Eighteen holes of golf will always throw up various different tests and situations. The ability to play different golf shot shapes—from tucked away pins to simply finding the middle of the green—is a huge benefit.

In this guide, we speak to PGA Pro Barney Puttick about some of the most common golf shot shapes and how best to play them.

We’ve broken it down into the four golf shot shapes you’re most likely to find on the course and how you can practise each one.

What are the most common golf shot shapes?

Table of contents

1. The Low Shot
2. The High Shot
3. The Fade
4. The Draw

1. The Low Shot

Barney says…

What I get my students to do is narrow their stance and then move the ball back towards the middle of the stance.

I think the best way to learn how to hit it ‘low’ is to get a 7 or 8-iron and start with 30-yard chip shots. That way, you’ll start to get the feeling of keeping your hands in front, but you’ll also be practising hip rotation to get the right synchronisation.  

A common mistake golfers often make is they stick their hands just in front and then just prod them forward without any lower half movement. So, instead, try playing a chip and then expand it to 60-70 yards. The art for me, then, is truncating the swing on either side of the ball, so you go chest-high to chest-high, and because you have the slightly narrower stance and the ball positioned a bit further back, you can retain the angle through the impact zone. Then, you get that nice trapping sort of shot, and it takes off from there.

If you rehearse a few throwing movements, that will start to give you the synchronisation with the lower half. An underarm or side throw, similar to throwing a cricket ball or playing a forehand shot in tennis, for example, is good for understanding the feeling of movement in the hips.

2. The High Shot

Barney says…

Most golfers don’t struggle too much with getting the ball up as their angle of attack is quite steep. Here, it’s all about moving the ball further forward in the stance—normally, with a 6-iron, you’d be halfway between the left heel and middle of the stance—almost where you would normally put your driver. The theory, then, is that you’ll increase your hand action and start to get that desired elevation. 

You’ll be more level with the ball rather than in front of it this time, and that’s what starts to pop it up. Obviously, you don’t want to flick it, but I’ve always told golfers to start clipping a few balls with their feet together because that helps to accentuate the swing path, and you can really start to feel your hands releasing.

With your feet together, you have to release your hands so that when you put the ball forward in the stance, you can retain the same feeling in your hand action. It takes a bit of practice, but you’ll start to see a positive release.

To encourage a steeper takeaway, I usually start with something simple. I get golfers to hold their left hand where it would be at set-up, then take their right hand away as though they’re making a swing, and clap the left.  It’s quite interesting to watch, as no one ever whips their right hand inside—instead, they’ll always take it back on a normal path, so I think that’s good.  

Another method is using a medicine ball or a weight. I get golfers to take their normal posture and make a move away to simulate a throw. Body logic often takes over here, and you can see that with a weight, you’d never whip your arms across your body because it wouldn’t make for an efficient movement. Essentially, you are trying to make it so that it’s less of a fight to get it back on plane. 

I may also get golfers to put the club in the perfect position, halfway back, and make a turn from there before swinging through. Nine times out of ten, most of the damage is done by waist-high.

3. The Fade

Barney says…

I’m a bit ‘old school’. I always work in impact factors, so I’ll get golfers into good impact positions—i.e. hips cleared, hands forward, and do the drills to help with that.

I’ve worked with many good golfers, trying to get them to hold off shots with some fade to stop them from dropping it back on the inside. They’ve often ended up with a pretty straight shot with nothing on it.

Fade shots are very different now compared to 30-40 years ago. They’re often a safety thing, and if a good player loses five yards, who cares? If you’re talking about a deliberate fade, I’d aim the body where you want the ball to start and put the clubface down in line with the target.

Obviously, better golfers will feel it a little more in the downswing.  If you were to stand behind Max Homa, for example, he wouldn’t appear to be aiming that far left—certainly not like back in the day with Lee Trevino or Colin Montgomerie (Monty)—it’s very minute.  

Monty would often take out one side of the course. He knew there was never a danger of him losing it left, and I’ve seen him on right-to-left holes just plonking it over the corner, hitting it to where someone else would have just started it right and drawn it back in.  

The stock shot is an underrated one. People talk about Tiger hitting nine different golf shot shapes, but for most people, that’s the worst thing they could do. Golf is tough enough to be learning one shot never mind nine. With Monty, it was all about hitting this shot under pressure, and it was a nice, simple thing to go back to. And, of course, he was blessed with unbelievable rhythm—he didn’t look any different from the range to the practice ground.  

