7 Shots That Will Save Your Game This Winter | Golf Monthly
Winter golf comes with its own unique challenges. As golf courses get wetter, fairways usually take distance off drives, bunkers often become more compact, and greens tend to get slower, therefore it's important we adapt our game in the right areas to keep playing at our best. In this video, Dan Parker is joined by Golf Monthly Top 50 coach Adam Harnett talks through seven key shots you need in your armory to save your game this winter. He'll cover everything from identifying certain lies, how to strike the ball in wet conditions, and how to get your putting pace right on slower greens. Work on getting these techniques right, and I'm sure it will save your game in some vital situations this winter.
Transcript
00:00 Now, you may have already noticed that temperatures are dropping and golf courses are getting
00:03 a little bit wetter.
00:04 And that can only mean one thing, winter is coming.
00:07 Well, in this video, we've been joined by Golf Monthly Top 50 coach, Adam Hahn, who's
00:11 going to talk us through seven shots that you need to save your game this winter.
00:17 We've also partnered up with Ping in this video, I've kitted myself and Adam out in
00:20 their latest autumn and winter apparel to keep us nice and warm and nice and dry out
00:24 on the golf course.
00:25 We're at West Hill today.
00:26 Let's get started.
00:27 Right, Adam, so we're going to look at a couple of shots here that you're going to need in
00:36 the winter.
00:37 And that is out of some differing lies.
00:38 Now, before we get into the shot itself, let's talk about identifying a lie, how important
00:44 that is and how not a lot of golfers actually identify the lie before they go and hit their
00:48 shot.
00:49 I see that so often.
00:50 It's probably the biggest mistake amateurs make is not looking at their lie before they
00:53 pull their club.
00:54 So they might get their yardage.
00:55 They'll pull their club and then they'll hit the shot and they won't actually look at how
00:59 the ball's sitting.
01:00 It's probably the most important thing to do.
01:02 You'll never see a good player not look at their lie before they hit it.
01:05 Listen, I'm criminal of this as well.
01:07 So we're not alone.
01:09 We've pulled out two lies here that we're going to get a lot in the winter.
01:11 Let's start with this one on the left hand side, a flyer lie.
01:15 Now let's talk about how to identify a flyer lie first and what it actually means.
01:20 Okay, so a flying lie is when the ball's kind of sat in the semi rough and it's sitting
01:24 up slightly.
01:25 It's almost like it's on a tee.
01:26 And what that does, that reduces the spin on the ball.
01:29 So when you strike the ball, it's going to actually fly a little bit further.
01:31 So in the winter, that's actually quite a favorable lie to have.
01:34 Where the ball's sitting up a little bit, we've got to be a little bit careful that
01:37 we don't go underneath it.
01:38 So we're not necessarily trying to change too many things here, but one thing we can't
01:42 do is be too steep and kind of chop down on this flying lie.
01:46 So we'll be a little bit careful with the ball position.
01:49 We may have the ball position even slightly forward of normal.
01:52 When the ball's on the tee, we kind of can sweep it up a little bit.
01:55 So on this kind of lie, that's really helpful.
01:57 Right, so I'm going to get you to hit that in just a second.
01:59 Let's talk about this lie on the right.
02:01 And you'll get this a lot in the winter.
02:03 It's not as wet at the minute, but it's sort of a bare lie.
02:06 One of the key things of this, different to the flying lie, is this one we actually need
02:10 to hit a little bit more down on.
02:11 We want to definitely get ball turf strike with this one.
02:14 So two things I see golfers do that really you need to avoid.
02:18 Number one is trying to kind of help the ball up off the ground, just through fear of hitting
02:23 the ground and fatting it.
02:25 So there's kind of a bit of a, we call it a missed radius, where the radius of the swing
02:28 shortens and then we end up thing and topping it.
02:31 The other one is kind of a bit on our back foot.
02:33 Again, trying to help the ball up in the air and kind of avoiding that muddy lie and avoiding
02:38 the fat shot.
02:39 Both of them actually cause problems more than they help.
02:42 So certainly this one here where it's slightly muddy underneath, making sure that we're moving
02:47 forward aggressively onto our front foot is really, really key.
