A lob shot can really come in handy when the ball is below green level or you need to stop the ball quickly after it hits the green. It is used from 50 yards and in; within the scoring zone so doing all you can to improve in this area will save you the most strokes. The idea is to hit a high shot that will land softly, that can be executed in close proximity to the green. Getting good at this shot will get you out of a lot of jams around the green, especially hitting over bunkers and other hazards.
Personally, I find it to be one of the most fun shots to hit and I use it all the time. When I was younger and hitting a ball around my yard, I obviously couldn’t take full swings or my neighbors cars would look like they were just in a severe hail storm. Unfortunately though when your a 12 year old male you dont exactly have the self restraint of a robot..or person..or highly trained dolphin. I think my pet cat had more control. So when no one was looking obviously a couple of balls may have found their way down the street; hey its great motivation to hit it straight. And sometimes the neighbors probably thought Russia just hit their house with an ICBM. If anyone hasn’t ever heard a ball off a driver hit a house 50 yards away let me tell you..Helen Keller could hear it, its louud.
So anyway the point is when my parents were home I couldn’t really tee it up. But just chipping the ball around wasn’t really acceptable so I would compromise by taking full swings, but hitting lob shot after lob shot into the tree in the center of our yard. I got surpisingly deft with this shot and still play it better than anyone I know. Tiger Woods used to work on this shot inside his house..he would have to hit it over lamps and other breakable objects so it gave him great incentive never to miss. But if you get good with this shot your going to find every excuse to use it and show it off. It looks impressive and feels great when you nestle one in close to the pin.
The shot is more about feel than technique. I can hit this shot off my front foot, back foot, with an inside swing, with an outside swing, weight back, weight forward..you get the picture. Let me tell you what you will not, under any circumstances, pull it off successfully with, a tight grip. Keeping your grip loose is absolutely imperative to executing this shot. If your grip is loose you can pull it off much trickier lies and your feel will be much stronger. This is how I execute my lob.
- Keep your weight back, and your stance very open. Keep your body very loose.
- Play the ball in about the middle of your stance or forward in your stance, as long as you stay inside your front foot its fine.
- Open your club face wide open at address. This will take some getting used to in order to be comfortable but you have to almost lay your club flat. Use a 56 degree wedge or higher but preferably a 60 degree or higher wedge as the club will be less changed from its intended lie and the shot will have more margin for error. Essentially what you are doing is taking a club designed to be 60 degrees and making it a 75 or 80 degree wedge.
- Make sure you have some grass under the ball to hit the shot. Hitting this off hardpan is next to impossible.
- This is the scary part, take an easy but almost full swing with your hands wrist and arms very relaxed. If you have never hit one you are going to expect the ball to go much farther than it does, but I can take a full swing and the ball will only go about 10 yards.
- Experiment and get a feel for the swing and action of the ball. As you get better you will be able to develop a great feel for how much to open the club and how hard to swing depending on your lie and what you have to work with. If you get good with this stroke you will fall in love. Remember to stay loose!
Let me qualify all that with the fact that the majority of the time hitting a lob shot will not be your best play. Generally around the green you want to keep the ball as low as you can for the most control. That’s why you putt whenever you can, and don’t make green side chips with a sand wedge. For the greatest odds at the best scoring, only play a lob shot when it is your only realistic option. However..Golf is about having fun for most of us. I play more lobs than I should not only because I have spent hours and hours and hours working on it and am very comfortable with it, but it gives me a lot of enjoyment to swing all out 20 feet from the pin and watch the ball come in high and soft right next to the hole. It looks impressive and feels great, so if you like it, go with it. And stay loose!
