Another thought regarding these delicate shots around the green...
I try to keep it simple. Keep the face relatively square, bend my right arm, straighten my right arm. A soft punch basic stroke. Angled hinging all the time. Back when I played more competitively I felt much more comfortable opening up the face and hitting big flops, but not so much anymore.
I think it was Homer himself who wasn't a big fan of vertical hinging, since it always requires deliberate manual manipulation. Stick with me for a moment. Remember, Kevin, how we discussed at the PGA that there are theoretically an infinite number of hinge actions? That is, everything between pure horizontal and pure vertical?
With a driver -- where the inclined plane is the flattest -- an angled hinge is closer to a horizontal hinge. And vice versa with a short pitch shot -- you're swinging on a steeper inclined plane, therefore your angled hinge is closer to a vertical hinge. So, they're both angled hinges, but they are not identical.
Which brings me to this: with short shots, the cost/benefit analysis might not shake out in your favor when using vertical hinging. More risk, minimal reward? And certainly a need for well-practiced manual manipulation. An angled hinge with a sand or lob wedge is getting pretty close to an angled hinge -- due to the rather steep clubshaft angle at address -- and it can be readily achieved without a deliberate "reverse roll" feel.
Yes true true, play to your strengths, but its interesting to me that the people who play for their lively hood these days have adopted a method for these short shots (short sided with super fast greens) that is still explained in Homers catalogue of variations.
Given the shot at hand and the requirements it presents to play with the best you must be able to comply with the requirements or risk falling behind over the long hall. You dont see too many guys with "equalizer" wedges any more, for instance. Palmer wasnt so good with a lob shot but he didnt need to be either. For a time anyways.
Nice to see you posting again Matt. I know you're hitting and it may seem awkward but it really isnt that hard to do, 'specially for a player like yourself. Give up control to gain control etc. Another weapon in the arsenal. But as always, to each their own.
I like your note about the more vertical shaft planes approaching vertical hinging. Interestingly V.J. Trolio describes a method of hitting super lobs where you do just the opposite. You set the shaft way below the hands plane, open the face up as wide as it will get......basically its laying with its back on the ground......and scalp the ball off the ground. The super flat plane takes all the Down out of the three dimensions , leaving you with Forward and a max'd our amount of Out. The benefit to this being that the club skins the grass at a super shallow Angle of Attack making ball position and the strike of the ball way, way easier to manage. Geometry it is so cool eh?
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