PGA Tour pro, Will Zalatoris did a shoot with Titleist to answer some of “Team Titleist” short game questions. He provided some excellent insights into his thought-process as he works his way through different scenarios around the greens.

Zalatoris (or “Will Z” as I like to call him), primarily chips around the greens with his 60 degree wedge. This is somewhat uncommon for tour pros to use such a high-lofted wedge. Personally, I prefer the 56. According to Will, he uses it about 90% of the time around the green.

One of the questions posed to Will was about how he hits the “one-bounce-and-stop” chip shot: a common “crowd-pleaser” for fans who watch the pros play. Here’s Will explaining how he sets up to hit it:

To recap Zalatoris’s points on hitting the one-bounce-and-stop shot:

• Fresh grooves. As Will explained in the video, he will change his 60 degree wedge, once a month. That’s a lot for us amateurs to be spending on a $150+ sand wedge every month – but for the amount tour pros are using these, the grooves wear down pretty quickly. I recall getting my first Vokey wedge, and was astonished how quickly the ball stopped after hitting the first shots with it.
• Clean grooves. Along with fresh grooves, Will says you need to have clean grooves so the ball can adhere to the clubface better and longer.
• Lie dependent. Being able to hit this shot is somewhat situational. Even tour pros are going to have a heck of time stopping the ball quickly out of the rough because of the grass interfering with the clubface and ball.
• High hands / stand closer. It may seem counterintuitive, but standing closer to the ball and having the wedge more toe-up than level facilitates more of the motion you want with this shot. It’ll also help you avoid the chunked or fatted shot.
• Swing back low and through. Many golfers think one has to “chop down” on the golf ball to get it to spin more. Here, Will states that what you want is to keep the ball on the clubface longer. And to do this, he feels like he is taking his hands out of the shot with taking the club back lower and finishing lower and around himself on the follow-through.

All these tips are excellent and will allow you to hit that one-bounce-and-stop shot.

Let me know how it turns out for you!

We may earn a commission via some of the links on this post – at no cost to you.