When people marvel at somebody getting over 60% accuracy with a driver on tour, it’s easy to forget that Monty was often in the high 70s and even 80s. He was repeatedly playing from the short stuff, and that is huge.

4. The Draw

Barney says…

The big thing for me here is making sure you get the club back on plane. In an attempt to hit a draw shot, people often end up whipping the club too far on the inside, thinking they’ve got to get around the body—but, of course, there’s no room for the club to shallow out on the way down.  

So, step one of hitting a draw is to make sure you’re coiling on plane, because it’s easy to get too tight to the body, and leave yourself nowhere else to go but over the top. 

Let’s use tennis theory—if you really want to draw it, hit it like a top hand. Then, pull your right foot back and hit it.

Golfers always want to swing around their feet. That’s always the ‘conundrum’, but they can see that even if they start to make a forehand move, like a top-spin, it comes inside but not right around. There is some shape for that shallowing movement to make.

The number one error I find with golfers trying to draw it is they aim too far right and get flatter and flatter on the backswing. Then, they wonder why they’ve ended up with a ‘low blocky’ one because they’ve got to come over the top on the way down.

About Barney Puttick

Barney turned professional in 1979 and worked under Ian Connelly, best known as Sir Nick Faldo’s original coach. He was once tied for third with Greg Norman in a 36-hole tournament in Cannes, behind Corey Pavin.

He has been the head professional at Mid Herts GC since 2000, and is a Golf Monthly Top 50 coach. He was recently made an Honorary Member of Hertfordshire Golf.

The article below was written by Jack Backhouse of National Club Golfer.

How you stand to the ball has a massive effect how you you then swing and hit it. PGA pro Jack Backhouse explains how to set up for success.

Standing to the ball with good posture is not complicated but is often overlooked by golfers when it comes to trying to improve. It is easy to get lost in the complex components of the swing, like swing plane, club path, wrist angles and so on and miss something easy like posture. In this video, what the 3 easy steps to perfect golf posture are.

Why is posture so important?

Getting into a good posture requires no skill and no athleticism and is the low-hanging fruit of golf technique. A golfer in a bad posture cannot make a big turn, create speed, or swing in balance, so starting in a good stance is important. Just like a goalkeeper waiting to save a penalty, standing too much on the heel or toes, too upright or bent over, it is very difficult to react and create speed and power when standing poorly.

What does poor posture look like?

There are generally two different ways golfers get their posture wrong. The first is standing too far away and reaching for the ball too much. When this happens, the golfer will generally be forced to move their weight too much to the balls of the feet and is off balance, or bend their knees a lot and sit down too much. In both of these instances, the golfer will stand up out of their bad posture, early extend and generally will have issues with fat and thin contact.

The second common mistake golfers make in their posture is arching their back too much, creating too much tension in the hamstring and lower to mid back. Although this might feel athletic, a flat or even arched back creates stiffness that stops a golfer from being able to turn and pivot correctly and, in the end, reduces club head speed and overall freedom throughout the golf swing.

Step 1

Step one is standing in a good golf posture with a correct spine angle. The way to do this is:

• stand up straight with the club parallel to the ground
• softly bend the knees
• round the upper back down until the club gets to the ground

The key here is not to over-hinge from the hips; this creates tension in the muscles on the back of the body that we don’t need. We want muscles to be loose when the golfer begins the swing to hit the ball. This may feel too relaxed or unathletic, but that is the correct feeling.

Step 2

Step two is standing the correct distance from the ball. Most amateur golfers stand too far from the ball. To know you are in the right position is:

• Stand in posture to the ball
• Let the trail hand relax off the club and let it hang freely
• Your hand should hang level with the part of the grip the trail hand holds
• If the hand swings inside the club you are too far away

Step 3

Step three is setting up with the correct spine tilt. Depending on the club used, the spine should angle away from the target in various amounts. to know the correct spine tilt:

• Get into golf posture
• Hold the club down your sternum
• Tilt away from the target until the golf club touches the lead leg
• The wider the stance (longer the club), the more tilt is required to set up

It is worth checking your posture every month to ensure you have all three of these points covered and give yourself the best chance of making good swings and hitting the ball well.

