Rick Shiels talks to WORLDS BEST chipping coach

All right guys welcome back to the Rick Shields Golf Show podcast everybody this is episode 182. now this episode I think you're gonna really really enjoy it's a guest episode last week we've had a busy week filming. And that's why apologies we actually couldn't get a podcast finished last week we apologize sorry and also that's why actually we didn't release any videos last week we pushed hard in making brand new content that's gonna be coming to the channel over the next.

Few weeks and we just needed that little bit of respite to make sure we filmed plenty of content and therefore. it goes into the editing Factory to get edited ready for your enjoyment coming soon now while we were down in London we filmed some fantastic content again that's all going to be coming really soon um lots of breaks 75 some other challenges Etc. And on one of the days we went to Woburn golf club now Wilbur is an amazing place it's got three golf courses the Marcus course this Championship golf course which I do do break 75 on check that out coming soon it's also got the juice course which is amazing. And The Duchess course which is one of the hardest golf courses I've ever played in my life because it's. So tight down there as well they've got this phenomenal short game area called the Tavistock and one of the golf coaches there Dan Greaves who's been a golf coach for many many years coached some of the best players in the world he has now specialized in becoming a short game coach now as you know from watching the videos um how do we say it nicely my short game isn't my strength let's put it that way there's been some instances of fat shots thin shots uh it's not been pretty now over the last few months In fairness it has got a little bit better my chip in my short game has actually got a little bit better however. it can be improved now I had a lesson I've done that video is going to be coming very soon it is one of the best lessons I've ever had now you've seen on the channels recently I've been very fortunate to have a putting less enough Brad facts. And which was phenomenal a full swing lesson of Claude Hardman which again was brilliant. And now a short game lesson off Dan Greaves to be honest there's no real excuse why I shouldn't be shooting 65 in every single video that's down to me now. And to put the work and practice in but in this episode we actually sat down with Dan me and guy we were there together uh with Dan as a guest guys unfortunately off this week on holiday. So that's why he's not with me this morning um but we sit down with Dan and talk about the short game players he's worked with the misconceptions about short game and why he believes it's the best aspect of golf like why he loves the short game so much he brought a book out as well which I would highly recommend checking out it's called three releases we talk about it in the in the podcast as well now just a quick warning this podcast because we had to film It On Location it wasn't in our beautiful Studio we've got here uh we had to film it outside and record it outside near the putting green which to some degree that you're viewing pleasure if you're going to be watching on YouTube channel looks fantastic like it's gorgeous beautiful day next.

To the putting green however. like a lot of golf courses there's lots of things going on there's green Keepers there's planes going across there's a little bit of wind noise it's very listenable. And watchable it really is. But it's not to our perfect normal standards just bear that in mind you might just have to lower the volume a little bit if you're in your car or out for a walk because it's just like there's a bit of wind noise but the information you receive in this podcast is brilliant. So sit back enjoy the guest episode with dang Greaves be sure to like him and follow him on his Instagram page it's blown up recently I'll put a link down in the description and one last thing as well thank you so much for all the donations I received over the last couple of weeks after the London Marathon we've now hit over 10 000 pounds raised for his never use so thank you so much everybody right without further Ado this is interview interview a guest episode with short game expert Dan Greaves. And enjoy so I think you're going to really enjoy this one. So as you can see miraculously we just got here to Woburn beautiful day lovely we're outside. So just a bit of a warning there might be a little bit of wind noise but we couldn't resist just enjoying this beautiful setting this is we've said it's a lot more to new venues. But this is actually becoming already one of my favorite places we've been to yeah. But the short game area it's very fit in having our guest on today.

The short game area I would say is the best in the world the best I've been to. For sure so Dan thanks for joining us today.

