Can Dan Grieve Fix A Mid-Handicapper's Short Game In One Lesson?
Short game guru and Top 50 coach Dan Grieve gives a 12-handicap golfer a lesson to see if he can fix his chipping woes for good within 15 minutes!
Video Transcript
Good.
All right, James.
Good stuff.
Stand this side.
So I mean, pretty good contacts there.
They were g- decent contacts, but you can see we've got a shot here around about what?
20 yards.
It's straight up a hill.
Yeah.
Quite a steep slope at the end.
I mean, they're all good shots, but probably the wrong shot for this situation.
Right.
I always say in short game, you- the key to getting better is you gotta improve your technique.
There's a few technical bits we're gonna run through, but you've also really gotta improve your golfing IQ.
Right.
And that is using the right club and don't threaten getting the right ball flight and the right spin to match the shot and the pin position in hand.
Whereas you're playing some nice shots there, but it- they'd be more for when you need to go over something, like it's just going too high.
I mean, you're using a 56, are you?
56, yeah.
Yeah, it's probably a little bit too much loft.
But, we'll get into club selection and, and, and shot choice shortly, but I just wanna work on some technical bits first.
So what I was seeing there when you were swinging, basically was a club that was releasing too much.
So there was too much release to the club.
That's what's sending the ball up in the air.
Great if you need to do that, but in this situation, you don't need to.
I think you set up to the ball quite well.
I quite like your basics.
I like the ball position really to move a little bit further back, more onto your right heel, and you get this chest bone more in front of the ball.
Okay.
You know, that's the important bit.
But what I can really see in your swing is too much forearm rotation in the early part of the swing, so it goes in here.
Right.
And you see how that opens the club face up?
Yeah.
Now, from there, you've played a bit of golf in your life.
Your golfing instinct is, is, is pretty high.
So if you roll it in here, what do you think you have to do to return it?
Yeah, you're gonna have to manipulate more.
Yeah.
So you go this way, and that's why you were making some nice strikes there, but it was going way high- Yeah and sort of quite spinny that way, okay?
Yeah.
And what we want to work on here is getting the ball position right.
Get a little bit more shaft lean to get the chest in front of the ball, but we really want to make sure that your club head is outside of your hands.
See how the shaft is an extension of the arm?
Yeah.
Whereas you're in here.
Yeah.
And that's out of sync.
That means it requires too much release of the club head to, to return it.
So if you step in there.
Yeah.
I'm gonna give you a nice drill here.
So just set up to the ball.
Yeah, move that ball a bit further back.
Bit further back.
That's it.
Bit more lean.
And then really feel like the ch- the buttons here on your chest- Coming down there are gonna be here.
Yeah.
Right?
So about two balls in front of the ball you're playing.
And then- Okay, so yeah.
Go, go stand.
Show me.
That's it.
Now, just return the club to, to address there.
Right.
Now, this is you currently.
Yeah.
And if you feel that.
Yeah.
We get a little bit on the plane and see how the face has opened up?
Yeah.
Where you need it is more here.
Yeah.
All right?
Now, if you leave it there, if I put this yellow golf ball about a foot in front of this ball, see how the club face is pointing at this ball?
Yeah.
And that's really where it wants to be- Okay for a low flighted, I call it release one, but a low flighted chip and run shot.
Okay.
Your club face is pointing over here- Yeah at the moment.
Yeah.
And you see that's why you have to flip it back, okay?
Yeah.
So it needs to be more here.
Now, a really good drill for you to feel that, if you take your right hand off the club altogether- Okay and just take it away with your left arm, feel like you're pushing from the shoulder- Yeah and less here.
Yeah.
That this is the initiator.
Yeah.
Okay?
Rather than the forearm.
There you go.
Do you feel that?
Yeah, definitely.
Do it again.
That's good.
Now, if you should be able to hold that club there for a few minutes quite comfortably- Yeah 'cause the weight of the club head is through your arm.
Yeah, it's balanced.
Yeah.
Now, if I do this for a second, how's your wrist feeling now?
Yeah.
It's more active, that's for sure.
Yeah.
And that should be really start to hurt.
Yeah.
And quite uncomfortable.
Yeah.
Now, if I put it back on plane- Yeah, it's a lot more comfortable it's easier, yeah, because you're supporting the weight through the arm.
So this would be an excellent drill for you to feel where the backswing should be.
Yeah.
Right, so put both hands on now and show me that backswing.
So you mentioned this isn't quite the right club, so we'll probably go for a- Well, we'll get to that in a minute.
Sure.
I just wanna nail the technique, then we're gonna really get into shot stance.