If you are interested in seeking further information from Jack that is more specific to your golf game, you can book an in-person or online golf lesson by clicking here.

A drop in golf is often a misunderstood concept, so if you’ve ever asked the question How does a drop work in golf?, you certainly won’t be alone.

However, in this blog, we’ll answer that question so you can drop with confidence.

How does a drop work in golf?

Firstly, when taking relief, you must drop your ball, whether under penalty or not. If you have a caddy, they can’t drop your ball for you—that’s your responsibility.

Since 2019, the rules now state that when dropping, you have to do so from knee height. Prior to the change, dropping was instead done from shoulder height.

When the rules changed at the beginning of 2019, it was initially met with criticism regarding how silly it looked to drop the ball from knee height—but there was, in fact, some sound thinking behind it.

Dropping from knee height

At the time of the rule change, the USGA’s Thomas Pagel explained: “It’s not just a drop from knee height, but now it’s a focus on the relief area. People say that dropping from shoulder height is simple, and it is, but under the old rules, there were nine different times you had to re-drop. We wanted to eliminate all those complications.

“In order to focus on that new relief area, we said, ‘Let’s get the player closer to the ground, and if you drop it from knee height, that ball is going to bounce a little less.’”

When dropping, the ball must first strike the ground and stay within the relief area. If it lands inside and rolls out, or vice versa, then you need to drop the ball again.

To better understand where to drop your ball, though, you need to understand where your reference point is, and these differ depending on the type of relief you’re getting.

Knowing your reference point

• If your ball is unplayable, the reference point is where the ball lies

• If your ball is in a penalty area (for example, a body of water or an area which has been defined as unplayable or where a ball is often lost), the reference point is where the ball crossed the edge of the penalty area

• If you’re taking back-on-the-line relief, the reference point is where the ball first hits the ground when dropped

• If your ball comes to rest in ‘abnormal course conditions’, such as temporary water, ground under repair, cart paths, or sprinkler heads, the reference point is the nearest point to where your ball lies. However, this can’t be nearer to the hole and is the spot where you can play your next shot with no interference from where you are dropping

You may stand either inside or outside the relief area when dropping your ball.

As of 2019, the term ‘penalty area’ has superseded ‘water hazard’. You can play the ball as it lies in a penalty area, and you can ground your club.

Golfers have three options if taking relief…

1. Stroke-and-distance relief

If you’re certain that your ball is in a penalty area, you can return to where your last shot was played from, drop your ball within one-club length, and play it with a one-shot penalty. If it was a tee shot, you can play it from any area of the tee.

2. Back-on-the-line relief

Locate where your ball last crossed the penalty area, and you can go back as far as you want on a line that keeps that point between you and the hole. You can now drop your ball, and it can move in any direction from that spot.

3. Lateral relief

Here, you can measure a relief area of two club lengths (not nearer the hole) from your reference point of crossing the penalty area and drop it in this relief area. The penalty, again, is one stroke.

Another key point to understand is the size of the relief area from your reference point. If you’re dropping from some abnormal course conditions, it’s one-club length, and if you’re dropping from an unplayable ball or a ball in a red penalty area, it’s two-clubs length.

If the ball doesn’t stay in the relief area, simply drop it again. If this happens for a second time, place the ball where the ball landed when you re-dropped it.

Another rule change also stipulates that the longest club in your bag cannot be your putter, so anyone using an extended putter can’t gain an advantage.

Interestingly, you can leave the headcover on your driver when measuring, but the extra length does not count.

How does a drop work in golf?

Points to remember

* Before lifting your ball, you must mark the spot. You can use a ball marker behind or next to the ball or hold a club on the ground right behind or right next to your ball. If you fail to do either of these, you will receive one penalty stroke.

* You can clean your ball when it is on the putting green or when you’re taking free relief or a penalty drop. However, you CAN NOT clean your ball when:

• checking to see if it’s cut or cracked

• lifting it to identify it—though you can clean mud away to do so 

• it is interfering with another player away from the green

• checking to see if it has settled into an indentation—however, if you take relief from an embedded ball, you are then allowed to clean it

If you fail to comply with the above, you will be penalised one stroke. 

Dropping in golf can take a while to get the hang of, particularly if you’re new to the game. However, read up on the rules mentioned above and refer to this guide the next time you need to take a drop. You’ll be dropping with confidence in no time.