Pleasure this is your home yeah 17 years 17 years I've been asked I've been in 2006 yeah crazy I mean we will throw in some imagery of the short game area uh is it Tavistock the Tavistock short gamer is its official name yeah it's cut out of these wonderfully tall beautiful pine trees. And the green is two huge greens with loads of different slopes. And angles that you can hit from the whole venue here is actually really nice the three Golf Course. So they've actually been looking to buy all three of them yeah we're actually about to go. And play one of them this afternoon in the very 75 which will be coming very soon um. But we've had an exciting morning yeah I've had a lesson off yeah yeah which was very very interesting um because obviously you're a golf coach. But in the last kind of few years your Instagram last 18 months your Instagram has blown up you're on 119 000 followers now okay yeah it's coming. For you Rick how's it going. And you've really kind of taken this really cool role in the kind of the short game golf coach I know but you are just a golf coach. But short game is a huge passion. For you and you've kind of branched out into social media yeah where did this all come from how did this kind of all start really um I've always I mean I've played golf since I was like four. Or five years old and I've I've always like loved the short game I do think golfers kind of evolved around how they play the game. So I've always like I've never been the greatest driver for the ball short and well it's not a great combination off the tease it so I then.

Tend to miss a few more greens than most Pros would so I quite quickly learned if I was going to compete I've really got to try. And embrace that yeah. And become yeah become a good short game player. So I work very hard on my own technique it might as well get a decent level as a player and uh and then.

Uh obviously really got into the coaching side of things it was really I guess back in about 2000. And uh eight nine I started working with a guy called Steve Luton who's doing really well now in the Asian tourists he's done well in some of the Saudi events as well um and that he got European tour card I was there with him. And then.

Uh Charlie Hull is a member at the time here she'll remember actually um she uh her dad David approached me about doing a little bit of short game work with her because she was a fantastic Talent from an early age. And she was about 15 she was about to turn profit she went to tour school when she was still 15. wow. And um her short game wasn't I mean she ripped it to dream amazing I mean I remember seeing when she was 12 13 incredible. But she didn't really have an idea for short game but like we spoke about today.

Rick I think a lot of players um a really strong compression in the long game initial to get the Finesse. And the touch and feel and show him and she was definitely a little bit in that camp particularly with pitching. So he asked me to look at a picture and it went really well we started making some really big improvements pretty quickly because I think with short game it's very different um when you competing on a national level you need to have an okay short game. But when you start wanting to compete internationally and you've played Great Courses all around the world you see the you get asked very different questions don't you when you're in these runoff areas you can also play it up. And spin it you shouldn't have quite a few shots so you know I started really really working with Charlie and then.

She she turned around 16 and I don't know if many people noticed her first five events when you're on the European tour she finished second in all five yeah amazing yeah. So she went second all the way through five events in a row and then.

Uh you know suddenly she's in the Slime cup at 17. and I kind of knew short game I knew what good looked like and I knew what the ball flight should look like didn't necessarily know the mechanics of it inside out and because of the success for Charlie I was doing like clinics with her. And magazine articles I didn't really no if I'm being truthful absolutely no inside out. So I really started this journey of exploring it and kind of experimenting and really learning it and digging into it until I knew inside out with that then.

Is that you kind of just from trial. And error with students or is it kind of researched it reading books it speaking to other golf coaches how do you start to understand the short game more yeah I think learning a lot of people think learning you can do all by reading a book. And I think there's an element of that. So I so I kind of stood it but I like I like studying by watching so I'll be watching the greats I mean I was brought watching golf in the 80s. And early 90s so sevi was like a massive massive mirror of mining I just love the way he played Short game shots. So I've been doing a lot of studying watching a lot of my own practice as well yeah because I came in 2006. And and the questions you asked around these courses which you'll get asked this afternoon you've got to play different charts yeah. So if you like the old-fashioned way of chipping which I was brought up been taught to do which was balled out a lot of lots going to drive their hands in. And keep everything low and on the ground as soon as possible whilst they're still merits today.

In some certain in some circumstances you've got to get more versatility playing courses like this. And then.

I started dabbing to work on my game to be able to play these shots and manage to do it um. So yeah a lot of it a lot of it is through I think your own trial. And error and then.

Obviously his technology went on going to trackman trapman sort of validated some of my findings um about how you can sort of release the club slightly differently to get different spins. And different runouts and then.

