How to Hit a Flop Shot—and Know When Not to Try It
The flop shot is one of the most impressive shots in golf. The ball launches almost straight into the air, clears trouble, lands softly, and stops before it can roll away from the hole.
It is also one of the easiest shots to blade across the green or leave sitting at your feet.
That is why I do not treat the flop shot as a standard short-game option. I mainly use one when I have to—usually when I am short-sided, need to carry rough or a bunker, and do not have enough green available for a normal chip to stop.
One example would be a ball sitting in the rough with a short-sided pin and a downhill landing area. A regular chip may land safely but continue rolling too far. The extra height of a flop shot can help the ball land more softly.
However, hitting the shot correctly is only half the challenge. You must also recognize when attempting it introduces more risk than the situation requires.
In this guide, we will cover how to hit a flop shot, how the lie affects your chances, why golfers blade or chunk it, and when a safer chip is the smarter decision.
If course-management decisions like this are costing you strokes, start with my Free Break 90 Blueprint. It will help you identify the parts of your game that deserve the most attention.
What Is a Flop Shot?
A flop shot is a high, soft-landing shot played with an open clubface and a lofted wedge.
Unlike a normal chip, which may fly low and spend more time rolling, the flop shot is designed to produce considerably more height. It is useful when you need to carry an obstacle and stop the ball within a small amount of green.
The shot is commonly played with a sand wedge or lob wedge. Most golfers will use the most lofted wedge they are comfortable controlling, often somewhere between 56 and 60 degrees.
Opening the face adds even more effective loft. It also exposes the rounded sole—or bounce—under the club. That sole can help the club slide through the grass instead of allowing the leading edge to dig sharply into the ground.
The tradeoff is a larger swing for a relatively short shot. That creates greater consequences when contact is poor.
A thin flop shot may travel across the entire green. A heavy one may move only a few feet.
When I Consider Using a Flop Shot
My first question is not, “Can I hit a flop shot?”
It is, “Do I actually need one?”
I consider the flop shot when several of these conditions are present:
- I am short-sided with very little green between the edge and the hole.
- Rough or a bunker prevents me from playing a lower shot.
- The green slopes downhill after the landing area.
- A normal chip would likely release too far.
- The ball is sitting well enough for the club to pass underneath it.
- There is a reasonable place to leave the ball if I do not hit the shot perfectly.
The combination of a forced carry, a short-sided pin, and a downhill green is one of the clearest situations where extra height can help.
Even then, the goal should fit the situation.
If I am carrying a bunker, my first objective is to get the ball safely onto the green. I am not trying to produce a highlight shot that finishes beside a tucked pin. A 20-foot putt is much better than another bunker shot.
Read the Lie Before Opening the Clubface
The lie determines whether the flop shot is a realistic option.
Clean or Slightly Cushioned Lie
A clean lie with a little grass beneath the ball normally gives you the best opportunity to slide the club under it.
You still need good contact, but the grass offers some room for the sole of the wedge to work.
This is the type of lie from which golfers should first learn the shot.
Ball Sitting Up in Fluffy Rough
A ball sitting up can look perfect, but it has its own danger.
The club may travel completely under the ball, producing a shot that goes almost straight up and finishes short. When the ball is sitting high, you must account for how much grass and space are underneath it.
The goal is to make contact near the bottom of the ball without passing underneath it.
Buried Rough
A deeply buried ball is not a good invitation to lay the face wide open.
Thick grass can grab the hosel, slow the clubhead, and close the face. In many cases, the better decision is to use a squarer clubface, make a committed escape swing, and accept the amount of rollout that follows.
For more help adjusting to different rough conditions, read How to Hit Out of the Rough: Step by Step.
Tight or Bare Lie
A tight lie gives the club almost no cushion beneath the ball. This greatly reduces the margin for error.
The leading edge can strike the middle of the ball and send it across the green. The club can also hit the turf first and bounce into the ball.
Advanced golfers may play a flop shot from tight turf, but most players will score better with a standard pitch, soft chip, or less-open clubface.
My guide to Chipping from Tight Lies vs. Rough explains how those two surfaces require different decisions.
How to Set Up for a Flop Shot
The following is a general setup that golfers can use as a starting point. Small adjustments may be necessary based on your wedge, the lie, and the height required.
1. Choose Your Most Lofted Comfortable Wedge
Use a wedge that gives you enough loft without making you uncomfortable.
A 60-degree wedge is not automatically the correct choice. A golfer who controls a 56-degree wedge may produce a better result by opening that club slightly rather than using an unfamiliar lob wedge.
2. Open the Clubface Before Taking Your Grip
Set the club behind the ball and rotate the face open before placing your hands on the grip.
If you take your grip first and then twist your hands, the face may return toward square during the swing.
For a right-handed golfer, the open face will point right of the target. Your stance can then open to the left so the loft is aimed toward the intended landing area.
3. Play the Ball Slightly Forward
Position the ball forward of center, but do not automatically push it all the way to your lead heel.
The forward position helps the club approach with a shallow motion and keeps loft on the face.
If the ball moves too far forward, however, the club may hit the ground well behind it. Your exact position should match the lie and the amount of height needed.
4. Create a Stable, Open Stance
Use a stance that is slightly wider and more open than your normal chipping setup.
Soften your knees and allow the club handle to sit a little lower. Keep your pressure centered or slightly favoring the lead side.
Avoid leaning backward to help the ball into the air. The lofted, open clubface is responsible for launching the shot.
5. Keep the Handle Relatively Neutral
Do not press your hands a long way ahead of the ball.
