- 5 minutes ago
In this video, 4-handicap index golfer Ben Tadman gets a one-to-one lesson with Top 50 short game coach and YouTube sensation Dan Grieve to fix his problems with the chipping yips!
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00:00Hi, I'm Dan Grieve and I've teamed up with Adidas Golf to help three lucky
00:04Golf Monthly readers improve their short game. Let's get started.
00:11Hi Ben, it's great to have you all on. Hi, big fan. Welcome to Woven. Thank you.
00:15Now tell me about your short game then. We've got a really kind of basic
00:18ship here off a fairly tight line. Just tell me about your short game
00:21generally, about how you feel for this shot in particular. Yeah, so for
00:24Handicapper, Around the Green has always been the worst part of my game
00:28consistently. I'd say throughout the time I've had the yips or feel like I've had
00:32the yips, particularly in competition play, get very frozen over the ball,
00:39obviously poor technique at some point over the time and I've got a fear of
00:43hitting the ground. There's a lot of baggage there, duffing, knifing.
00:47It's tough isn't it? Because you're short game should have had to enjoy it and you've got, it sounds like you've got some anxiety around it.
00:51My score is depending on how many greens I hit. If I hit 15 greens I'll shoot a good score.
00:55If I hit 10 greens, it goes off. Alright, well I'll just watch it two shots, see
01:00what's going on and then we'll have a chat about it. But yeah, let's go for
01:03this left hand pin here, okay? There we go, classic. That sort of thing, yeah?
01:14Yeah. Okay, one more.
01:22That was a bit better, you got your club on the ball there but actually that actually wasn't that dissimilar to the first one.
01:27Yeah. Okay, you're a good player, you've got good hands but they're having to work very hard for you, okay?
01:32Just on this side. So, yeah, this topic of the yips, this anxiety side of things, it's an issue for a lot of golfers.
01:40And I think you said it there yourself, you've got a bit of a fear of the ground.
01:43And when you have a fear of the ground, that manifests as you're coming down, the anxiety kicks in probably about here.
01:48You're going to feel it. Yeah.
01:49And it becomes a bit involuntary at times and then it's just, there's so much fear about how you're going to strike it that you kind of pull out the shot
01:54and the hands get a little bit involuntary in how they're going to move.
01:58And like you say, it all comes down to you not trusting the ground and essentially just looking at your technique there.
02:03It's because as you come down, you, well, firstly, you set the wrist quite a lot of address there, okay?
02:08So, you get an awful lot of wrist hinge early and then you kind of drive the handle this way.
02:13And you can chip that way but my word, you've got to be perfect.
02:16You've got zero margin for error the way you're chipping.
02:19That second one, you were good, right?
02:21You've managed to, despite no margin for error, you still managed to hit a good shot.
02:24Yeah.
02:25Albeit, it came off a little bit hot.
02:26So, you're kind of doing this.
02:27You're a little bit on your right side, by the way.
02:29We're going to work on that a little bit.
02:30You sort of here and then you set and then you kind of pull.
02:34So, again, I hit that pure but again, see how hot it comes off the club face?
02:37If you're short-sided, I guess it's a bit more of an issue as well.
02:41If you want to get a little bit more spin on the ball.
02:43So, what I'd like to do with you, just try and make things a little bit friendly because that's what it's all about.
02:47Can we get your club working friendlier through the turf?
02:50So, you start to trust the ground and then there's a rewiring process that will go on and you'll start to then get a lot more comfortable and relaxed over it because you'll know you don't need to be perfect.
03:00So, the best players in the world when they chip.
03:03So, I've hit that one three inches before just to show you.
03:05Right now, I've hit it three inches before and I've hit it stiff and it came off soft.
03:08Because I've got my angle of attack nice and shallow for this fringe lie and I've got the loft and bounce on the club.
03:14So, I've got this big margin for error.
03:16If I was chipping the way you are and I hit three inches before the ball, you think we know what's going to happen.
03:21You'll be chipping again.
03:22It's not going to go very far.
03:23So, I want to get your arms a little bit softer because I can tell they're a bit tight.
03:27I want to put the ball a little bit further forward and I want to get your weight a little bit more on your left side so you're not tipping back too much.
03:33But the big thing for you is we're going to work on a much wider, shallower take away so the club can land on the ground and come through.
03:40Okay, does that make sense technically?
03:42Yeah.
03:43So, you set up the baller.
