How To Get The Ball To Stop On The Green - Golf Tip (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
How To Get The Ball To Stop On The Green - Golf Tip (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

Golfers are asking – often are asking me when we play together, you know, Pete, how did you land the ball next to the flag and it stopped yet I landed the ball 30 yards short in the green and it still rolled over the back of the green? So stopping the ball on the green is quite a nice skill to have in your bag. But you have to understand, it’s not a magical skill that only pro’s can do, it’s just a set of circumstances that comes together when good players hit the ball well, that helps them stop the ball and while a lot of club golfers get frustrated by running the ball through the green. First thing to concern is your equipment; you’ve got to have a decent soft ball. Not a distance ball but a soft ball. You have got to have a decent lofted club. And it’s got to be in quite good condition and relatively new grooves and a dry club face and a dry ball.

If you’re trying to stop the ball on the green with a 3-iron with a distance golf ball, that’s not happening it doesn’t matter who’s hitting it. But if you can be let’s say 100 yards and in, using a wedge with a decent club and a decent ball, you should find the ball is landing on the green and stopping within a couple of paces. So from inside 100 yards, a couple of paces is how the ball should be releasing. If it’s still 100 yards and then landing and rolling over the back of the green even if you’re hitting wedge, chances are you’re not striking it very well. And if you’re striking it with grasps stuck between the club face and the ball, that would reduce the amount of spin the ball gets causing it to land on the green and run out. So here is a little exercise just to make sure that you’re striking the ball as cleanly as you possibly can. I’m going to take my golf towel here and I’m just going to lay it on the ground. Just six inches back behind the golf ball. And as I set up now fast nice and flat to the floor, set up to these balls, I should be able to hit the ball quite cleanly without disturbing the towel. If I was hitting down and hitting the towel at the back, that was what we’d class as a fat shot on the golf course. And I want to make sure I am not on the driving range practicing those fat shots. So setting up to the ball nicely, noble stance for a little pitching shot, going to hit it out there about 80-90 yards. Clip it away nicely, and I haven’t disturbed the towel at the back that ball would be landing and spinning you’d probably see that ball landing and come down within a couple of feet of where it – of where it landed it would stop, and that would be a nice shot on the course. If I was to make a mistake on this one, I'm going to lean back a little bit, I am going to scuffle the towel, this is what we often see golfers trying to do on the course, they’re trying to lift the ball in the air, they lean back, and they try and hit the ball up, but clearly I’ve made a mistake here, I’ve hit the towel. So whether that ball might go high it certainly won’t spin on the green because I‘ve caught the ground first, got grass stuck between club face and ball it’s not going to work very well, depending on my ground conditions, if that’s a wet day, that ball is probably only gone 20 yards. If I had a dry day, I might have bounced the club into the back of the ball and even send it over the green. So clearly striking the ball is a great way of getting the ball to fly the right distance, at the right height, drop on the green and then stop where you wanted it to. 2014-03-26

Golfers are asking – often are asking me when we play together, you know, Pete, how did you land the ball next to the flag and it stopped yet I landed the ball 30 yards short in the green and it still rolled over the back of the green? So stopping the ball on the green is quite a nice skill to have in your bag. But you have to understand, it’s not a magical skill that only pro’s can do, it’s just a set of circumstances that comes together when good players hit the ball well, that helps them stop the ball and while a lot of club golfers get frustrated by running the ball through the green. First thing to concern is your equipment; you’ve got to have a decent soft ball. Not a distance ball but a soft ball. You have got to have a decent lofted club. And it’s got to be in quite good condition and relatively new grooves and a dry club face and a dry ball.

If you’re trying to stop the ball on the green with a 3-iron with a distance golf ball, that’s not happening it doesn’t matter who’s hitting it. But if you can be let’s say 100 yards and in, using a wedge with a decent club and a decent ball, you should find the ball is landing on the green and stopping within a couple of paces. So from inside 100 yards, a couple of paces is how the ball should be releasing. If it’s still 100 yards and then landing and rolling over the back of the green even if you’re hitting wedge, chances are you’re not striking it very well. And if you’re striking it with grasps stuck between the club face and the ball, that would reduce the amount of spin the ball gets causing it to land on the green and run out. So here is a little exercise just to make sure that you’re striking the ball as cleanly as you possibly can.

I’m going to take my golf towel here and I’m just going to lay it on the ground. Just six inches back behind the golf ball. And as I set up now fast nice and flat to the floor, set up to these balls, I should be able to hit the ball quite cleanly without disturbing the towel. If I was hitting down and hitting the towel at the back, that was what we’d class as a fat shot on the golf course. And I want to make sure I am not on the driving range practicing those fat shots. So setting up to the ball nicely, noble stance for a little pitching shot, going to hit it out there about 80-90 yards. Clip it away nicely, and I haven’t disturbed the towel at the back that ball would be landing and spinning you’d probably see that ball landing and come down within a couple of feet of where it – of where it landed it would stop, and that would be a nice shot on the course.

If I was to make a mistake on this one, I'm going to lean back a little bit, I am going to scuffle the towel, this is what we often see golfers trying to do on the course, they’re trying to lift the ball in the air, they lean back, and they try and hit the ball up, but clearly I’ve made a mistake here, I’ve hit the towel. So whether that ball might go high it certainly won’t spin on the green because I‘ve caught the ground first, got grass stuck between club face and ball it’s not going to work very well, depending on my ground conditions, if that’s a wet day, that ball is probably only gone 20 yards. If I had a dry day, I might have bounced the club into the back of the ball and even send it over the green. So clearly striking the ball is a great way of getting the ball to fly the right distance, at the right height, drop on the green and then stop where you wanted it to.