Just simply what we've done with ball position- Yeah and- Yeah chest position and club face- Okay will lower the ball flight.
Mm-hmm.
But then we need, do need to make a change on, on loft, but we'll do that in a, in a, in, in a minute.
There.
That's the feeling, yeah.
Yeah.
Good.
So if I was to stand here, I should be safe.
Whereas before, you'd have taken my shins out.
Yeah.
So take it away and stop.
Yeah, so it's like hands in, club out- Okay that way.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay, so hands are traveling still nice and tight, but the club is nice and out.
Yeah.
Your hands are almost following your right hip.
Right.
But the club head is outside of your hands.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay?
So hit a few for me just with that feeling of keeping that loft down- Yeah keeping the right arm a little bit more on top.
Oh, well- Okay.
Try that again.
The tension in my, my wrist- That's all right kicked up a notch.
You're over the ball long time there.
Exactly, yeah.
So let's, let's try that again.
So just try a few there, just really working on keeping that loft down- Yeah getting the weight forward.
Okay.
We've definitely got it- Need to get a little posture on it we've definitely got it going low, James.
Exactly.
Right.
Come back to posture.
Right.
Let's try that again.
So we're just gonna work on, here we are.
We're just gonna work on that backswing now.
Okay.
So it's just working that, so shoulder.
Yeah.
Just relax the arms a little bit.
There.
Yeah.
Perfect.
Okay.
Nice and smooth.
There we go.
Now, see how it's gone lower.
Hold the finish for me.
Hold the finish.
Right.
This is great technique.
Love that.
So your chest, the hands, and the club head have matched up, but if you look at this follow through versus your old follow through, see how the club head is sort of at knee height?
Yeah.
And the butt of the grip's pointing on the left hip.
So that's release one.
Right.
Whereas before, it was much higher.
Right.
Much too much release- Yeah of the club, okay?
How did that feel to you?
Yeah.
Much more, like, my wrists are not involved as much as well.
Okay.
Good.
Yeah, that would be a good feeling.
They're passengers.
But you still see the ball stop very quickly.
Yeah.
We'll get to that in a minute.
Yeah.
Okay?
But technically, much better.
Yeah.
I think like a lot of people, I'm quite one-hand dominant, so right-hand dominant in my case.
Yeah.
So it likes to kind of be- Yeah very active in the swing.
Yeah.
And feeling like this is in charge helped me- Yeah kind of take that- You just want it absolutely.
For a low shot, you want your big muscles to be in charge.
Yeah.
So you wanna feel like your shoulder starts to swing- Yeah and then your chest then moves and opens through the ball.
Yeah.
Now, if you, if I stand here and I whip it in here, and I've gotta do that- Yeah this isn't really doing much.
Exactly.
And that's the source of inconsistency for you.
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Exactly.
Nice and smooth.
Start with the left shoulder.
Push it away.
Keep the loft down.
Nice.
Seems simpler action?
Yeah, definitely.
Good.
Just gonna grab a, just gonna grab a club here.
Okay.
I wanna put This is a drill you can do.
If you put a shaft down there halfway between the ball and your feet.
Yeah.
If you address the ball, just don't, don't put your toes to it.
Okay.
Put your normal distance from the ball.
Yeah.
But what you're doing here is- Nother back in the stance you said exactly.
Know your ball position.
But you've got to grip it, you've gotta feel out your hands stay this side of the club- Yeah and the club head stays outside here.
Yeah.
You see?
Whereas before your hands would roll out and the club would roll in.
Yeah.
Okay?
So it's hands in, club out.
Yep.
From the shoulder.
From the shoulder.
Rotate the chest.
Yeah.
Okay?
Beautiful, James.
Doesn't get any better than that.
Thank you.
That was a superb chipping action.
Thank you.
So technically, fantastic.
We changed some bits at address.
Yeah.
Got a better swing plane, got a better club face, chest is working through, follow through is a lot better.
We've lowered the ball flight.
Yeah.
But you can still see it's spinning a lot- Yeah which is a compliment to your ball strike.
Right.
When you're using, you know, the wedges you've got there, they're fantastic- Yeah really spinny wedges.
Yeah.
You're using a premium golf ball, but there is a little bit of a slope.
Yeah.
And you can see it's coming out so nicely, it's just stopping quickly.
Yeah, exactly, yeah.
So I know you like to use that 56 everywhere, but I wouldn't be using the 56 here personally- Okay because you have to land it so near the pin.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We've got less loft, haven't we?
Yeah.
Shall we get into a- Grab another wedge?
Yeah.
Let's go down to a, let's go down to a 48 to start with, okay?
Yeah.
Like a p- a pitching wedge, yeah?