03:50Okay, ball not too far back.
03:51I know it's a bit of a comfort blanket, isn't it?
03:52Yeah.
03:53Stick it back and get, but we don't want that.
03:54Okay.
03:55That's good.
03:56That's much better.
03:57There we go, a bit more on the left.
03:58Try and relax these arms, the grip pressure.
04:00Just relax the grip pressure a bit more.
04:02Yeah, that's more like it.
04:04That's kind of about a four out of ten.
04:05You were about a nine or a ten before.
04:07Does that feel softer?
04:08Yeah.
04:09You see how the club's wanting to swing a little bit on its own now?
04:11Yeah.
04:12Just some grip pressure?
04:13Yeah.
04:14Okay, that's it.
04:15Put the club down.
04:16So, your big thing here, I want you to imagine there's a low coffee table like this.
04:18Yeah.
04:19And you've got to keep your club head under the table.
04:21Now, you should feel, you tell me, which muscles do you think are working a little bit harder to achieve that?
04:26My lower back.
04:27Or which may be using less?
04:28My lower back, I can feel.
04:29Lower back, yeah.
04:30Do you feel your wrists are working more or less?
04:32Less.
04:33Yes.
04:34And you feel like it's probably more from the left shoulder.
04:36Yeah, exactly.
04:37And that's what we want now.
04:38So, take it away.
04:39Stop.
04:40That's good.
04:41And then from there, a little bit of rotation.
04:42I want you to actually feel like you're going to hit the ground first to retrain the brain that you can hit the ground.
04:48And then from there, you have a little bit of rotation with the chest through the ball.
04:51Okay.
04:52Have a practice swing first.
04:56Now, do you hear that noise?
04:57Yeah.
04:58If you can just get that noise when you chip, you'll change your short game.
05:01I do take divots.
05:02Yeah.
05:03As you can imagine.
05:04You get a divot and that's that lean as you're getting really digging in there.
05:06So, if you have a practice swing and you can hear that noise.
05:09Now, you talk about taking it to the course.
05:11Yeah.
05:12Like a good way for people who kind of like suffer with the yips.
05:14If you can use the sense of sound.
05:16It's a really powerful sense.
05:17Uh-huh.
05:18And that noise you're getting there.
05:19Just do a few more because it's a great noise.
05:20You can't get enough of that noise there.
05:22You hear that noise?
05:23Yeah.
05:24If you can get that noise with the strike of the ball, your short game would be great.
05:28So, focus on the noise more than anything, but give me a little bit of width at the same time.
05:31Okay.
05:32Okay.
05:40Great.
05:41It gave me the noise.
05:42Now, it wasn't fantastic.
05:43You didn't really rotate through.
05:44We'll get onto that.
05:45But, did that feel a little bit friendlier?
05:48Yeah.
05:49I felt my knees go then.
05:50Yeah.
05:51Well, there's a bit of anything.
05:52You're going to have to rewire yourself.
05:53Every shot you hit like that will be a shot getting closer to rewiring because you start
05:57to trust the ground.
05:58Yeah.
05:59Okay.
06:00Right.
06:01Take a back swing.
06:02So, you're going to go wide with left shoulder.
06:04And then from there, open.
06:06This time, as you hit it, keep moving.
06:07Okay.
06:08Have a little bit of rotation with the chest through it.
06:10Try to soften your arms.
06:11I've gone a bit tight again.
06:14Wide.
06:15Slide.
06:16Very good again.
06:17Now, we're hitting the ground.
06:18I want you to get a little bit more length to me.
06:19Just going back.
06:20Okay.
06:21Just feel like you're going to get it a little wider.
06:22I can't move you this time.
06:23Nice and relaxed.
06:24Here we go.
06:25I'm going to do a stee over.
06:26Okay.
06:27And you're ready.
06:28Off we go.
06:29Right.
06:30How did that feel?
06:31Yeah.
06:32Unfortunately, I can't move you every time because if I did, you did it to a couple of
06:33inches.
06:34But what did you feel?
06:35Sort of different there?
06:36Just, yeah.
06:37More rotation.
06:38Yeah.
06:39Yeah.
06:40My grip gets stronger as I go through the ball.
06:43I can feel myself getting tighter on the grip.
06:44I feel that.
06:45You've got to accept that for a while.
06:46You know, we're trying to totally rewire how you see this.
06:48Yeah.