02:51 I'd say that's the most important thing to focus on when you swing through these shots.
02:54 Let's give it a go.
02:55 I nearly had him.
03:06 You can see how little spin that came out with and how much that sort of dug in.
03:09 Comes out really hot.
03:10 Again, in the winter, that's brilliant.
03:11 We want our ball flying further.
03:12 So this lie is actually quite a nice thing to have.
03:14 Okay, Adam, fairway woods and hybrids are really important to use well over the winter.
03:23 Can you explain why a bit more carry distance through the air is so much more helpful and
03:27 then how to use these clubs more efficiently this time of year?
03:31 Yeah, so when we're faced with a situation where we've got a long iron in our hand or
03:35 a long iron yardage in the winter when the ground's a bit softer, one of the great things
03:40 that the hybrids and fairway woods have is a much kind of wider, flatter sole to the club.
03:47 Okay, so that helps with that softer ground.
03:49 It glides through the ground much easier.
03:51 So where we might normally take a four or five iron in the winter months, we know the
03:55 ball isn't flying quite so far.
03:57 So it's a good idea to take out your hybrid or your fairway wood and we can make a few
04:01 adjustments for kind of replacing a fairway wood for a long iron in our setup and hitting our shots.
04:06 So the key thing, the first thing I would say is it's actually not a bad idea to slightly
04:13 grip down the club.
04:15 So we might slightly grip down our hybrid or fairway wood just for a little bit more control.
04:21 Now it also takes a little bit of yardage off.
04:24 So if we're not trying to hit, let's say, our four iron normal distance and our hybrid
04:29 normally goes further than that, just gripping down gives us a little bit more control and
04:33 also just helps it not fly too far through the air.
04:36 [Music]
04:41 Right, so the next shot, Adam, that's going to save golfers out there this winter, it
04:45 might sound really obvious, we're not reinventing the wheel here, it's quality of strike.
04:50 Now from this range, we're 150 yards and in, this is a really important scoring area.
04:56 So how do we have better strike in the winter and can you give us a drill that people can
04:59 go away with and practice at home on the range and on the course?
05:02 Absolutely.
05:03 When the ground's wet, one of the things golfers don't like doing is hitting the ground, right?
05:07 Because their relationship with the ground normally isn't a good one.
05:10 So we need to make sure that we're hitting the ground in the right place.
05:14 We all know that we're supposed to be hitting the ball and then the ground.
05:17 Ball turf contact is what we're looking for.
05:19 So a really simple drill for this would be making some practice swings before you hit
05:23 the ball, which many golfers don't do anyway, but focusing on where you're making contact
05:29 with the ground.
05:30 So as I'm making my practice swing, I'm trying to make contact with the ground forwards of
05:35 the golf ball.
05:36 Any particular distance in front?
05:37 Do you pick a spot in the turf?
05:39 Not particularly, I'm just making sure that my contact is anywhere from the golf ball
05:43 up.
05:44 That's going to ensure that the downward hit we're looking for and it'll really stop golfers
05:48 kind of backing up or lifting or trying to scoop the ball off the wet ground.
05:51 Sometimes I might lay a towel down on the range.
05:54 You know, you might lay just a towel behind here and swing through and try to miss the
05:59 towel effectively hitting the ground forwards.
06:02 And then you can bring that into your practice swings on the golf course and then you can
06:05 bring it into your real shots when you're actually playing.
06:07 That's a really good tip.
06:08 And we've said this already, but quality of strike is so important in the winter.
06:12 You can get away with a scabby one in the summer, can't you?
06:15 It might run, but you know, like in this hole, uphill, bunkers in front, you're going to
06:19 need that quality of strike.
06:20 So think about that when you're on the course and when you're practicing at the driving
06:23 range.
06:24 Okay, Adam, so we're working our way up the hole now and an important shot to save you
06:33 this winter is that 60, 70, 80 yard pitch shot that when the ground gets really soft,
06:38 it's actually really hard to hit.
06:39 A lot of people start fatting them.
06:41 So can we talk about how to avoid the fat shot and to get these scoring shots as tight
06:45 as possible?
06:46 Absolutely.