You can see that risk sensors. And all that to really validate and I soon realized I was onto something. And actually it all made sense because what I thought worked actually was backed up by the data as well which is what you need yeah because I mean we we've talked about this on the podcast growing up. And you just alluded to it there chipping style was very very different as you mentioned it was back foot open The Stance up yeah I mean a lot of shots were played differently yeah like bunker shots was always very much open The Stance opened the face cut along the line of your feet you now start to hear players talk about drawing chip shots you know they're trying to purposely hit that draw type feel yellowing out versus how steep it used to be yeah we had we had a little go with that on the show gave it before. And it felt really good you see now bunker shot's been played much more Square you know everything being aimed and more at the Target is this has this happened by accident is it this of other people kind of pros. And good players done similar things to you and almost the self discovery that was backed up by trapman. And GC quads and launch monitors and how much also was the as the equipment made a massive factor in this as well like you know bounce many years ago was nothing that we'd ever really hear of you'd you know you thought a bounce was just what you got. For cart path when you hit a bad boy balance now has become such a big thing yes. And all of these things so has it been this kind of blend of everything and what would you say has been the maybe the most influential I think it's a combination of the few things I think like everything in life generally generally things get better like the the learning gets better how the understanding of it. So if you understand it maybe gets better um but I think actually the condition generally bunkers are much better than they were 30 40 years ago when it was being politically taught okay because the sand would be less sand okay. So when you got less sand it helps to actually swing a little bit across because it's a stiffener it's in short game you've got shallowers and steepness so when there's less than if you dig across ease a way of elevating the ball so even if today.

If I've got a really bad light I'll kind of go back to the old school methods because it actually works. For that there's a purpose so there's lots more stand now when there's lots more sand you've got to be shallower so it makes sense to use my bounce and stun Square also sandwiches like you say just so much better now you know if you look if you look at sandwiches back in the day they were kind of very very basic in their design. And the good news is these days amateurs can buy exactly the same wedges that the tour Pros are using whereas even even 10 15 years ago that have very different looking yeah looking grinds like you said you know the grind is. So different so obviously a combination of technology in in both the sand dun and the actual golf clubs and just better understanding that actually playing it squarer you also get a much straighter spin on the ball as well because when you cut across it firstly you've got to hit about three times harder if there's a lot of sand right so that's hard to just distance if you're coming in square and sand is what explodes the ball out square. And then.

If it's Landing you've got a bit of spin it's actually got straight spin on it so you've actually got a chance of holding the bunker shot if you think about trying to bring it in from the side into a hole that's quite difficult isn't it yeah it's hard to judge yeah. So that's why you'll see it yeah much much square of these days yeah I don't I don't think there's any a guest. Or anyone we've had on where I'm literally hanging on everything yeah because. For me it certainly is my own self-discovery. Or short game Sorry if there is a bit of background noise everybody we're outside today.

And there's green Keepers everything else but hopefully it's you'll still enjoy the episode um for me it's been my biggest bug bear for a while over the last few years and it's it's been the thing that's probably when you're not good at something you end up putting it off right I certainly do well I'm much more comfortable going to a driving range. And hit a little driver shots because I'm actually comfortable doing that that's like me putting us playing along on yeah players typically practice the strengths we're coming on to that quite nicely then.

One obviously as a golf coach you don't need to be an amazing golf we hear that Alana was at Claude ham. And he's off like nine or something he is openly amazing he's not the best golfer. And that that makes sense because ultimately the tour pros need coaches and you can't no there's no one better than John Rams we have to have a coach it's kind of worst him if you like. But one thing with yourself that I've noticed from a few of your Instagram videos and today.

In particular is you actually are a wizard with the wedges. And I think that that must help when you're explaining shots to students whether it be high handicap amateurs. Or Elite tour Pros when you can show the method excuse it yourself flawlessly that must help you to get the trust of your yeah who can demonstrate the shot I think if you can demonstrate a shot as well as coach having now it's immensely powerful yeah because you they can watch you do. And a lot of people are just everyone's different Learners aren't they some people like to get rid of details some people like just more visual. So I've seen someone the other day and as and I was playing these shots. And I was sort of saying you know um how are you doing that he says I don't know I'm just copying you yeah. So I think that's quite interesting yeah. So the ability to play the shots he's Keen I do kind of like pride myself that you know if I wasn't going to play with the tour pro I touched too much to tour pros. And we go out and played they're gonna absolutely just destroy me to eat agree yeah. But I still round the green back myself to to be at least the same as I'm if not beat them and um you know when we are tripping comps I am able to beat them you know at least half the time that's good. And uh but like all I really practiced is sure yeah as well. But I love short game I just love it I love missing greens it sounds really definitely I only probably hit eight or nine greens around on purpose I'd much rather Mr Greener hit to 30 feet because I don't regret I'm disappointed when the ball's like curving away from the target but when I as soon as I'm walking up to my ball I'm getting really genuinely excited about what shot I'm gonna play how we build a shelf. And play the shot you know and and the challenges I absolutely love [Music] courses recently and and you know certainly obviously over here there's so many different ways to play Shots around a lynx course when when you're with your coaching someone or you were there yourself on a lynx course do you see it there is just one shot to play. Or do you see there's different ways it could be the bump. And run across the floor or you should actually Loft it up or is there a right. And wrong shot or is it just finding shots that you're comfortable with nothing wrong the big things Link's courses actually can play very differently I know the actual designs are exactly the same. But like the thermostat Sometimes some links courses you played they've got a little gift still in the term isn't it so you can still like we did today.

