- 4 minutes ago
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.
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SportsTranscript
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.
00:11Jess, great to have you here at Woven. Welcome. Thank you for having me. And we're going to
00:15discuss this short pitch shot out of the rough because you say you've been having some issues
00:20with it. Tell me a bit more about it. I have. I've just found that when I find myself in a spot like
00:23this and I'm going to gravitate to playing a release two or a soft landing shot, I just
00:29find I can catch it a little bit thin. I don't feel like I get the best connection. And if I do get
00:35away with a connection, it will come out okay, but then really run. So it's not got that soft landing
00:40that I see in your shots, but also that I'd like to have in my game to think, okay, I'm in a bit of
00:45trouble here. And although I've got quite a lot of green to work with, if I then was to think,
00:49actually, I've got this one, how do I get that softness in it? Because I think I can maybe...
00:54And in terms of the lie, because that's the big thing in the rough, so is it when it starts to sit down,
00:57is this what you mean? Yeah, it's sat down a little bit. Just like that. It's just down.
01:00There's a bit of grass going in there. So you're thinking, okay, maybe this is more, I'm having to
01:05play this a little bit steeper possibly. But again, if it's one where you're trying to limit the run
01:10on it a little bit, and maybe I'm being too ambitious of trying to get it close, but it'll
01:14be something like this. And then the ones that I really can struggle with can be when it's also then
01:17on a down slope and you're trying to, again, like match the slope. But I find that if I can get a
01:22little bit too handsy, it will just come out, you know, come out running.
01:25Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. All right. So you're sitting down a bit. We'll go for that back
01:28pin. 25 yards. I've got my 54. You've got 54. Let's see what you've got.
01:32Okay. Decent contact. Popped out pretty nicely. Probably more of a luckier one than I would
01:51normally get when you've got a card in the hand. Here we go. Same sort of line.
02:02Yeah. Sort of grabs it a bit, doesn't it? Yeah. That's what I find. I can feel it slows down
02:11and I then don't feel like I've really got to throw it. Yeah, sure. So this is where the
02:15IQ sign is, what I call the golfing intelligence. It really, really comes into its own when you're
02:19reading lies in the rough. Now, what you've got there is you've got quite a big cushion behind
02:23the ball there. So quite right. I think you mentioned coming in steeper. You do need to come
02:27in a little bit steeper there, but you're not really setting up correctly for the shot you're
02:31trying to play. So you're setting up with the majority of your weight actually on your
02:35right side. Okay. Okay. Probably about 60% or so. So you're kind of tilting away from
02:39the ball. Now, you hit those okay. You're a good player. You will hit a lot of good shots,
02:42but from this position here and you start to try and release the club too much, it has got
02:47thin written all over it. That's how you hit the thin shot. And just really, you know, you
02:51don't get the control because you probably as well, if you are getting a decent strike, if you're
02:55releasing it too much and your weight's back here, you're going to start entering the rough
02:59really about sort of maybe four or five, six inches behind the ball, that's going to lose
03:03spin. So I think the big thing for you is when the ball starts sitting down a bit, see, I'd
03:08be setting up much more like this. I'd be down the grip. I'd be opening the club face a bit
03:12more. You have it dead square as well. Okay.
03:13It helps you. So I'd be opening up the face and I would be, see the width of the stance is
03:17wider and I'm leaning forward. I'm really getting that left foot out and I'm leaning this way.
03:21And just by the very nature of setting up with my chest bone now much further in front of the ball,
03:25on this set up with a bit of shaft lean, that's going to encourage me to set the club a bit
03:29earlier. Okay. But if I was to set up like you, I kind of want to go wider, which is a
03:34shallowing. You want to stand shallowing and steep in the ingredients and when you need
03:37to add some in and take some out. So basically you've got to get a little bit steeper. And
03:41then you can start to play around with different releases. I mean, the safer release ones from
03:45the rough really is what I call a release one, which is where basically it finishes here,
03:49where the butt grit is pointing at the hip. But if you want to release the club a little bit more,
03:53you could do, but you've got to do it from this position, not from this position.
03:57Yeah. That makes sense. So yeah, so this would be me here, a little bit of hinge. I can pop
04:01down and get the height, you see, and I can throw it right up there towards the pin. Now,
04:05if I want it to come out a bit softer than that, I could do the same thing. And then I can just
04:10put a little bit more release into it. Okay. And you can see that then comes out softer. Yeah.
