In this video Alex Elliott explains how top hit 7 epic shots at the Belfry.
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00:00Welcome to the legendary Brabazon course here at the Belfry, home of four Ryder Cups.
00:11We've teamed up with Callaway and Alex Elliott and I are going to show you how to play seven epic shots.
00:18We're here at the third hole on the Brabazon, it's a reachable par five so a real tempter.
00:30Alex has got his tee shot quite a way down but as you can see we've just slipped over into the rough
00:36here so there's a decision to be made. Alex what are you thinking right now? I guess there's two
00:42options depending on how your game's going right now you could have started well and you might feel
00:46confident enough to take this on. Other options you've got here is if your game's not feeling
00:50quite good and sometimes we have those days is we could actually lay up down this right hand side
00:56but we've seen people play these shots I want to take it on right now as well. So we're in the rough
01:02now with this ball sat down a little bit we've got to sort of use a club that's going to help us get
01:07it in the air. Out the fairway we could probably get away with those long irons the four iron
01:12potentially something around there but 190 yards out I'm thinking hybrid help me get that ball in
01:18the air a little bit of help is all I need here. Great stuff right so you've decided you're going
01:22for it. Yes. We've got the hybrid talk us through the technique of how you're going to play this shot.
01:28So I guess there's um sort of a feeling I want people to use it I sort of kind of teach along sort
01:33of the the feeling route so ball position is really key let's make sure we've got the ball in the
01:37correct position and the feeling through the shot I want people to attach this very close to an iron
01:43shot let's not try and help it in the air let's try and feel like we get a little bit of a downwards
01:47hit and on a downward slide as well that's really really important. So in terms of ball position
01:52what I really like to see for golfers are the hybrid is a club head inside the left heel probably
01:57where they're going to attach their longer irons or potentially like a five wood or three wood
02:02but then the feeling through the hit and I do this for every single shot out on the golf course
02:07make a few practice swings just inside the ball looking where I want to contact that ground
02:13so I'm really looking to sort of brush that grass in front not sort of get a feeling of scooping it
02:19up into the air and I mean I think it's amazing you see some of the best players on tour do this they
02:25do exaggerated feelings relative to their swing thoughts from their coach but also relative to
02:31the shot that they've got. Absolutely all right there we go so we've got take a hybrid to help you get it
02:35up in the air make sure you're aware of that ball position and make sure you get down into it with
02:41that exaggerated feel you've talked us through it I've talked a big game here you've talked it up now
02:45let's see it in action okay so here we go work for your routine take on one of these shots and we all
02:52know our plane partners will enjoy it just as much as us if we get it on
03:02oh that looks pretty I'll go a little
03:08so you're up around the green chipping a puck for a birdie
03:11epic shots call for epic locations and it does not get any more epic or iconic
03:24than the 10th hole here on the Brabazon course at the Belfry look at that behind me
03:29we can all remember Seve Ballesteros being the first man to knock it on there the amazing rider
03:34cup moments we've seen you're here you're stood on the tee what's the thought process about how
03:40you're going to tackle this incredible golf hole I think first and foremost if you're here you want
03:44to have a go don't you yes you just want to have a go I think if we look at this logically we've got
03:49to sort of put it in that category of it's just another drive now I know it's not I know it's not but
03:55if we're going to hit our drive our best and give ourselves our best opportunity of getting it near
04:01or getting it on I think if we stick to sort of three simple rules good alignment try and put
04:08some good rhythm on it and in your head really try and hone in on the target rather than a wide open
04:15fairway so triple track ball what I would do in terms of like my routine and actually not just for
04:21this hole I'd do this on every single hole I'd always stand behind yep and place my lines
04:28down towards target so I know straight away I'm aligned to where I want to be yeah second
04:34I'm going to take my stance build my stance around that honing on my target rather than looking at
04:41wide open space so in this case a very tight front flag and now all I want you to picture is can you be
04:49balanced yeah because this would be very easy for any golfer of any level just to give it a little bit