You can do your release twos where you release the club a little bit more whether you know. But it's kind of pointing back at the belt buckle where the bounce is sliding a bit more. But if let's say you're playing like High Lake you know six where it was just absolutely burnt yeah you would definitely have to make adjustments there you know you would have to take the bounce off. So there are a number of ways of doing that you could do more like watercolor at least one which is more the front hit release you could do you can start like we said earlier the Grinder's. So great now you can put toes down they're like generally a lot of clubs have like um toe relief. So you can put the toe lower. And then.

You can still play it with a bit of release. And get more spin So reading the LIE is actually I think the the most poorest aspect that amethysts do in short game like they don't read the live very well yeah um. And then.

They'll try and play a shot that the eye sees that they want to play because they've got to go over something for example simple but they'll just the LIE won't allow them to play it yeah I mean it's absolutely honestly if you can learn that it's massive I think. Or sometimes you already preset what shot You're Gonna Play yeah. And you've not looked whether it sat down whether it's sat or whether you know yeah you just don't do it. And you're right with a lot of how many times do you see. And then.

To be honest some golf courses in the UK and the US force you to pick a club before you get over there because you've got a party and just grab a wedge because that's the club I'm going to use when you get over there you go actually it's like this lie is not going to be allowing me to hit that shot sure. And it's quite interesting remember the Tiger Woods uh TaylorMade wedge that came out that was designed just. For Tyler Tiger Woods yeah that if I'm not mistaken had lots of different bounces. And grinds depending on how we set it up yes right you could angle it differently. Or toe or heel down and they'll lay it back and the weight was ground you could you could you could still get the relief to be able to play from different lives yeah it's quite a mindful though isn't it. And I'd almost related to recently I bought a battery powered screwdriver okay okay DIY shop I don't know about yeah. So I'm looking along I'm going which one do I get here right. And there was one where the middle section would twist. And then.

You could have a different head right so it could be a flathead it could be a cross it could be a Allen key yeah. And what I'm trying to say there is is that tool now allows me to do any job around the house I suppose you wedge a bit like Tiger's wedge with a different bounces different grinds that's his multi-purpose wedge that he can do a lot of different things which is versatile you've got to build yourself like I've got three magic three wedges in my bag. But really I've got kind of 25 really in terms of how you can use them. So differently but very very few golfers I think understand how they can do that I mean I do short game scores now twice a week. And and they've got these fantastic clubs and I spend most of my time educating them but you can use that bit. Or that if you understand you can do that. Or that and and it's just just having that knowledge can transform you as a golfer question then..