04:14So they're the ones that I struggle with. Yeah. The softer landing. Yeah. Out of a tricky spot like
04:20this. Yeah. So, so to get it out, cause it's a bit more advanced. So if the lie was perfect,
04:24we'd just set up for a normal soft landing shot. Okay. In terms of how you set it up to it, quite
04:28shallow, releasing it. The lie is dictating how you play this shot. The lie is the most important
04:32thing. So we 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 going to find a lot easier. Okay.
04:41And 54 is fine. I don't mind a 54, particularly when you've got a bit of green,
04:44but just open the club face a bit. Okay.
04:46But when you're playing in the rough here, if you have it square, the rough is quite thick. It's
04:50going to tend to want to grab it. Yeah. And that's that feeling at the bottom.
04:53I would open it just to give you a little bit of margin. So if it does slip, it's still going to be
04:56square. But also what I would do here just to protect against the rough grabbing it is grip it a little
05:01bit tighter, really in this area here. Okay. You know, in the pad here, the little thing of going into
05:06the hand. So as you're coming through, I really am. I always advocate a light grip in short game,
05:10as you probably know, but in the rough, I really want to, with the left hand here, get tighter,
05:15helps me hold the loft on the club. Okay. Yeah.
05:17Yeah.
05:18Set up as well. A bit more on your left.
05:24So a bit open. Yeah. That's it. A bit more this way.
05:27Right on the left. Does that feel different?
05:29It does. Yeah. Okay. More that way with the face and you'll be brave. There we go.
05:32Okay. Down the grip a little bit more. Tight here.
05:38Right. That's great. Okay. That is great. Right. That is fantastic.
05:40I mean, to feel the release, am I going finish, like release one for this one or?
05:46Well, I think, I think, I think we'll try and get it softer. So we'll do a two, but you can do it from
05:50this setup. Okay. You can't do it from the old setup. No. Okay. Perfect. Right. Go to the top,
05:54go to the top of the swing. Okay. Hang on. Just try and get your left wrist a little bit more cupped.
06:00Okay. Okay. Now, as you come down, you can come down because of the backswing, you're coming down steeper.
06:05You put a little bit of a late release in there. Okay. Okay. But you've got to stay left the whole
06:09time. And cupped. You must cupped. You do tend to get a bit that way. I do, yeah. Right. Which then,
06:14again, off the fairway light, it's not the end of the world. You can play a low running shot.
06:18In the rough, if you do that, if you flex the wrist and the loft goes down, it's going to tend to
06:23grab a lot. Okay. So that cupping. Yeah. I guess it feels, yeah, like the, that's not even it,
06:29is it? Thumbs up. That's it. That's it. That's it. So to get to there. Yeah, that's it.
06:34And then just hit, I want you to hit the golden rule when you're in your off like this,
06:36is don't hit the ball first. Okay. Okay. You've got to hit about an inch behind it. Okay.
06:40That's great. That's really good. There we go. Right. Hinge it. Pop it just behind the ball.
06:46Right. That came off really soft. Okay. Too soft. No running it.
06:49But that's the type of. That's the one if I've got a tight pin.
06:52Okay. Yeah. You don't want to run if you try and play this high shot.
06:55If you wouldn't run, we'd do more of that front hit release. Okay. Okay.
06:59Great there. Don't open it too much. Don't go crazy.
07:01Right. There we go. A little bit of hinge.
07:04Got some release at the bottom. I've done it again.
07:06I've done it again. They're coming out lovely.
07:08I mean, I will take those because most of the time I'm in a tighter spot than
07:12Exactly. Having lots of green.
07:14But don't worry. So look, if you were just trying to hit that shot 10, 12 yards,
07:18you've just played a world-class shot. Okay.
07:20The rest of it, you've got to feel it. Yeah.
07:22It's coming off softer now. So you've got to increase your speed. Okay.
07:24Wow. Okay. Over here.
07:27A bit of forward lean of the shot.
07:32Like that. Okay.
07:33It's almost like feeling like it's on that front leg.
07:35Because of the light. Right.
07:36Set it early. Release at the bottom. Have a bit more chest speed through it this time.
07:45Very good.
07:45Now that's what you want. So it's carried, it's landed soft.
07:48Yeah, that's nice.
07:48And it's not running very far.
07:50No, I like that.
07:51Yeah, that's very good. You played that really well.
07:53Thank you. I think that's one thing throughout. It's getting confident
07:58with the chest as well. Releasing the chest through it.
08:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:00Because I think that sometimes I can go slower with that so the hands take over.
