Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
If you’ve been watching the Open Championship, you likely have heard the announcers mention players hitting “knockdown shots” with their irons. It’s essentially a shot that is hit with a little less power than normal.
Why do the pros do this? Well, when playing in the wind — especially when hitting into the breeze — the ball can spin more than usual. And when this happens, it becomes harder to control where it goes.
With a knockdown shot, players will take a little more club and swing with a bit less power, keeping the ball lower and generating less spin.
The shot is extremely useful when conditions get tough or when you need a lower ball flight to get the ball close to the pin. Below, instructor Kelan McDonagh — an Ireland native — explains how you can easily hit a knockdown shot by making a few small setup adjustments.
The beautiful thing about a knockdown shot is that you don’t need to do anything to crazy to pull it off. In fact, the shot can be executed by anyone if you make a few small adjustments in your setup.
“Growing up in Ireland this is a shot we all had to learn pretty much by ourselves,” McDonagh says. “We figured out a way to knock the ball down in the wind because you’re normally playing in a two- to three-club wind on the links courses.”
The first thing you need to do to hit a knockdown shot is choke down a couple inches on the grip. Next, move the ball position a few inches back in your stance from where it would normally be, and then drop your trail foot back just a bit to close your stance.
By making these adjustments, you will naturally stiffen the shaft, de-loft the club and get your club path working more in to out.
“Closing your stance is [also] going to naturally shallow your angle of attack and take some spin off that shot,” McDonagh says.
Then all you’ve got to do is make a normal swing. With the adjustments you’ve made, the ball will come out a little lower and draw back toward the pin. It’s as easy as that.
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