For you obviously it is a bit even kind of my decent level I get a little bit overwhelmed by obviously you've got lost because you've got grinds you've got bounds you've got different finishes. And wedges like the types of bulky website is a bit of a Minefield now there obviously is ways you can kind of roughly fit yourself. Or you can go. For a fitting as well but it feels to me there's not anywhere really maybe this place detached centers an exception to some degree there's not many places you can try wedges actually out. And get fit and have the different locks and grinds there like how would you recommend an amateur golfer get fit for wedges because it is quite difficult it is difficult um you do need a facility I think you do have the playoff grass yeah great I think that's absolutely vital yeah the map tends to flatten. And similar grass to what your home golf course yeah ideally I mean I'm not trying to plug Woburn. But when people have wedge fittings here they'll come down and the guys will take the whole bag of wedges down to the short game area. And they're spending out playing different shots and you can try them all. And that I mean that's that's like the ultimate Way of yeah of having a wedge fitting I would also say with wedge fitting I think too much emphasis is placed on the gapping as in the full shot gapping yes I'm trying to get that right it's important. But I think it's more important to get the right the right Loft. And and and bounce and grind for around the green like you can chip in around the green you've got to get it absolutely bang on yeah in terms I think if you're good enough even if you're not you learn it to be able to play about more like three quarter shots if you've got a bigger gap between say yeah 46. And you're 52. that's fine learn to play three quart 46 and make sure you're 52 you 56 and 60s are absolutely right. For you like a little bit more Loft around the green like having a 52 rather than a 50 for example would be better for you to chip with than maybe a 50. and this is what the player needs to figure out yeah what would you obviously you're very you know um your heart is set on short game do you think too many General golfers focus more on a driver fitting. And neglect the wedge Fitness yeah without doubt without doubt very very few people get fit. For the wedges they'll buy them off the shelf it's a lot of people's last thought ain't it really it's harder to get fit though as well isn't it it is harder. But I would just say the big one you know people listen I would say that always get your wedges just at least one degree flatter maybe two in your 60 then.

So let's say you're one degree upright in your irons you want to go one degree flat and you're 60. oh really yeah just go flatter because the heat the heel part of a wedge is the dangerous bit that can kind of dig in. And turn to toe is designed to slide it's a much more friendlier approach. But like you were doing it you're saying that you found a way around it by putting the toe down. For your chipping that's because the toes designed to slide so you'd much rather have a toe down wedge than a toe up wedge wow so if he just did that that would that would really help you've taught obviously Charlie Holt. And some other great players and you've had some great victories as well can you talk us through some of your kind of highlights with teach actual tour Pros with players yeah um. So obviously I touched Georgia Hall that was a route that was a that was a good journey because I started teaching Georgia I think she was about 450 in the world. And ended up getting to number six so all the way through from European tour to winning a major she would remember she wanted him yeah then.

As well yeah wow coaching all of the game actually swing um how did that feel as a golf coach oh amazing amazing yeah I was a bit nervous that last day. But it was. So particularly the journey because I remember when I first started coaches he was doing okay European tour which was on the cut line quite a lot she was always very gritty make it um. So I knew she had it like mentally amazing and we just improved a few things and just quietly quietly improved every year so if you look at a kind of like Audra Merit it just kept stepping and just improving every year and obviously won the major um not working together anymore but um you know she's absolutely delighted that she's she went off a little bit and she's come back she's back to top 10 in the world now but I feel like my job's done there she's doing great and we move on you know you got your major win yeah exactly a silly question. But as a coach then.

Would you rather have a client that kind of gets better year on year or something that dramatically gets back so I think if you get better very quickly could that then.

Almost be that you could go off the rails quite quickly as well. But if you get better just year on year that's almost a year yeah I think you're showing like progression that can be sustained yes like if you suddenly have a fantastic win in Europe there. And we've seen it a number of times haven't we with golfers that they have a big win and they drop off yeah yeah he has come out of almost no words yeah it's interesting person I've seen the state there yeah he will looks like he will do who would you say has got the the best short game on tour today.

Professional goal. For you today.