Excessive forward shaft lean removes the loft you created by opening the face and exposes the leading edge. A more neutral handle position allows the sole of the wedge to interact with the turf.
Grab this Resource: Step By Step Practice Plans: Beginner Plan, Intermediate Plan, Advanced Plan
How to Make the Flop-Shot Swing
Once the face and body are set, the motion needs both freedom and commitment.
Make a smooth backswing with some wrist hinge. Allow the clubhead to travel past your hands instead of dragging the handle aggressively toward the target.
On the downswing, keep your body turning and let the sole of the club slide through the grass beneath the ball.
The motion should feel shallow enough to use the club’s bounce but committed enough that the club continues moving through impact.
The most important idea is this:
The shot needs speed, but it does not need tension.
Golfers often become nervous because the swing feels too large for the short distance. They respond by slowing the club immediately before impact. That can cause the club to dig, stop, or leave the ball short.
Choose the landing area, make the swing needed to reach it, and continue through to a full, balanced finish.
Do not attempt to scoop the ball with your hands. The open face provides the height.
Why Golfers Blade the Flop Shot
A bladed flop shot occurs when the leading edge strikes the middle or upper half of the ball.
Common causes include:
- Playing the ball too far back.
- Closing the face during the downswing.
- Pushing the hands too far forward.
- Standing up through impact.
- Trying the shot from a bare lie without enough precision.
- Becoming afraid of the ground and making no meaningful turf contact.
To correct the blade, return to a suitable lie and confirm that the face remains open. Keep your chest level and allow the club to brush the grass beneath the ball.
You are not trying to strike directly into the back of the ball as you would with a low-running chip.
Why Golfers Chunk the Flop Shot
A chunk happens when the club enters the turf too early and loses most of its speed before reaching the ball.
Common causes include:
- Moving pressure onto the trail foot.
- Placing the ball excessively far forward.
- Making a steep chopping motion.
- Allowing the leading edge to dig.
- Decelerating before impact.
- Trying to lift the ball instead of turning through the shot.
Check that your pressure remains centered or slightly forward. Keep the handle neutral and allow the clubhead to release.
The club should interact with the grass, but it should not bury itself in the turf.
When Not to Hit the Flop Shot
A flop shot should not be your automatic choice simply because the pin is close.
Choose a safer shot when:
- You have plenty of green available for the ball to roll.
- There is no obstacle forcing the ball into the air.
- The ball is deeply buried.
- The lie is extremely bare, muddy, or unpredictable.
- A long miss brings water, out-of-bounds, or another serious penalty into play.
- You have not practiced the shot.
- You are uncomfortable making the necessary swing.
- A normal chip can produce an acceptable result.
If a lower shot can safely finish on the green, it will usually have a smaller contact requirement and a more predictable outcome.
You can also learn a less extreme option in my guide to the Soft-Landing Chip Shot. That shot can provide useful height without requiring the fully open face and larger swing of a true flop.
The Over-the-Bunker Decision
A bunker between the ball and the green can make golfers believe they need to aim directly at the flag and stop the ball immediately.
That is not always the best decision.
Before selecting the flop shot, look for the widest and deepest section of green available. If the pin is tucked close to the bunker, aim away from it when necessary.
Your order of priorities should be:
- Clear the bunker.
- Keep the ball on the green.
- Leave the easiest possible putt.
- Finish close to the hole if the first three allow it.
This keeps one difficult situation from turning into two or three extra shots.
The Five-Ball Flop-Shot Reliability Drill
Do not wait until the course to find out whether your flop shot is dependable.
Try this five-ball test from a practice area where high shots are permitted.
Setup
- Start from a clean or slightly cushioned lie.
- Choose a target approximately 15 to 20 yards away.
- Create an obstacle using a practice bunker, alignment stick, or towel placed safely between you and the landing area.
- Select a generous landing section on the green.
- Hit five balls using your normal flop-shot technique.
A successful shot must clear the obstacle and remain on the green. It does not have to finish next to the hole.
Your Progression
Your first goal is to succeed with three out of five shots.
Once you can regularly hit three out of five, work toward four out of five. Eventually, see whether you can complete all five without a blade, chunk, or ball left short of the obstacle.
Pay attention to the severity of your misses. Four successful shots do not necessarily make the shot course-ready if the fifth is bladed 30 yards over the green.
You can also hit five standard chips from the same location. Compare the results honestly. The flop shot may look better, but the simpler shot may produce a better average outcome.
A Simple On-Course Flop-Shot Checklist
Before opening the clubface, ask yourself:
- Do I need to carry an obstacle?
- Am I short-sided with very little green?
- Will a normal chip roll too far?
- Is the lie suitable for the club to slide under the ball?
- Is there a safe landing area?
- Where is the best miss?
- Have I practiced this shot successfully?
- Would I accept a longer putt in exchange for removing the major danger?
If the situation does not pass that checklist, choose the safer shot.
Final Thoughts
The flop shot is a useful specialty shot, but it should not replace dependable chipping fundamentals.
I mainly use it when the situation forces the ball into the air—such as carrying rough to a short-sided downhill pin. When a bunker is involved, my main goal is to clear it and get safely onto the putting surface.
Your objective is not to prove that you can hit the most difficult shot. It is to select the shot that gives you the best chance of completing the hole in the fewest strokes.
Learn the setup, practice from realistic lies, and test your success rate. Then reserve the flop shot for the occasions when its extra height provides a genuine advantage.
For structured short-game drills and complete weekly practice routines, explore the Foy Golf Academy Practice Plans.