06:49But shots like that are going to build your confidence.
06:51Every shot you hit like that, you're a shot closer to getting all your confidence back.
06:55Okay.
06:56Here we go.
06:57Right.
06:58Without me now.
06:59Okay.
07:00Go wide and let the club slide and let the chest move.
07:03Very good.
07:04Well done.
07:05Trust in the ground.
07:06It wasn't quite as free when I moved you, but it was all right.
07:09Want me to rotate through to the target more?
07:12Soften these arms racks.
07:18Very, very good.
07:23That's a great shot.
07:24Take the spin.
07:25Yeah.
07:26Just flow in now.
07:27It's not just prodding the arms and leading at you.
07:29Good.
07:34Just think width, slide, turn.
07:40Very good.
07:41Very, very good.
07:45One more.
07:46You've got to keep breathing.
07:47You are quite anxious, haven't you?
07:49Just try and relax.
07:50Just try and breathe a bit.
07:51Okay.
07:52Okay.
07:53Very, very good.
07:54Now, if you can get a backswing longer, okay, we're in business.
07:56I felt like I had to lag that to get more.
07:57Well, that's what happens.
07:58It's all because you're a good player.
07:59You're a fine handicap, right?
08:00You've got a lot of golfing feels in you.
08:01If you get a little bit short, you're going to want to go that way.
08:03Yeah.
08:04That makes sense.
08:05Yeah.
08:06That makes sense.
08:07Yeah.
08:08If you can get longer, you can start letting the club release more.
08:10Yeah.
08:11Like you say, because your instinct from a short backswing is going to be tend to want to lag
08:12it and drag it.
08:13it and drag it.
08:14A little bit more.
08:15A little bit more.
08:16Why?
08:17Oh, it's got tight again.
08:18I can't move the club.
08:19Sorry.
08:20Right.
08:21There we go.
08:22Wide.
08:23And then we slide and we open up.
08:25Okay.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Okay.
08:28Yeah.
08:29Yeah.
08:30It's got tight again.
08:34Right.
08:35There we go.
08:36Wide.
08:37And then we slide and we open it.
08:50beautiful absolutely top class that is fantastic actually relaxed there on the way back you did
09:01relax a little bit felt like it so that's what you've got to practice you've got to just really
09:05work on getting the club working better through the turf which is a lot to do with angle of attack
09:10keeping it shallower a lot to do with relaxing and a lot to do with that practice swing get that
09:15noise first i was going to say is there anything in pre-shot routine in terms of walking up because
09:19i walk up to the ball thinking god i'm not going to enjoy this yeah what could what should i be
09:25thinking about you don't want to master the art of negative thinking no no that's the thing so
09:28but equally it's no good just thinking positive thoughts you know she technique that's actually
09:32ultimately going to do this i'm a big believer you're technically good you're mentally good
09:35so just understand that yeah the more you just work on your technique you'll get it but in terms
09:40of the you know in the meantime i would be standing up to it and then try and get as externally focused
09:47as i possibly can so i want to get as much into where i want to land the ball what the first
09:52bounce is going to look like and so where's it breaking to go in the hole because you've got
09:57internal focus right which is you've got to work on that on the practice area but when you play
10:02you've got to really see the shot and the more you can vividly paint the picture of what you're
10:06trying to do this side the less you should be wrapped up in it this side does that make sense
10:10and that takes as much practice the focus side of it takes as much practice as any of this stuff
10:15yeah but yeah don't live in technical mode you've got to try and see the shot and if you can
10:20combine you know better technique but actually a bit more about what the ball needs to do i think
10:24you'll start to calm down a bit there's no reason you can't fix yourself this by the way yeah yeah
10:27pretty quickly yeah if you can just work on this stuff okay all right yeah yeah good stuff good
10:32pleasure yeah uh short game was in a bad place most of the people that know me know it's the
10:40worst part of my game i struggle a lot with confidence um i feel like i've had the yips
10:45for quite a while now so working with dan has shored up my technique massively um he's widened my margin
10:53of error hugely you know i went from zero margin for error to now a technique where i can miss hit a
10:59shot and it'll still be a lot better than i used to hit it before i've got the confidence now to use
11:03more of a lofted shot and that's given me the confidence now to take that onto the course
11:08um and hopefully be able to use it in a competition and not feel like uh i'm getting going to get into
11:14some bad spots and if i do get into some bad spots i've got a technique to get me out of it
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