For the top wedge players on tour, it’s not enough just to have precise distance control. It’s about having vastly different shots in their arsenals. For a back pin on soft greens, they need a low-trajectory punch that doesn’t spin back when it lands. But for a front pin on the firm greens they find in major championships, they need a more lofted shot that drops and stops.
In Episode 10 of “My Game: Tiger Woods—Shotmaking Secrets, Presented by Geico,” Woods walks through his process for playing one of the most-wanted wedge shots: the high floater. It’s a shot he’ll most certainly use at Augusta National, and one that every weekend golfer would love to own.
“When I try to play a little softer shot,” Woods says, “I feel like my hands are undercutting it a bit—especially my right hand.”
Woods is talking about not letting his right hand turn down through the shot, so the clubface will stay open longer, and the ball will fly higher.
“Feeling this shot, I would aim slightly right of the flag because I want to pull across it just a touch, add a little bit of loft to it. Because I want to undercut this and put a little more spin on it, I put the ball a little farther forward in my stance. So I pull across it, add a little loft and softness.”