06:47 The most common thing I see with this type of shot with a wedge in our hand is golfers
06:50 that get kind of very, very narrow, meaning the club sort of comes in towards them.
06:55 The shaft gets quite vertical and then they kind of come down to steep and chunk.
07:00 That's where that fat, especially when the ground's soft and wet and horrible.
07:03 Absolutely.
07:04 It's going nowhere.
07:05 So we want to try and create more width with this shot.
07:06 One thing I would always say is never make a full swing, an absolute full swing with
07:11 a really lofted club.
07:13 And the reason being is when we're making a real full swing, it's easy for the club
07:17 to come in too narrow, come down too steep.
07:19 So I always think a three-quarter swing is absolutely a must when we're playing these
07:23 shots.
07:24 If that means you've got to change wedge, then do so.
07:26 But a way I really like, a nice feeling or a drill if you like, or a nice feel, is that
07:31 when we make our backswing, we should have enough width in the club head here that if
07:36 we take our right hand off, we can't reach the club head.
07:40 To me, that shows we've got a nice amount of width.
07:42 So from there, we can come in kind of shallower and kind of pick the ball off nicely using
07:47 the bounce on the club and avoid that kind of leading edge digging into the ground.
07:52 Right then Adam, we've found ourselves in a bunker, which you might do in the winter
08:00 and the summer.
08:01 But a difference in the winter is the lie.
08:03 A lot more compact, a lot less sand most of the time when it's wet.
08:07 Let's talk about identifying the lie and how to play out of it when there's not a lot of
08:10 sand under the ball.
08:12 When it's compact and hard like this, it's very different to when it's sitting fluffy.
08:16 When it's sitting fluffy, we want to use the bounce of the club, which is the sole, kind
08:20 of the rounded bottom of the sole is the bounce.
08:22 And that stops the club from digging into the sand.
08:25 Now, of course, when it's hard like this, if we have too much of a bounce angle on the
08:29 club, we're going to bounce up off that hard pan into the middle of the ball and it's going
08:35 to thin.
08:36 Yes.
08:37 That's the common shot I have in these sorts of situations.
08:38 So the things we need to change, first of all, we need to make sure we've got a wedge
08:41 in our bag that has a low bounce.
08:43 So that's going to be a number like a six or an eight degree of bounce.
08:47 And that's going to keep the leading edge down in the sand.
08:50 It's going to stop it from coming up too high to prevent those sort of thin shots.
08:54 In this scenario, we actually want to encourage the leading edge to dig a bit.
08:57 Any set up changes for when it's compact?
09:00 Yeah, absolutely.
09:01 So with a normal bunker shot, we would normally set ourselves up and have the ball a bit forwards,
09:07 face a little bit open.
09:08 And of course, when we open the face, we expose more bounce.
09:12 We definitely don't want to do that in this scenario.
09:15 So having the ball maybe a little bit more central and squaring the face up.
09:20 Squaring the face up helps the leading edge kind of get into the sand much easier.
09:24 Yeah.
09:25 You know, an opening club is always going to expose more.
09:27 A closing club is almost like a bit of a digging tool.
09:30 Yeah, it's actually useful in this situation.
09:32 Absolutely.
09:33 And we want to get the bounce going down or the leading edge, sorry, going down into the
09:36 sand.
09:37 Brilliant.
09:38 I'm going to try and get that bounce there.
09:43 OK, we were in the bunker.
09:45 I didn't talk about bounce.
09:46 We're now out of it.
09:47 We'll talk about it again with these two different chip shots here.
09:51 So we've got a buried lie in the wet rough.
09:53 Yes.
09:54 And a tight lie, but the ground's still pretty wet.
09:57 Yeah.
09:58 Let's talk about again how we identify what bounce to use in what situation.
10:01 So what I'd say is, you know, whenever we're out now, we're on the grass, we're on soft
10:04 ground, right?
10:05 So we no longer need to dig.
10:07 We don't want to dig.
10:08 Right.
10:09 So we're trying to avoid using a wedge with with low bounce.
10:12 Very different to when we're on that hard pan bunker shot out there.
10:14 Especially out of this lie we've picked here, which is a bit buried down in some wet rough.
10:18 Yeah.
