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