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Video Short game: Malaska vs Mickelson

You cant fault Phil for how he did it. It worked extremely well for him. But he is a top 10 player all time. Malaska is teaching a lower risk lower reward idea that works for the guy that hits balls on the range once every other week and rolls a few putts before a round.

If you are willing to spend 2-3 hours hitting chips almost daily then go with Phil. If not, go with Mike.
 
TrueMotionMatt said:
Yep 💯 I took a clip from one of our videos that explains why you need a square stance with an open face for a stock flop/bunker shot.

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Is the key there to push the handle down?
 
blugold said:
Is the key there to push the handle down?
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That's one of the keys, yes, and what effectively makes the face "square". Adding Pressure and using a surf motion with your legs are couple other keys to making a bunker/flop super simple and repeatable.
 
Way more Phil than Malaska for me. I don't think there's one perfect method for all players though, regular or otherwise. A friend was fighting this a bit recently and changed instructors to good effect. Malaskas seems to work well for a lot of people, but he had low point issues that were better served by a more Phil-like approach with more hinge and less travel. Honestly, I think if he would just learn to use his legs a little he'd solve most of his problems, but some people just can't dance. lol
 
If you golf 60+ hours a week, you can probably swing whichever way you enjoy and ingrain it good enough to achieve consistency.
For mere mortals, keeping the moving parts in short supply will increase the odds of occasionally striking a ball well.
 
Chef23 said:
Always better to get the ball rolling on the ground.
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That's why I putt from everywhere. The putter is optimally designed for rolling the ball on the ground.

There's a couple guys I play with who will do that little 8-iron chip/putt type motion when the ball is in the fringe like a foot off the green. They seem to have pretty good touch with it but if the ball were just 12" closer to the hole and on the putting surface they'd never in a million years "putt" it with an iron. Doesn't make sense.
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
That's why I putt from everywhere. The putter is optimally designed for rolling the ball on the ground.

There's a couple guys I play with who will do that little 8-iron chip/putt type motion when the ball is in the fringe like a foot off the green. They seem to have pretty good touch with it but if the ball were just 12" closer to the hole and on the putting surface they'd never in a million years "putt" it with an iron. Doesn't make sense.
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If I can putt, I putt. If I can't putt, I chip. If I can't chip, I pitch. If I can play a bump and run, I'll usually take that option rather than flying it to the hole. The sooner I can get the ball on the ground and rolling, the better. My worst putt will almost always turn out better than my worst chip.

With that said, every shot is different and that's why it's good to have a variety of short game shots in your repertoire. Sometimes I need a toe-down chip, sometimes I need to belly a wedge, sometimes I need to hit a high, soft "mini-flop", sometimes just a simple garden variety chutt will work fine.
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
That's why I putt from everywhere. The putter is optimally designed for rolling the ball on the ground.

There's a couple guys I play with who will do that little 8-iron chip/putt type motion when the ball is in the fringe like a foot off the green. They seem to have pretty good touch with it but if the ball were just 12" closer to the hole and on the putting surface they'd never in a million years "putt" it with an iron. Doesn't make sense.
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My only issue at times with being off the green is that the fringe can be uneven. If it is smooth I will putt it.
 
Chef23 said:
My only issue at times with being off the green is that the fringe can be uneven. If it is smooth I will putt it.
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So when you do a chip/putt with an iron do you fly it over the fringe and land it on the green?
 
Personally, I like what Phil says and feel like that’s much more representative of my intention. I especially like his comment about following through the shot with your hands. That’s definitely something I worked on a lot last year.

The second clip is incredible. I could watch Phil hit those high flops all day. Amazing skill he’s got!
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
So when you do a chip/putt with an iron do you fly it over the fringe and land it on the green?
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Generally yes. Although there are situations with elevated greens that I might bump something that lands before the green or if the pin is cut close to the edge of the green.
 
The one thing the Malaska video was missing for me when I used his technique for chipping is like your hands and you don't want your arms going off on their own either.

If you stay connected and rotate properly you will bottom out in the same spot every time. When I start letting my wrists and arms take control I get I have a lot of issues with consistency.

As for controlling the trajectory and roll, I just change my setup slightly. If I want to hit the ball higher I move it up a bit and make sure my shaft is more straight up and down, at address. When I want it to go lower and roll more I put the ball a little further back and start with my hands more in front of the clubhead. Other than that it is the same swing for a high flop shot vs a lower shot.
 
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