Flop shots and spin around the green

Setup

1. Only use a green with a clear, empty area beyond it: a flop that is caught thin flies a long way. Nobody stands on or past the green while shots are played.
2. Hitters stand side by side, a clear swing gap apart, all playing towards the same flag; nobody goes forward to collect balls until the coach calls it.
3. Set a flag a short way past a greenside bunker so there is little green to work with. Start from a good, fluffy lie in the rough or a fair lie on short grass.

How it runs

1. Flop: open the face first, then take the grip; widen and open the stance a little; ball forward of centre; a long, unhurried swing that slides the open face under the ball and keeps accelerating to a full finish. Five balls.
2. Check pitch: square or slightly open face, ball in the middle, hands just ahead, a shorter swing with a crisp, ball-first strike. It flies lower, lands on the green, hops and stops. Wipe the face and ball before each shot. Five balls.
3. Coach's lie: the coach drops the last five balls in different lies (tight, fluffy, slightly downhill). Before each ball the player names flop or check pitch and says why, then plays it.
4. Score a point for every ball finishing within a putter length of the hole.

Coaching points

• The flop needs speed and commitment; slowing down under the ball is what sends it thin across the green.
• Let the loft do the work: no scooping with the wrists.
• Spin comes from a clean strike with clean grooves, not a hit at the ball. Keep the face and ball dry and clean.
• Only flop from a lie with grass under the ball. From a tight or bare lie the lower pitch is the safer choice.

Common mistakes

• Opening the face after taking the grip, so it shuts again at impact.
• Decelerating into the ball out of fear of hitting it too far.
• Trying the flop when a simpler shot leaves the same putt.
• Expecting the check pitch to stop from rough, where grass between face and ball cuts the spin.