Tony Finau's Cut Stinger (Video)

Let's look at a difficult trouble shot today. Josh Kelley's tutorial on how to hit Tony Finau's low slicing trouble shot may be just what you need to get out of the trees and back in play.



A few simple keys:

• Take a low-lofted club because cutting the ball will increase the effective loft. Josh is using a 4-iron and he says opening the face to hit a cut will make it play more like a 6-iron loft.
• Open your stance on a line wider than the line on which you plan to start the ball, but aim the clubface down the ball start line.
• With your open stance, the clubface will be more open than it would be in your regular grip. Make sure you open the face before you grip the club; don't just take your normal grip and then twist the face open. If you do that, you'll just shut down the face at impact and hit a draw instead of a cut.
• Make sure your hands are well ahead of the clubhead when you contact the ball. If you don't have that forward shaft lean at impact, the ball will shoot up into the tree instead of staying low.

And remember Josh's main key: You need to practice this shot on the range before you try it on the course. If you haven't practiced the shot beforehand, you won't have the necessary confidence to pull it off under pressure.