08:06Shall we do a front hip release like a motor of a running shot out of the rough now?
08:09Okay.
08:10So you set up exactly the same.
08:11Exactly the same.
08:12A little bit open.
08:12Nothing changes. Just a touch open.
08:14Shaft lean.
08:15Shaft lean, absolutely.
08:17And now same thing from this setup. You're going to hinge the club a little bit earlier to get the steep
08:22protect through the rough, but this time you're going to finish more like this.
08:25You're still turning the chest, but you're finishing more this way.
08:27Okay.
08:27So 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.
08:32All right.
08:32So when you've got green to work with at the rough, it's more that finish.
08:35If you've got the shorter one, you've got to go over something.
08:37Yeah.
08:37You put more of that second release in.
08:39Okay.
08:40So wait on this side.
08:41Bit of shaft lean.
08:42That's really good there.
08:43Hinge, but front hip release this time.
08:45When it's slightly lower, more running shot.
08:47Good.
08:48Now watch this all land and watch it run out.
08:50So you just want to run out a little bit more.
08:54See?
08:54Yes.
08:55Great shot.
08:55You played out brilliantly.
08:56Take these for the course.
08:57You played out brilliant.
08:57Yeah.
08:58But what you're understanding is it's one setup.
09:00Yes.
09:00And you just change your swing a little bit, depending on the slope and how much green you've
09:04got to work with.
09:05Yeah.
09:05I think that's been the challenge from the get-go is I feel if you, if you don't know this setup.
09:09Yeah.
09:10In your mind, you think, well, I'm trying to play this shot, but you're going against the tide almost.
09:14You can't, you know, if you've already scuppered yourself.
09:16Yeah.
09:17Now if we're going for this front pin, okay, so there's hardly any green.
09:21We can still stick to a 54.
09:22It might be easier with 58, but we'll, have you got a 58?
09:25I have.
09:26Yeah.
09:26Just let's use a 58.
09:28Let's use the right club.
09:29Now here, you're going to play it exactly the same way.
09:32We do need some release into this to soften it.
09:34Okay.
09:34But get super wide now.
09:36Go 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?
09:42More bunker shot.
09:43A hundred percent.
09:44That's it.
09:44We'll keep the right leg in.
09:45Again.
09:46Yeah.
09:46That's it.
09:47Good.
09:47Now set the club nice and early with the wrists and you're coming down and it's there.
09:53Okay.
09:53You feel that?
09:54Yeah.
09:54There's not much rotation of the, of the upper body here.
09:57It's more of a hand and arm shot.
09:58Okay.
09:58So set it, release it.
10:01Okay.
10:01Okay.
10:01Nice and narrow in the follow through.
10:08Sharf lean or no?
10:08Yeah.
10:09No, you're good there.
10:09Okay.
10:10Come on, just feel it now.
10:14There you go.
10:14Oh, the great shot.
10:16Go in.
10:16Oh, wow.
10:17What a great shot.
10:18So there's no such thing's a bad lie.
10:19No.
10:20It's IQ.
10:21Yes.
10:21And think about how you need to change that angle of attack and release.
10:24So you've got some solutions there for different lines.
10:25Yeah, brilliant.
10:26It's just so easy to practice and when you do practice that,
10:28I would just throw the balls over your shoulder in the rough.
10:30Yeah.
10:31And just look at each one and react to it.
10:33And then you just learn how to do the subtle differences in your,
10:35in how you set your weight and how you put the angle of attack into it.
10:38Well, that's good.
10:39And yeah, lots of work on it.
10:40It's a great part of the game.
10:41There's no such thing's a bad lie.
10:42Okay.
10:42Nope.
10:42Nope.
10:43I know that now.
10:44All right.
10:44Pleasure.
10:46So before coming to today,
10:47I would say the main struggle for me was getting out the rough.
10:50Okay.
10:50And having that soft landing shot.
10:53I'd always try and bring a bit of softness to it,
10:55but either thin it massively,
10:56especially if I'm on a down slope or get it out.
10:59Okay.
11:00But 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
11:07as well.
11:08And so for me,
11:09really working with Dan on that in the session means now that I'm leaving
11:13with confidence that if I do find myself in those,
11:16not quite position Zed,
11:17I think he calls it,
11:18but those really tough ask lies where you can't quite get to the back of the
11:23ball, there's that tuft of grass there.
11:25I'm going to feel a lot more confident walking into that shot and hopefully
11:28get a good result as well.
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