10:19 You do want to interact with the ground.
10:20 Yes.
10:21 Going through it and not digging into it.
10:23 Exactly.
10:24 So we still need a little bit of a downward angle because the ball sat down in the grass.
10:27 Right.
10:28 So we've got to get down to the bottom of the ball, but we don't want low bounce at the
10:32 same time because as coming down, we're just going to we're just going to dig.
10:36 Brilliant.
10:37 So with a bit of bounce on that club at a steeper angle, we won't dig in, but we will
10:41 pop the ball out.
10:42 OK, so that's a shot you're going to need in your bag.
10:44 Definitely over the wind.
10:45 Let's move to this lie here.
10:46 You know, we're not far off here.
10:47 Yeah, but it's almost a different shot entirely.
10:49 Right.
10:50 Yes.
10:51 A tighter lie, but we still got some wet ground.
10:52 Yeah.
10:53 How would you say people go about this one?
10:54 So again, again, high bounce.
10:56 We want to use the bounce of the club.
10:58 But one thing I like golfers to try and get comfortable doing on these sort of shots is
11:03 getting comfortable hitting the ground and feeling how it's going to interact.
11:07 OK.
11:08 Right.
11:09 So I've just made a little swing there.
11:10 I've hit the ground.
11:11 But because I've hit with the back of the underneath of the club, it hasn't dug in.
11:14 So if you're comfortable hitting the ground, knowing that it's not going to dig, then the
11:19 bounce will work for you.
11:20 You'll slide through and you'll be able to hit decent shots in the wet condition.
11:23 OK, now I like, especially on this shot here, it's a decent way away, but nothing to go
11:27 over off a thin lie.
11:28 Yeah.
11:29 Maybe getting something like an eight iron out.
11:30 But can you just chat about the bounce, if there is any on here, and how that might interact
11:34 differently with this?
11:35 Yeah, sure.
11:36 So with a flatter face club on this kind of lie, we really want the club working very
11:40 much shallow, almost like a putting stroke in a way.
11:43 We want to get away from any steep angle that's going to potentially dig that into the ground.
11:47 Now our irons, typically we want to take a bit of a divot in a full swing, right?
11:51 Right.
11:52 But when we're around the greens like this, we don't really want that.
11:54 So keeping that moving nice and level with the ground.
11:58 If you catch it slightly thin, that's better than catching it slightly fat.
12:02 OK, because we're trying to get the ball out low and rolling.
12:10 Right then, last but not least, Adam, we made it to the green, finally.
12:14 And come winter, and especially coming out of the summer, the greens are really quick.
12:18 It can be tough on these long putts to get yourself to hit it hard enough or get the
12:22 pace right when they're a bit slower, a bit wetter, less firm.
12:25 So what kind of tips can you give us to get better at these sort of lag putts in the winter?
12:29 Yeah, so what I see a lot of golfers do when the greens start to get a bit slower and they've
12:33 got longer putts uphill in the winter is they tend to try to accelerate really fast and
12:39 kind of add a hitting motion.
12:41 OK, now to be a good putter and control your distance, we want the putter moving at a nice
12:46 constant speed.
12:47 Right.
12:48 So we don't want the club coming back and then suddenly accelerating.
12:51 That's a real temptation when the greens are a bit slower.
12:53 Right.
12:54 So to combat that, I want golfers to be a little bit more aware of the length of their
12:57 stroke.
12:58 OK, so we want the backswing and the downswing to kind of be the same tempo, the same speed.
13:05 We don't want to be going back slow and then really accelerating.
13:08 It's really easy to over-egg it then with that sudden rate of acceleration.
13:14 So we want a nice constant speed.
13:15 And the way we're going to do that is matching up the backswing length with the length of
13:20 putt we've got effectively.
13:29 Cozied up nicely.
13:30 Have a look for us.
13:31 Not bad.
13:32 I'd say that's a gimme on the way back.
13:36 So a great tip there from Adam, really think about that putting stroke even more in the
13:40 winter on these long putts on wet green.
13:43 Massive thanks to Adam for joining us in this video.
13:44 Some really, really useful advice there.
13:46 But for now, from West Hill, we'll see you next time.
13:49 [Music]