Learn the Bump and Run to Master Firm Conditions, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Learn the Bump and Run to Master Firm Conditions, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

So now let's have a little look at the bump-and-run shot. Now, what exactly is a bump-and-run shot? Well, it does what it says in the term. It starts off bumping forwards and then spends lots of its time running towards the flag. This is a really useful shot given the right conditions. Now, clearly on a very wet golf course with long grass with big bunkers in the way, a bump-and-run shot isn't going to be useful. That's when you need to fly the ball up a lot more.

But a bump-and-run shot particularly prevalent in the British when you're playing sort of golf courses like Lynx golf courses, maybe British Open when you watch that on the TV, you see a lot of golfers play the ball down and rolling and running it playing the bump-and-run shot rather than the high flicky, lofty shot.

Now, I think the easiest way to assess whether a bump-and-run shot is suitable for you would be to imagine that you are to pick the ball up in your hand. Look at the flag and then roll or throw the ball to the flag. Now, if there's a bunker in the way, quite naturally you'd throw it in the air over the bunker and around it. But if there's nothing in the way, a nice dry flat fairway with consistent rolling, consistent bounce, it might be a lot more suitable just to release the ball low and run it in across the floor.

And if that's the case when you fancy running it in across the floor, let's look at how you can play that. We're going to start off with less loft than we would normally have for the chipping games. We're going to take an eight-aim here. We're going to play the ball a little bit back in the stance, of a narrow stance should I say as well, gripping down on the club, leaning onto the left-hand side, and playing it fairly stiff wristed, not too many flicking or moving parts here. Nice little stiff wristed, bump forwards. Get the ball down at the front of the green. Get it rolling all the way up there.

We work on the principle playing a bump-and-run shot that the more the ball is on the ground, the safer it is. Because if you're hitting with a bump-and-run, you cannot hit it quite gently. If you are to fend that ball, it was only being a quite gentle fend, so it would roll still quite close. Whereas if you're playing a high flight lob shot, you need to hit it much harder because a lot more of the energy is transferred into an upwards angle. So when you hit it harder, if you don't fend it, nice soft through the green goes too far.

So play your bump-and-runs quite gently. Get the ball down on the ground as quickly possible. Play it with very little loft on the club face. De-loft the club even more at set-up and then just tickle it forwards. Get it down on the ground and get it releasing up nice and gently towards the hole. And that's how you hit a bump-and-run.

 2012-05-09

So now let's have a little look at the bump-and-run shot. Now, what exactly is a bump-and-run shot? Well, it does what it says in the term. It starts off bumping forwards and then spends lots of its time running towards the flag. This is a really useful shot given the right conditions. Now, clearly on a very wet golf course with long grass with big bunkers in the way, a bump-and-run shot isn't going to be useful. That's when you need to fly the ball up a lot more.

But a bump-and-run shot particularly prevalent in the British when you're playing sort of golf courses like Lynx golf courses, maybe British Open when you watch that on the TV, you see a lot of golfers play the ball down and rolling and running it playing the bump-and-run shot rather than the high flicky, lofty shot.

Now, I think the easiest way to assess whether a bump-and-run shot is suitable for you would be to imagine that you are to pick the ball up in your hand. Look at the flag and then roll or throw the ball to the flag. Now, if there's a bunker in the way, quite naturally you'd throw it in the air over the bunker and around it. But if there's nothing in the way, a nice dry flat fairway with consistent rolling, consistent bounce, it might be a lot more suitable just to release the ball low and run it in across the floor.

And if that's the case when you fancy running it in across the floor, let's look at how you can play that. We're going to start off with less loft than we would normally have for the chipping games. We're going to take an eight-aim here. We're going to play the ball a little bit back in the stance, of a narrow stance should I say as well, gripping down on the club, leaning onto the left-hand side, and playing it fairly stiff wristed, not too many flicking or moving parts here. Nice little stiff wristed, bump forwards. Get the ball down at the front of the green. Get it rolling all the way up there.

We work on the principle playing a bump-and-run shot that the more the ball is on the ground, the safer it is. Because if you're hitting with a bump-and-run, you cannot hit it quite gently. If you are to fend that ball, it was only being a quite gentle fend, so it would roll still quite close. Whereas if you're playing a high flight lob shot, you need to hit it much harder because a lot more of the energy is transferred into an upwards angle. So when you hit it harder, if you don't fend it, nice soft through the green goes too far.

So play your bump-and-runs quite gently. Get the ball down on the ground as quickly possible. Play it with very little loft on the club face. De-loft the club even more at set-up and then just tickle it forwards. Get it down on the ground and get it releasing up nice and gently towards the hole. And that's how you hit a bump-and-run.