Um right now it's cam Smith on top yeah cam Smith is on the tour yeah yeah no I think I love how he plays his short game shots yeah I think it said hundreds I thought he was amazing with his wedge play. And he's he's come to all going in all trajectories I think he he rotates real ball beautifully he's great um [Music] Jason day's short game because that's it seems very very straight armed. And not much wrist movement um yeah um it works really well. For him you know he's wide he maintains his radius really well when you do that that's that's when you start using your wrist a little bit you run the risk of not maintaining that um. And he holds it he kind of like goes wide and he just holds the Loft right and he does it really well um I wouldn't particularly recommend it. For everyone because I think you've got to have a little bit more softness you've got to start allowing the club to fall if you want to get diversity I think if most golfers who are less talented than him did it I think they become very one-dimensional which is most people listening yeah he's less talented than Jason indeed. And so as your Instagram or social media been blowing up because as mentioned you've just got 219 000 followers which I'm sure after this podcast hopefully be sure to check out Dan on all of your social media that started like 18 months ago when you were on you were on what a couple of thousand yeah it was you just sat a couple of thousand. For a while and I thought I'd better try and do something about this. And in conjunction with this you've kind of now been known for this kind of these three releases so at least one two and three which again in the video that I did with Dan this morning you'll see that coming out soon. But also you've conjunction uh brought in with a book as well like how did that kind of all come into play was that. Or planned did you have the book in the back of your mind. And the social media just kind of fit in or was it how did that uh yeah the social media started working on that. And I'm just trying to keep as natural as I can as social media it's just me just giving a lesson right it's nothing too staged um. So that was growing all the time. And really what I'd always wanted to write a book because I thought I was sort of slightly onto something with short game in terms of the truth I was using the terms release one two three with golfers. For probably using it for about seven or eight years with golfers and they liked it and I thought it was it made sense to them um. But I didn't want to start using it on social media and I did didn't want other coaches to start saying it was there. So I basically I thought well write a book it's an indirect or indirect way of copywriting it I know if coaches want to use it fantastic brilliant brilliant music there's my language that's all I wanted to do that's really why I wrote that I didn't write a book to to sell loads I just wrote it is it to say look this is my this is kind of my system that's that's why I did it um. And really the lockdown thing really was a reason because it was the winter lockdown where there's three months where it was like it was just hard wasn't that I thought you know it was having to get involved with a homeschooling. Or it was uh it was in his right book. And I just sat in the office and I just wrote the book wow and got it done and I think without lockdown I probably would never got it done did you find that process quite hard yeah it was quite a nice initially when you start writing. But then.

You just got to pour over every word and just just make sure I've tried to strip it back and the feedback I've had from the book has been great that the fact that everyone says this language is like really really simple. And I take that as a compliment yes because I've tried to make it that anyone can understand it yeah I could have used it you see a lot of coaches using like really long fantasy. And anatomical kind of words but I've just tried to keep it as simple as possible so anyone can relate to it that's a big thing the we have something without Rick's coach videos we want them to be very Broad. And easy to consume because we have a lot of new golfers and non-golfers watching I suppose there's more of those people out there in absolute hardcore golfers and if you had a book that was super hard to get your head around a lot of the information would be great it might only appeal to x amount of people. But the book that you've done and then.

The way like you said as well the Instagram it's very natural very easy to follow it's very simple. And if I could fly on the wall yeah I think that's why people like it yeah yeah I suppose you could have wrote you wrote a book. For golfers not for golf coaches yeah. And that's yeah yeah. So you can get golf coach in books they're designed. For the golf coaches that go really into detail yeah yeah talk about radial movement. And all these other things where you've actually just gone no I'm actually making it this is. For the club golfer yeah to really understand it. And just so clear like the three releases the way in which you played the shots Pete golfers have been using these techniques for 200 years like I've not come up with like brand new ways of playing the shot I might have tweaked them a little bit I might have just said let's go let's move that let's let's set up this way to play this shot I think what I've tried to do is create a blueprint. So golfers can really understand it. So they know that they're not mixing ingredients up because short game really is a selection of ingredients like what hits it high what suits it low. And I think generally golfers mix them all up. So what I try to do in the book is make sure if you're playing a low shot you set up like this. And these are your checkpoints. And this is where you finish with the release point. And it's the same if you want to do like a release two which is more of a mid-flight high spinner. And a release three if you're really trying to hit high from a lob shot or a bunker shot so it's just understanding what are the ingredients when do I use a shot. And a big part of the book as well is actually on your golfing intelligence like what I call your golf your golf. And IQ the ability to choose the right shot read the lie and make sure you you plan to release correct for the shot you've got and if you can link in better technique with a better way of thinking a higher golfing IQ you can become an amazing sure game player. And I don't think it's out the Realms of anyone to be try. And aim to to be a scratch short game player you've got to kind of separate the handicap so I like to almost think what is your handicap as a as a golfer just on the short game. And it's not a physical activity you don't need to be able to move like Rory you know you don't need to there's no reason an average kind of golfer cannot become the best short game player in the world some of them yeah really it's similar important there's no reason why the most average person could not become the greatest putter in the world absolutely agree yeah uh Matt who does our podcast um has become quite your disciple. And from what I've read on online and social media he's not the only one because it seems like you've really opened the eyes of a lot of golfers in this idea that you know they've got an understanding I mean Matt's been very very cocky recently about his short game. And we're staying locally and we might have a little chipping comp tonight so nothing is testing yeah that might need testing um. But it would I think what's good about what you're doing. And the lesson I had today.

