You're Correct!

The stinger golf shot is a deliberately played, very low trajectory golf shot, played with a 3 wood from the tee. It is an effective shot to learn to play, especially in windy conditions or where you want to achieve a lot of run on the golf ball. In learning how to play a stinger golf shot, you initially need to make some adjustments to your set up and address position.

Play the ball further back in your stance than you usually would. This will help you to strike the ball before the club head reaches the lowest point of its swing arc and as such the club face will be slightly more de-lofted that usual and you will achieve a low trajectory and launch angle for the ball flight.

To further encourage this low flight, place your hands ahead of the club head. This means that your hands need to be positioned to the left of the golf ball (right handed golfers), with the club head on the right of the golf ball. The shaft of your golf club will be leaning towards the target so that the handle is closer to the target than the club head. Work on creating a straight line from your left shoulder, down your left arm and then extend this down the shaft of the golf club and this will set your hands ahead.

You also want to position your centre of gravity further forward than usual, to promote you striking the golf ball before the club head reaches the lowest point of its swing arc. To do this, position your nose and head further forward than normal, so your nose is more directly over the golf ball. As you are striking the ball before the club head reaches its lowest point of the swing arc, you also want to align your feet to the left of target, otherwise you will strike the golf ball right of target due to this.

To play the shot from this position, you need a shorter back swing and more stunted follow through than usual. As you swing the club head away from the ball, work on maintaining the straight line that you have created with your left arm and the club shaft. You want to make no more than a three quarters back swing to achieve this as you do not want to use your wrists if you want a low trajectory.

Swing back towards the ball so that at impact you have maintained the straight line down your left arm and the golf club and ensure your weight is on your left side as you rotate your hips towards the target. As you swing through impact, turning your body towards the target, maintain the straight line of your left arm and the golf club shaft and you should finish in a much lower position than usual. Work on keeping the club head lower than your hands once you have struck the golf ball.

A great drill to work on to achieve these points is to set up holding the golf club and an alignment pole behind your left arm - so that the alignment pole is an extension of the club. Gently swing the club and pole and maintain it behind your left arm as you do this. Once you get used to feel this position, gradually speed the movement up until you are able to make the movement at full speed. Now reintroduce the golf ball and you will be hitting a stinger.

Hitting your 3 wood harder in an attempt to hit a stinger will not work. The harder you strike the golf ball, the more spin you create and with more spin the golf ball will fly higher rather than lower.

Using an iron to hit a stinger is incorrect. You can play a low trajectory punch with an iron, but a true stinger golf shot is played with a 3 wood, that is hit deliberately low.

Using a 3 wood to hit a stinger is the correct club to use, but a high 3 wood is not a stinger golf shot. You need to learn to control the trajectory of the shot so that it is deliberately low, rather than high, to hit a true stinger.