In this video, 8-handicap index golfer Jess Ratcliffe gets a one-to-one lesson with Top 50 short game coach and YouTube sensation Dan Grieve to fix her problems when chipping from bad lies in the rough!
We teamed up with adidas golf to create this video.
Location at Woburn Golf Club.
We teamed up with adidas golf to create this video.
Location at Woburn Golf Club.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Dan Grieve and I've teamed up with Adidas Golf to help three lucky golf monthly readers improve their short game. Let's get started
00:11Jess great to have you here at Woven. Welcome. Thank you for having me and we're going to discuss this
00:17Short pitch shot out of the rough because you say you've been having some issues with it. Tell me a bit more about it
00:21I have I've just found that when I find myself in a spot like this and I'm going to
00:25Gravitate to playing a release to or a soft landing shot. I just find I can
00:31Catch it a little bit thin
00:32I don't feel like I get the best connection and if I do get away with a connection
00:36It will come out. Okay, but then really run so it's not got that soft landing
00:40Yeah, yeah
00:41I see in your shots
00:42But also I'd like to have in my game to think I'm in a bit of trouble here
00:45And although I've got quite a lot of green to work with if I then was to think actually I've got this one
00:51How do I get that softness in it because I think I can in terms of the lie because that's the big thing in the
00:56Rock, so is it when it starts to sit down? Is this what you mean down a little bit like that?
00:59It's just down. There's a bit of grass going in there. So you're thinking okay, maybe this is more
01:04I'm having to to play this a little bit steeper possibly
01:07But again, if it's one where you're trying to limit the run on it a little bit and maybe I'm being too ambitious
01:12I'm trying to get it close
01:13But it'll be something like this and then the ones that I really can struggle with can be when it's also then on a down
01:17Slope and you're trying to again like match the slope
01:20But I find that if I can get a little bit too handsy, it will just come out, you know, come on
01:25It makes sense. Okay. All right, so it's sitting down a bit. We'll go for that back pin. Okay five yards
01:29I've got my 54 54. Let's see what you've got
01:32Okay
01:45Decent contact
01:47Down pretty nicely probably more of a luckier one than I would normally get when you've got a card in the hand
02:02I
02:08Can feel it. Yeah
02:10Slows down and I then don't feel like I've really got throw it. Yeah, sure
02:14So this is where the IQ sign is what I call the golfing intelligence
02:17But it really really comes into its own when you're reading lies in the rough
02:20Now what you've got there is you've got quite a bit big cushion behind the ball there. So quite right
02:25I think you mentioned coming in steeper. You do need to come in a little bit steeper now, but you're not really setting up
02:30Correctly for the shot you're trying to play so you're setting up with the majority of your weight actually on your right side
02:35Okay, probably about 60% or so. So you're kind of tilting away from the ball now
02:40Okay, you're a good play
02:41You will you will hit a lot of good shots
02:42But from this position here and you start to trying to release the club too much
02:46it has got thin written all over it that's how you hit the thin shot and
02:50Just really, you know
02:51You don't get the control because you put you probably as well if you are getting a decent strike if you're releasing too much and
02:56You're weights back here. You're gonna start entering to the rough really about sort of maybe four five six inches behind the ball
03:02That's gonna lose spin. So I think the big thing for you is when the ball starts sitting down a bit
03:07See, I'd be setting up much more like this. I'd be down the grip
03:10I'll be opening the club face a bit more you have it dead square as well
03:14So I'll be opening up the face and I would be to the width of stance is wider and I'm leaning forward
03:18I'm really getting a left foot out and I'm leaning this way and just by the very nature of setting up to it
03:23My chest bone now much further in front of the ball from this set up with a bit of shaft lean
03:27That's going to encourage me to set the club a bit earlier
03:29Okay, but if I was to set up like you I kind of want to go wider. Yes, which is a shallow in right?