Is that confidence it's nice to hear it. And the way you simply put it it kind of makes a lot of sense and it's easy it's easy to understand yeah um. So at the moment the books obviously are is it on Amazon yeah is it three releases it's called three releases the short game system yeah I would highly recommend it if people pick you up I've got a copy I'm not a great reader. And then.

You brought the copy you didn't I didn't find you on wishes on Amazon I bought a copy um and then.

I must admit I'm not the greatest reader I think audiobook has to come out next.

I thought about that. But yeah I don't know how you get across the photo because a lot of it's imagery oh yeah watch Rick Shields video with angry what about a featured film if you could wrap the whole book up in an hour video I'm all over it that'll be my next.

Project with yeah I'm not. So much I'm not a reader you know that's definitely true do you do you find to most of the clients that come. And see you now at the world boom because people you can book a lesson with you. And have a lesson here at Wilburn with you what what are they coming in saying what's the most common issue fault is it because I feel like when I was coaching full time the golf will come inside I'm kind of slicing it I mean it well enough I'm kind of slicing it yeah it feels like short game it's a huge amount of it could be I'm duffing it I'm thinning it I'm shanking it like this seems like there's a lot of issues around short game that players struggle with what do you find is the most common issues that people call yeah. So I'd probably grew up into two things firstly for the for the better player like you Rick it's often as you were doing today.

It's kind of quite short in the backswing quite a linear motion not really not having much rotation quite a short backswing. And then.

Driving quite hard so having no release. And then.

Using that Loft a lot of Loft to offset that yeah right. So it gets quite driving quite strong which is good. For certain shots but it's going to make you very one-dimensional yeah. And then.

For the probably mid higher handicap as it goes the other way where actually players get quite flippy yeah because they're not really understanding the setup they're not understanding how the body needs to Pivot correctly. So the hired handicapper tends to not move and just flip the hands and the lower handicapper tends to kind of Drive their arms I would say that's the biggest the biggest thing is that will make it easy to culture how handicapper then.

Because they're probably not a million miles yeah it's interesting yeah it's quite interesting isn't it because um you know good players generally they well all good players in long game will create a lot of pressure yeah a lot of sort of flexion with the lead wrist as they come into the ball which is great compression is strong. And then.

They kind of take the same pattern to short game um but what you find in in in high handicap as they go the opposite they almost release you too much yeah. So it's just getting the right and then.

They've got I just teach them to understand the different release points and once I understand that they've got they know where to go you've got to understand yourself you've got to coach yourself at this game yeah I feel like with with higher handicappers I'm guessing really your your big um Factor you're trying to get across is controlling the low Point yeah low points a lot of higher handicappers lean back yeah. So I think subconsciously they're trying they're trying to get in yeah with the Tilt. So that's why I teach this foot flow and if you get that foot flowing and you sort of push the pressure left um you can create this pivot line that I talk about which runs from your foot through your knee hip. And to shoulder running through your left ear and then.

You've got a line in which you can actually rotate around. So most golfers the most common fault is the pressure tries to go left with the hips. And then.

The body tilts back yeah as like a byproduct. So with this in mind and obviously if someone comes on YouTube guys for a full swing lesson there's different obviously people might be flexible or they might have certain swing characters they just can't change whatever but with this then.

Does that mean pretty much everyone that comes to see you can follow these steps. And you can coach kind of one way really great question I totally agree I think I think full swing I would never. For example bring out a book saying the long game system yeah right I just totally disagree with that right. But I think short game as I say it's not a physical act I can get most people chipping a very similar way they're not very very similar because you don't need to be built Mason Lee you don't need to have amazing flexibility to do it. So I think anyone absolutely anyone can ship. So what you're saying then.

Really none of us hear or listening or watching there's no excuses no. So you've got to get them to mind yeah physical limitations correct. But one thing Dan said off camera. For me was in a chat because we said that it's in your head. But you chip in but then.

You came back to something like it's not really it's actually a new technique because if your technique's great and hitting good shots then.