Right.
So what have we got here?
48 degree, this one.
Okay, perfect.
You stand this side.
Yep.
Let me show you.
So this is, this is a more of a sensible loft.
We could even go less, which we might do in a, in, in a minute here, but I, if I'm playing this, watch how my ball is reacting differently.
See how it's spinning a little bit.
We can see it's still wanting to run out the end.
Yeah.
All right?
So all I've changed there, my technique was the same as the technique you just, employed, but you can see I've got the check, but then the ball still wanted to run out.
Yeah.
So this is really, I think, the right club for this pin position.
Yeah.
Okay?
Yeah.
Let's give that a go.
Yeah.
Let's take the, stabilizers away and let's try it, okay?
Ball position.
Back, feeling like this is the initiator.
Yeah.
Show me that backswing again.
Yeah.
I'm just conscious that club has sort of just sometimes roll.
That's it.
Yeah.
That loft look.
Yeah.
It's pointing here.
Yeah.
That's your really the key point for you.
Yeah.
Club face there- Yeah and not club face there.
Yeah.
Okay?
And then from there, the chest opens up.
Yeah.
Short finish, club head's sort of knee height.
Okay.
Little bit clean- Yeah but right idea.
Let's try that again.
Little bit quick there.
And I mean- Yeah the other point we haven't really talked about is, like, tempo.
Like, tempo in the swing is really the glue with it, okay?
And you can have good technique, which you employed there, but it was a little bit quick.
So just feel like it's very much a tick tock, tick tock, and just put that slightly better beat into it.
Yeah.
Br- James, that is superb.
Now, can you see it's wanting to run out more?
Yeah.
Tempo was huge.
I felt like it took an eternity to come back relative to where I was.
Yeah.
Um- And, and do you feel like when you're using your big muscles, you're able to control the tempo better- Yeah than using your hands?
Exactly, yeah.
Yeah.
I think that is, definitely a fault of mine is getting too involved with the wrists.
Yeah.
Superb.
Check, check, and then it's wanting to run out.
And a bit more, yeah.
Yeah.
Brilliant.
Okay, let's go a step further now then.
What else have you got in your bag here?
60, 56, 52- You've got a pitching wedge 42, and then the pitching wedge from the set, yeah.
Right.
We're going to go pitching wedge now, and you should see the ball reacting slightly differently now, as in a little bit less spin.
Yeah.
So less loft equals less spin.
If you've got more green or you're going up a slope, good idea to lower the spin.
If you're opposite, if you're going down a slope or a tighter pin, good idea to use more loft.
Yeah.
Makes sense.
Just think about that.
And by the way, I'm teaching you one action here, one set-up, one swing.
Mm-hmm.
And you do the same action with every club in the bag.
Yeah.
Just the spin rate will change depending on the loft you're using, okay?
Okay.
Right.
Same thing, okay.
Ball position, shoulder, rotate onto it.
Now, see how that ball's working up the slope- Yeah a lot easier.
Yeah, that's nice.
Really good shot.
There we go.
First one past the pin, I like it.
Yeah.
That's very true, yeah.
Keep the loft down, get the club on plane, open up through it.
I see it running out.
Nice shot.
Nice shot, and it's going up the hill now.
Yeah.
Brilliant.
Yeah.
Well, that's the best one you've played today.
And can you see you're now linking better technique with better tempo- Yeah with better IQ.
And the, once you start putting those things together, you can become a great short game player, okay?
Yeah.
You've gotta practice as well.
Absolutely, yeah.
You know, you have to leverage it with your practice, but you've got, you're working on the right things now- Yeah which is, which is key.
A few more then.
Let's see if we can hole one.
Yeah.
Got the challenge of slaloming through the balls now.
Yeah, you got it.
I think you just get past that yellow ball and you've got it.
There we go.
Lovely shot.
Really nice shot.
Yeah.
Good.
I really enjoyed my lesson with Dan there.
So I, I think one thing that I was a little bit aware of before I came in was just how dominant I am with the right hand, and so a lot of my chipping technique tends to be quite flippy and tends to be quite manipulative as I come through.
So it changed everything when Dan gave me that feel of pushing with the outside of my left arm here, and just almost taking my wrist out of the equation.
It feels much more repeatable, much smoother with the tempo, so I think that's definitely something I'm gonna take away.
And the drill of pushing off with just the one arm and feeling the, how the weight is totally different when it's inside or under plane here versus when it's just held nice and straight, I'm really gonna practice that 'cause that's obviously something I can do at home as well.
I don't even need a golf ball for that.
And just having that feeling of pushing away, I think will really help me control and have a lower launch with the chip shots.