04:54more because of the situation and think can I get it there so be balanced and try and not make it
05:00more than it is and just on shot shape obviously most amateur golfers and certainly myself included
05:05we play with a fade yeah verging on a slice at times that suits this perfectly so let's roll with
05:11it let's go with it set up allowing for that shape taking it into the hole and if we're honest if we hit
05:16a good one and it does leak a little bit right we might get a friendly balance off the tree and
05:20end up on the green well let's see how lucky we're feeling today hopefully very so ball down keep
05:27checking your target checking your alignment build your stance around those lines on the ball last
05:34thing be balanced
05:41oh that looks pretty be good oh if that's the right length oh he's right over the top of it on the green
05:51there you go epic moments epic shots
05:54we're on the 17th another beautiful hole here it's a par five it's reachable every chance to go for it
06:07in two from here alex but just one problem those branches are overhanging but you've got to go for
06:13it right a hundred percent i think this is a great situation risk and bit of reward here a lot of reward
06:19where the green's set with it sort of funneling with those bunkers it sort of lends itself to that ball
06:23landing short running up towards that flag if we can pull it off so with that in mind we've got to
06:28play a punch shot essentially to get it under these branches and running up onto the green
06:34explain to us how we do that so the first thing we've got to sort of go for is the the lowest lofted
06:39club in our bag now for some people this may be a six iron some people it could be upwards of a three
06:43iron we've got a three iron here so i'm going to choose my three iron if you've got a six iron five iron
06:48just choose your least lofted club so we're going to control a few things here how much we hit down
06:54on the golf ball and the loft the golf club has an impact also we could put speed into that mix as
07:00well so we want to feel as though we're going to hit more down and reduce our loft there's a lot of
07:05these things that we can do at the address position so let's work through in sort of like a five stage
07:11map as i kind of like to think it so first off let's grip down that golf club it's going to help us
07:16control the speed second we're going to build our stance with that ball towards the back of our
07:22stance number three can we get a little bit of weight on our left side yep number four i always
07:28like to do this without going too much into detail we need to make sure that we're bodies aiming a
07:34little bit left because we're hitting it early in our arc so aim a little bit left with that body
07:38and then the fifth point try and put a smooth three quarter swing on it all these factors help us
07:44control angle attack help us control the loft of the club and hopefully see that ball fizz out nice
07:49and low great stuff let's see it in action let's go so i think as we've spoken about throughout this
07:54whole series it's having a routine that you can stick to on these shots so pick the target i'm going
07:59to walk in gripping down that golf club place that golf club down ball slightly back in the stance weight
08:07left now we're in a position to go very nice chasing up in between the bunkers onto the putting surface
08:21you've got an eagle putt
08:28we're on the 15th another beautiful hole here alex has hit a very very rare bad shot you've got yourself
08:35in a little bit of trouble you're short-sided yeah there's a big old yawning bunker in front of you
08:41what are you going to do to save your par from here well i think there's only one thing to do
08:44in there flop shot big high flop shot we're thinking phil mickelson style here 100 like it's
08:51it's almost like like the hero shot if it comes off good you're a hero if it doesn't it can make
08:55you look a little bit of a fool so what are you assessing to decide whether you can carry that off i
09:00think the most important thing to do is i always work it from the ball to target like a ball to
09:04target line so i'd have a look at my lie i think if we're going to hit this flop shot we want that
09:09grass just to be cushioning that ball up a little bit on a bare lie we might have to look at a different
09:13option i then would walk around this bunker and probably walk to where i want to land it yep because
09:19you get a good understanding take this hole here for example we've got a bit of a backstop not a lot of
09:23green between the fringe and the flag so assessing it going to where your target is and you can get a full
09:30understanding of where you want to hit that ball to great stuff so we're going to go for the most
09:33lofted wedge in the bag how are you how are you setting up for this one if i i keep it really nice
09:41and simple bunker shot is all i'm sort of thinking so i would walk through a routine so i'd place that