03:35I'm just on a shallow in and steep in the ingredients
03:37Yeah, when you need to add some in and take some out
03:39So basically you've got to get a little bit steeper and then you can start to play around with different releases
03:43I mean the safer release once from the rough really is what I call a release one
03:47Which is where basically the it finishes here where the butt script is pointing at the hip
03:51But if you wanted to release the club a little bit more you could do but you've got to do it from this position
03:56Not from this position that makes sense. So yes, this would be me here a little bit of hinge
04:00I can pop down and get the height you see and I can just throw it right up there towards the pin now
04:05if I wanted to come out a bit softer than that, I could do the same thing and then I can just
04:11Put a little bit more release into it and you can see that thing comes out soft
04:14Yeah, see they're the ones that I struggle with. Yeah, the softer landing. Yeah out of a tricky spot like that
04:20Yeah, so so to get it out because it's a bit more advanced
04:23So if the lie was perfect, we just set up for a normal soft landing shot
04:26Okay in terms of how you set it up to it quite shallow releasing it
04:29The lie is dictating how you play this shot. The lie is the most important thing
04:33So read the lie we get steeper address and then from there we can add a bit of releasing
04:37But I think if you do it from this position, I think you're gonna find a lot easier. Okay, and 54 is fine
04:42I don't mind a 54, particularly when you've got a bit of green, but just open the clubface a bit
04:45Okay, but when you're playing in the rough there if you have it square the rough is quite thick
04:50It's gonna tend to want to grab it
04:52So I would open it just to give you a little bit of margin
04:55So if it does flip it's still gonna be square
04:57But also what I would do here just to protect against the rough grabbing is grip it a little bit tighter really in this area
05:03Here, okay, you know in the pad here the little finger going into the hand
05:06So as you're coming through I'm really am I always advocate a light grip in short game as you probably know
05:11But in the rough, I really want to with a left hand here get tighter helps me hold the loft on the club
05:17Okay, yeah
05:24So a bit open, yeah, that's it
05:28Feel different it does. Yeah. Okay. Well that way with a face and you'll be brave
05:32There we go now down the grip a little bit more tight here
05:37Right, that's great. Okay, that is great. Right? No, it's fantastic. No to feel the release am I going
05:43Finish like release one for this one or well, I think I think I think we'll try and get it softer
05:48So we'll do it too, but you can do it from this setup. Okay, you can't do it from the old setup
05:52No, okay. Perfect. Right go to the top go to the top of the swing
05:57Okay, just try to get your left wrist a little bit more clipped, okay
06:01Okay
06:01Now as you come down you can come down because of the backswing you coming down steeper
06:05You've got a little bit of a late release in there. Okay, okay
06:08You've got to stay left the whole time and cut you must cut you you do tend to get a bit
06:13We send again off the fairway lights not the end of the world
06:17You can play a low running shot in the rough
06:19If you do that if you flex the wrist and the loft goes down it's gonna tend to grab a lot
06:24Okay, so that cupping? Yeah, I guess it feels
06:28Yeah, like that that's not even it is it thumbs. Uh, that's it. That's it. So to get to there
06:33Yeah, that's it. And I'm just it I want you to golden rule when you're in a rough like this
06:36You don't hit the ball first. Okay. Okay, you got to hit about an inch behind it. Okay, but that's great. That's really good
06:41Right injure it pop it just behind the ball
06:45Right, I came off really soft. Okay, too soft. No running it but that's the type of
06:55Wouldn't run we do more than that front hip release. Okay. Okay, great there. Don't open it too much. Don't go crazy
07:00Right. There we go a little bit of hinge
07:03They're coming out lovely, I mean I I will take those because most of the time I'm in a tighter spot then exactly
07:09I mean lots of green, but don't worry. So so look if you were just trying to hit that shot
07:1410 12 yards. You've just played a world-class shot. Okay, the rest of it. You've got to feel it
07:18Yeah, it's coming off softer now. So you've got to increase your speed. Okay, well
07:22Okay over here
07:25With a forward lean of the shot
07:28Right set it early so that I sit at the bottom have a bit more chest speed through it this time
07:37Very good now, that's what you want. So it's carried it's landed soft. That's nice. It's not running very far. No, I like that
