To play a really great round of golf, players need to know how to hit a variety of golf shots.
If you are stuck with hitting high launch shots into every green, there are quite a few miss-hits that you are going to experience throughout your round.
Essentially, the best players in the game know how to play lots of different types of golf shots.
Each time they are faced with a situation, they will have a range of different shots that they can pull out of their bag and use.
One of these types of golf shots is a stinger.
Here is everything you need to know about what a stinger is and whether or not you can start incorporating them into your game.
What Is A Stinger In Golf?
A stinger in golf is a shot that flies very close to the ground and has a much lower arc than a traditional golf shot.
The stinger keeps the ball cutting through the wind, and it won’t let that wind affect the ball’s flight as it is a very penetrating golf shot.
With a stinger shot, the idea is to get quite a bit of roll and not necessarily have a soft landing on the green.
Stinger shots will very likely run through the green if you were to hit one that lands on the green.
Most of these shots are played a bit closer to the front of the green with plenty of room to roll through or back to the pin.
It is not difficult to learn how to hit a stinger golf shot, and it can be used with a variety of different golf clubs.
Although this shot has been around for many years, it became very popular during the years when Tiger Woods was playing his best golf.
Tiger would often hit stinger-type shots on golf courses that had really tough conditions, and they would eliminate a lot of the trouble.
He would also use stinger shots to get himself out of trouble and even to get close to the green on some of the very long par 5s.
Overall, the stinger shot was something that Tiger could rely on when the pressure got difficult on the golf course.
This is something that amateur golfers should learn from and should consider for themselves when learning how to hit these stinger-type golf shots.
How Do You Hit A Stinger In Golf?
The best way to hit a great stinger in golf is to practice it and learn to feel very confident about your ability.
If you ease up on a stinger instead of hitting it with full confidence, you may not be overly happy with the results.
Here are the steps to take to make sure you hit a great stinger-type golf shot and advance the ball as far as you would like.
1. Choose The Club Wisely
The idea of the stinger shot is to keep the ball lower.
Hitting a golf ball high in the air is not the goal here, and because of that, this shot works best with your lower lofted clubs.
If you have long irons that you use in your bag or even a mid-iron like a six iron or a seven iron, this will be the best club to learn to hit a stinger shot with.
Many golfers get good at this kind of a shot, and they can even hit it with their hybrid, fairway wood, or their driver.
However, for the most part, the 7 iron to the 4 iron is what you will see most often for a club selection.
Hitting a stinger with a wedge would be very difficult as this club gets the ball too high up in the air with its strong loft.
2. Narrow The Stance Slightly
A golf stance does not always need to be as wide when hitting a stinger.
Some golfers have better luck with consistency if they narrow their stance just slightly.
In windy conditions, this could cause you to lose some balance, so try to be aware of that if you are playing on a windy day.
The narrow stance can sometimes be turned slightly open if you are worried about hooking the ball.
The golfers who can open the stance a little are typically the better ball strikers who have confidence the clubface will be square at impact.
3. Grip The Club
Although there is no perfect way to grip the club when hitting a stinger shot, we always found that it was best to choke down on the club a little.
In addition, this is a time when you are going to want to have a firm grip on your club.
If you happen to hold the club loosely in your hand, you may notice it vibrate or wobble a bit as opposed to staying firm and stable in the hands.
Gripping the club with confidence will only help you keep the clubface square when you get to the impact position.
Golfers should be careful not to tighten their hands on the club too much, but for the most part, the grip on the club for a stinger shot can be firm.
4. Short And Abbreviated Swing
The backswing on a stinger-type golf shot is abbreviated.
There is no need for a full swing here as you are just trying to start the ball advancing at a lower trajectory with a really high moment of inertia.
Most golfers that hit great stinger shots try to think about the fact that they are taking a three-quarter type swing.
With a three-quarter golf swing, you will also have plenty of control over the golf club and hold it in place as you swing through the ball.
Sometimes when the club gets too far back, it can get a bit out of control and then make it harder to get that high speed at impact.
Many golfers find that an abbreviated backswing can help with all parts of their game and not just these stinger shots.
5. Finish Low And Hold It
The biggest thing to remember about hitting a stinger shot is that you are going to want to keep the ball low.
The steeper you swing the golf club, the easier it is to hit the ball high.
When you want to keep your golf shot low, you must finish low and hold it there.
The backswing is going to feel a little more shallow, and the finish will be low and feel almost as if you are stopping the club.
Finishing low and holding it can take a bit of strength and coordination.
However, if you can learn to do this, the ball flight will stay low, and you will get a considerable amount of roll from the shot.
When Should You Hit A Stinger In Golf?
Hitting a stinger in golf is a valuable golf shot.
It is important to learn when to use it and also when not to use it.