09:47club down with the face open on the ground i would then take my hold if you look at that there kit
09:53like my hold to me is relatively neutral yeah but relative to the club face the club face is really
09:58really open and then place that club down behind the back of the golf ball and for a lot of people
10:03now it'll be a bit of a scary situation that club face looks like it's pointing a little bit to the
10:07right but we'll correct that in a second so then take a nice wide stance with the ball just favoring
10:13the left half yeah and then this is the key thing here you sitting down a little bit and getting the
10:19weight a little bit left actually will get that loft pointing somewhat to target right i want you to
10:25actually work through a different sort of feeling in release i want you to imagine there's a little
10:29smiley face on that club face as you're swinging through can you point it back at you rather than
10:35most people would release a club like this we want to feel a little bit more of an element of this
10:41make sure you take a few practice swings get used to the lie as well you've got to get used to that club
10:47working through the grass picture how much force you've got to put into it because i think
10:53the hard thing for most amateur golfers and club golfers is it requires a lot more speed than you
10:57think yeah so place your club down take your hold ball up in your stance sit down a little bit mirror
11:05that loft back at you all right very high very soft catch it on the right level and that is a very makeable
11:16par putt it's the tricky 16th now we've got an approach but it's a difficult one we all know
11:29how tough it is to be good from fairway bunkers you're in one right here alex that pin is tucked
11:35what are you going to do i think again it's like we've had in this whole series have a little bit of a
11:40formula for these big epic shots so first and foremost have a look at the lie because if this
11:46is not lying well we can get a bit of a clump of sand behind it sometimes even get a fried egg here
11:51we've got to take our punishment and just just take it out the bunker and use the most lofted club
11:55then i'd have a look at the side profile how quick have i got to get this ball up over the lip
12:00because how many times do we think yeah you know what i can get a six iron and get a five iron out of
12:06here we leave it in the bunker double bogey staring us back in the face so we go light we look at the
12:12side profile i then choose a club so i've got 135 here this would probably be a comfortable nine iron
12:18for me but i'm going to go wedge i'd rather get this ball out come up short and i've got a chance
12:24of making a bogey at worst if again if i leave it in here we're talking making some big scores so then
12:31take a nice normal hold i wouldn't change too much on that um i tend to go with my wedges anyway
12:37in the middle and an even amount of grip at the top and the bottom normal ball position and this is
12:43where it differs from what we would have as a traditional bunker shot we usually screw our feet
12:47right into the sand we're staring a fat shot so i think we want to sort of make sure we've got a
12:54compacted bit of sand under us so we've got a stable base so our final point is then pick out a little
13:00bit of a mark in front of the ball make sure the legs stay a little bit quieter through the shot
13:04and really focus on trying to hit down on the ball not get it in the air and just one other point are
13:10we doing anything with the ball position here to encourage that we make sure we get contact on that
13:15little white sphere before the sand you might want to put it a little bit further back in your stance
13:19i mean with a wedge traditionally you're going to have it sort of towards the back of your stance anyway
13:23if you're on a bit further away taking more like a seven iron eight iron you might want to put it
13:28half a ball to a ball back in your stance brilliant let's see you take it on if you can get it close
13:32to that pin that really is an epic shot it's a tight flag it's a little bit of digging keep the legs nice
13:38and quiet beautiful contact just a little bit short but i'm not turning this situation into a double
13:50bogey give yourself a chance to save your partner here we are on the 18th tee at the brabazon it's a
14:03beautiful golf hole but what an intimidating shot sometimes you just have to take it on and when there's
14:11water lurking short and you know the more you bail out the more difficult that second shot is going to
14:16be this is one of those moments isn't it alex definitely like you said there you bail out right
14:22you're probably laying up for your second here yeah so how are we going about hitting that absolute bomb
14:28off the tee well we've got to stand up and deliver that's first and foremost and we'd go with driver