07:43Yeah, that's very good. You played that really well. Thank you. I think that's one thing throughout. It's getting confident
07:48It's getting confident. It's getting confident. It's getting confident. It's getting confident
07:52It's getting confident. It's getting confident. It's getting confident
07:54I think that's one thing throughout it's getting confident
07:58With the chest as well releasing the chest through it because I think that sometimes I can
08:02Go slower with that. So the hands take over
08:06So we do a do a front hip release like a motor of a running shot out the rough now
08:10Okay, you set up exactly the same exactly the same nothing changes just a touch open
08:15Shaft lean shaft lean. Absolutely
08:17And now same thing from this setup
08:19You're going to hinge the club a little bit earlier to create get the steeper attack through the rough
08:23But this time you're going to finish more like this. You're still turning the chest, but you're finishing more this way
08:27Okay, so it's a front hip release and this ball is now going to come out a little bit lower
08:30But hopefully run to the back pin
08:32Okay, right
08:32So when you've got green to work with have the rough it's more that finish
08:35If you've got the shorter one, you've got to go over something. You put more that second release in. Okay
08:40So wait on this side a bit of shaft. That's really good there hinge, but front hip release this time
08:45We're not slightly lower more running shot
08:47Goodness, now watch this will land and watch it run out
08:51So you just have to run out a little bit more
08:54So yes, great shot you played that brilliantly
08:57You play it brilliant. Yeah, but what you're standing is one setup
09:00Yes, and you just change your swing a little bit depending on the slope and how much green you've got to work
09:05Yeah, I think that's been the challenge from the get-go is I feel if you if you don't know this setup
09:10Yeah in your mind you think well i'm trying to play this shot, but you're going against the tide almost you can't you know
09:15If you've already scuppered yourself, yeah
09:17Now if we're going for this front pin, okay, so there's hardly any green
09:21Uh, we can still stick to a 54. It might be easier with 58. Uh, but we'll uh, have you got a 58?
09:26I have yeah, just let's use a 58
09:28Let's use the right club now
09:30Here you're going to play it exactly the same way. We do need some release into this to soften it
09:34Okay, but get super wide now go even wider
09:37So I want your hands to get lower point the loft more up
09:40So would this feel like i'm more playing a bunker shot?
09:43100% that's it. We'll keep the right leg in again. Yeah, that's it. Good now set the club nice and early with the wrists
09:50And you're coming down
09:52And it's there. Okay, you feel that? Yeah, there's not much rotation of the of the upper body here
09:57It's more of a hand and arm shot. Okay, so set it
10:00Release it. Okay, okay nice and narrow in the follow-through
10:03So
10:08Shaft lean or no. Yeah. No, you're good there. Do you want to just feel it now?
10:14There you go, what a great shot go in oh wow
10:17What a great shot so there's no such thing as a bad lie. No, it's iq. Yes
10:21I think about how you need to change that angle attack and release
10:24You've got some solutions there for different lines
10:25It's so easy to practice and when you do practice I would just throw the balls over your shoulder in the rough
10:30Yeah, and just look at each one and react to it
10:33And then you just learn how to do subtle differences in your in how you set your weight and how you
10:37Put the angle attack into it. Well, that's good. And yeah, lots of work on it's a great part of the game
10:41There's no such thing as a bad lie. Okay. Nope. Nope. I know that now. Thank you. All right pleasure
10:46So before coming to today, I would say the main struggle for me was getting out the rough
10:50Okay, and having that soft landing shot
10:53I'd always try and bring a bit of softness to it, but either thin it massively, especially if i'm on a down slope
10:58Or get it out. Okay, but just not be able to control the run out
11:02So I really wanted to focus on those tricky shots
11:04Which I like to try and practice and can often find myself in on the course as well
11:08And so for me really working with Dan on that in the session
11:12Means now that i'm leaving with confidence that if I do find myself in those not quite position zed
11:17I think he calls it but those really tough ask
11:21Lies where you can't quite get to the back of the ball. There's that tuft of grass there
11:25I'm going to feel a lot more confident walking into that shot and hopefully get a good result as well