Hitting a stinger at the wrong time could leave you with a golf shot that is not actually going to stop where it should, and it could get you into more trouble.
Therefore it makes sense to hit a stinger in golf when you find yourself in these situations.
1. Punch-Out
Hitting a golf punch-out shot is a great time to hit a stinger.
Getting yourself into trouble on the golf course is quite common.
Whether you hit it into the woods or behind a hazard, there are times when you will have to kind of sacrifice a shot and get the ball back into play.
Instead of just hitting a little chip to put the ball back into the fairway, you may want to get some extra distance and roll.
The best shot to do this would be the stinger.
A punch-out shot is not necessarily a full stinger, but you can use the same basic technique here to get the ball headed out on the right track.
We love the stinger shot when you have a lot of fairway in front of you, and you just need to keep the ball low to get it back in play.
In addition, the height of the stinger golf shot is kept considerably lower, and this will help with any branches that may be in the way.
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to advance the ball considerably further simply because you do not know how to hit a stinger shot.
This is something that is worth taking full advantage of.
2. Windy Conditions
Winds were one condition where we used to see Tiger Woods break out the stinger shot all the time.
The windy conditions include times when the wind is both in your face and when the shots you are hitting are heading downwind.
Even though you may think you want to keep the ball high in the air downwind to get extra distance from it, chances are you will also lose control.
Giving a golf ball to the wind can mean that the wind will take it anywhere.
Therefore, to keep your shots a bit more accurate, play the ball down in the windy conditions and work on the stinger.
If you play links-style courses in other countries where the weather conditions are typically quite poor, the stinger shot becomes very popular.
The idea becomes less about precision and more about advancing the ball through the worst conditions.
Windy conditions on a golf course are even harder than rain sometimes because of the movement of the ball.
For golfers who are prepared with a stinger shot, it is easier to score, regardless of the conditions you are faced with on the course that day.
3. Dry Fairways
Sometimes golf course fairways get really dry.
This can be looked at as a negative at times, but if you are smart about it, you can use this to try and get quite a bit more distance.
However, to get the extra distance on these types of shots, it is really important to use a golf shot that creates more forward spin than backspin.
The stinger shot will force the ball to roll forward as opposed to stopping the ball in its place or even backing it up.
Dry fairways are a chance for you to reach par 5s in two shots and maybe even make a birdie on that long par 4 that gets you every time.
Take a stinger shot and use it from the tee box, and then you can even use another one from the green to get yourself to the hole.
Remember that the stinger shot can be used with a variety of different clubs, but you just have to find something that you feel confident with.
4. Control
A stinger shot can give a player much more control than a full swing golf shot.
A controlled shot is good when you are getting the ball through a tight spot on the course or if you need to make sure it stays on a straight line.
With the technique of the stinger-type shot, you will have an easier time keeping the ball straight, and therefore you will notice quite a bit more control.
Overall, golf shots that are controlled will help you shoot lower scores.
Learn this stinger shot and be able to pinpoint the line that you shoot your shots on.
Should Beginners Learn How To Hit A Stinger?
Beginner golfers often look at alternative shots like this and wonder if it is worth learning how to hit them.
The truth is beginners should learn all the shots that they can as soon as they can.
The quicker you give yourself the advantage of being able to try out different clubs and different ball flights around the course, the better your chance of breaking 100 and becoming a great golfer.
Beginners should know how to hit a stinger, and it will increase the awareness of the clubface at impact.
In addition, beginners will learn how to hit down and through their golf shots a little better, and that can promote a better overall golf swing.
Learning different types of golf shots get beginners to a point where they cannot be hyper-focused on one type of golf shot and end up getting themselves to the point of becoming a true golfer.
Does A Stinger Shot Work?
A stinger shot does work in the right circumstances.
In fact, if you want to see how well the stinger shot works, you can go back and look at old footage of Tiger Woods hitting stinger shots in major championships.
This type of stinger shot will keep the ball down, set it rolling quite far, and ensure that you are getting the impact position that you need.
Practicing different types of shots like this will make you a much better golfer when it comes to course management.
When you can focus on keeping the ball below the wind and much controlled, the stinger shot will produce the results that you need.
Conclusion
We hope that you now feel like you can hit a stinger shot and incorporate it into your game.
As we said, there are times that this is going to be a great shot to hit and other times where you will probably not find this to be a good overall choice.
The stinger shot is something that you must learn to practice on the driving range.
Do not bring this out on the golf course for the first time.
Instead, you need to practice it and become confident in your ability, and then bring it with you to the golf course only after you have achieved that confidence during practice.
Incorporating some of these stinger-type shots into your round can really help you establish control on the golf course.
It takes time to add shots to your game, but it will be well worth it.
Once you have learned the basics on the range, don’t be afraid to incorporate them on the golf course.
Trust in what you have practiced and you can pull off the shot quite successfully.
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