14:32here definitely so i would tend to have in my golf game and as i go through a round have sort of three
14:39different sea heights my low one if it's a little bit of a chippier one into the wind my medium one one
14:45which i sort of class as my fairway finder and then what i call is my bombs away tee height i love
14:51it so what i look for here is as i'm addressing the golf ball he's actually having half a ball above
14:59the face i tend not to have this i sort of have a quarter usually on like my fairway finder shot so
15:04first and foremost half a ball above the face and i want to address the ball ball up in the stance that's
15:10really really key and just remind yourself check what you could do nice and simply address it in
15:15the middle of your stance with your feet together just turn your left toe out move your right foot
15:19away i know right away i've got the ball in the correct position next point can i make sure my
15:26shoulders are actually feeling as though they're parallel to my feet line a lot of golfers ball up in
15:32the stance you sort of get a little bit this way and all this is going to encourage sort of this
15:36motion if you think about it logically if you get behind it we've got a better chance of this upwards
15:42hit and finally i call that my gears sort of theory most of the drives that i hit sort of fairway finder
15:48sort of gear four in our car this one we've got to step up we've got to go gear five so we've got to
15:54feel like we've got to be balanced but we give it just that a little bit more absolutely wow this is
15:59a new tee box here for the british masters you are the first person to hit a ball off it
16:05so no pressure i feel it let's give it the bombs away so walk in right shoulder back
16:13gear five with some balance
16:19oh there's a bit of turn on that as well so the line here is trying to start it at the
16:24bunk and if you do get it to turn on that left edge you're absolutely in the perfect position
16:29perfect so aggressive off the tee committing to it nailed it and now you've set yourself up for
16:35that iconic approach into the 18th here at the belfry
16:44here we are in the fairway then at the 18th and what an epic shot you are faced with right now
16:52alex we've got the plaque down there from christy o'connor's magical two iron in that rider cup
16:58fortunately two iron isn't one of the options we need today with all the technology at our disposal
17:04we've got a few options here you can go hybrid long iron perhaps even a lofted fairway wood what
17:10are you going to do from this position i'm going to go three iron notoriously a probably difficult club
17:15for most club golfers um for a couple of reasons really um if i don't quite get it i know
17:21i've got the cover over the water and if i hit my sunday best i'm not going to go long so that
17:27middle of the road sort of club for me there i think if it went a little bit longer back edge
17:32downhill chip don't like the fancy that one no you don't want that using that long iron though that
17:37brings the microscope onto your ball striking as amateurs we can often struggle when we get into
17:43those long irons yeah i think we look down on it we don't see a lot of loft on the club
17:48nine times out of ten get a little bit thinny in that right shot and that's certainly in a lot of
17:52wet trouble right here so i think if we just think of three simple things and these can be thought of
17:57off the golf ball number one ball position number two can we feel that club is traveling a little bit
18:05lower through impact rather than trying to scoop this ball up high and the final one sort of ties into
18:12that second one and i would simply make some movements i mean if we look at all the top tour
18:16players we've mentioned this in the series before of having a feeling to take into a shot most club
18:21golfers a little bit fadey so i would really try and feel we have this sort of long right arm feeling
18:28and this released down towards target so make some little practice motion just like this without a
18:35golf club and you're getting a great feeling and nine times out of ten this will probably send it dead
18:40straight all right we've got the pin tucked away there on the top of the three tiers yeah this is
18:45your moment i feel the pressure show us something epic come on you've got this walking in ball position
18:52i want to feel it's a club head and sort of on the right edge of this club head here on the heel side
18:57inside my left heel down mirror that feeling hit it away
19:07oh what a strike that is if that is the right club that is all over it it's up there on the back
19:14tier i think you might have about six foot that is a truly epic golf shot there we have it that is how
19:22to hit seven epic shots here at the belfry i hope you enjoyed those tips from alex next time you're on
19:30the course and you're faced with one of those situations do what he said and you'll have some
19:35epic shots of your own thanks for watching