball before the bounce can engage), from wet conditions (where the club can dig), and from firm lies (where the bounce skips off the turf unpredictably). Phil Mickelson, famous for his flop shots, is very selective about when to attempt them even at the tour level. For recreational golfers, the chip-and-run or a standard pitch is almost always a higher-probability shot unless the situation absolutely demands the flop.
Before attempting a flop shot, always check the lie first. This means grab a handful of the grass near the ball. This means if the grass comes out easily and the ball is sitting up, the flop shot is an option. If the ball is sitting down in compressed turf with no daylight under it, the lie will not support a flop and a different shot should be chosen.
Practice the flop shot in isolation before using it on the course. This means on a practice green, set up multiple balls with two tees creating a gate 1 foot wide on the green, and practice landing flop shots through the gate from 5 feet away. This extreme target puts immediate feedback on trajectory and distance control. This builds the committed acceleration and face control needed for the shot to work under pressure.
Example
A ball resting tight against the fringe with only 15 feet to the pin. This means a flop shot is the only way to get the ball high enough to land softly and stop near the hole.
How it shows up on video
From a face-on camera angle, the flop shot is immediately recognizable by the sharply open club face visible at address and the very high trajectory of the resulting ball flight. The swing appears long and aggressive for the short distance traveled. This means a full arm swing producing a shot that lands 10–15 feet from the golfer. The follow-through is high and complete. A failed flop shot is visible as either the ball barely moving (deceleration into thick rough) or the ball shooting across the green (the leading edge caught the ball instead of the bounce skimming under it).
Common mistakes
- Decelerating through the flop shot — the most dangerous error. A decelerated flop into rough or over a bunker typically results in the ball staying in the rough or in the bunker. Commit to a full, aggressive swing; the open face controls the distance, not swing size.
- Attempting a flop shot from a tight lie — the leading edge of the club needs turf to grab for the bounce to work. From a tight lie on hardpan or closely-mown grass, the leading edge will catch the ball's equator and produce a thin shot. Use a different shot option from tight lies.
- Gripping the club first and then opening the face — the face must be opened before gripping. Rotating the face open after gripping produces a weaker grip-to-face relationship that will close through impact as the arms rotate, reducing the loft sharply.
- Using the flop when a simpler shot will suffice — the flop is one of golf's highest-risk shots. A chip-and-run or a standard pitch produces a much higher success rate for the same situation when there is green to work with. Reserve the flop for situations where no other shot is viable.
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
SwingVantage can observe flop shot execution from face-on video by analyzing the open clubface at address, the swing size relative to the distance produced, the follow-through height, and whether deceleration is visible at the impact zone. The ball trajectory (very high and short) and the resulting ball behavior (landing and stopping quickly) provide additional confirmation of successful or unsuccessful execution.
Related terms
- ChippingChipping is a short shot played from just off the green. This means a small swing that gets the ball rolling on the green quickly. This uses the putting surface to carry it to the hole.
- PitchingPitching is a mid-range short-game shot that carries the ball most of the way to the target with a descending blow and controlled spin, typically from 30–100 yards.
- Short GameThe short game is all shots played around and on the green. This means putting, chipping, pitching, and bunker play. This means and typically accounts for 60–65% of strokes in an average round.
- DecelerationDeceleration is when the club slows down through the impact zone instead of accelerating past the ball. This means a common cause of mishits on chips, pitches, and bunker shots.
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