Your head's fine let's say if you're technically good you're mentally good yeah you know if your techniques out it will always show up it will always show up particularly when you you know you're under the gun like it really matters. So you know if you if you can just get your Technique right. And I think I've taught you today.

Rick. And maybe you tell me but it's like you've you've a number of shots today.

You hit behind ball right. But actually you got it quite close because actually we've just made the club friendlier correct the way you were chipping you can chip that way. But you've got to be perfect absolutely perfect because if you are heavy it's going to show whereas now you don't need to be perfect. And if I know I don't know about you if I was standing over a chip knowing I didn't need to be perfect I'm going to be more relaxed I've been knowing I've got to be perfect it was a bit like my driving I don't really worry too much about my driving exactly even though the shots are here aren't always a perfect strike you know what it's all right yeah they're down there these are never no luckily. For me I'm not ever thinking about topping a drive yeah. Or really hitting a terrible drive so I'm very very confident in my drive like overly confident because Miss hits are just not that terrible. But what you're saying is if you're making it now with your new technique that it makes it more friendly you've got more room. For error in a cinema analogy form it's almost like being on a t and the fellow's getting wider yeah if you've got more room. For every massive margins yeah. And that's what these top guys are doing you know I've been around on on you know tournaments. And I promise you they're missing their chips all the time they miss their walls but they miss it into three feet because they've just got this margin for error and they're much more talented the average golfer right who's got no margin forever. So we need to we need to get that margin for as big as possible it's really interesting is there another side of the game let's say now you've completed chipping okay you've got is is there a secondary aspect of the game that you you're as passionate about like does it transcend into putting like you wish are you a huge putting fan is there a system. For putting that might be down the line no um I enjoy coaching. And I do coach putting I just I just personally I just find it a little bit dull I'd rather be on the short getting married playing all these different shots. So and I enjoy putting the first and I'm hoping most of my pupils don't need to put much really because I just you know I like that but um you know what though as well hearing your passion you've got the knowledge you've got I know you get a lot of golf coaches who are kind of Round. And I know again you do you do still do long game lessons. But like yourself or a Phil Kenyon who's a putting coach it must be hard to be this much of an expert in every area of the game surely there's not many guys who can coach to your level on the short game. And on putting and on driving and on AIM play um no no. But I actually think we've almost gone too far the other way where if you're if you're a good player now you have to have a short game coach. Or online coach or whatever putting coaches and and really that's only that's only really been the last five years that's been the case yeah like I think some of the success has to be Georgie is I was like coaching on every part of the game. So she had one voice yeah. And you don't get seeds thrown in from all over the place and I do think I totally agree I think having the specialism is really useful I actually also think perhaps at times some players go too far. And they get too many coaches make sense there's too many voices yeah how do you prioritize because if you're saying if you're just coaching a player only short game one it's the only thing you're bothered about their performance yeah it's their short game two you're trying to drain as much time as you can. And say you need to practice for this amount of time in your short game then.

You have that times five yeah a driving long game put in short game mental that's like a PT yeah it's really difficult to um keep quiet. So I remember as one player I worked with who's a good play on touring it and um chip short game was fantastic um obviously their shooting was great. But then.

Didn't couldn't hold out from six feet like putting was all over the place. And had a separate you know and Coach order and it's like really difficult to say can we have a look at the puss in because the player's not performing yeah I feel like they're doing my bit well enough. And that's frustrating it isn't it so um so I do think there's Merit in having one coach yeah. But equally obviously the way he's going everything is that the way more guys are on tour going having separate coaches though yeah yeah. And do you have you had have you had any big named players sliding to the old DMS. And ask for your advice and anyone you can share any stories of yeah I do get some I won't share any any names because um sometimes it is under the radar right I know something to check that. So what I get a lot of players who want me to check something so they'll say kind of a second opinion on this what do you think on this. So I'll have a look at on video and sometimes I come up and we have a look but um the thing is I don't really want to I don't really want to go on tour. So I'm not really interested in going away on tour right now with the young family. So yeah um they can come to me. And that's fine but I don't really want to go you often think that as a golf coach the dream is to be a tour coach that's the most elite players in the planet. But actually you sense a lot of travel a lot of way being away from the family yeah I actually kind of respect the fact that you're here in an amazing venue people can come to you. And you've got to thrive in business I guess that's the dream really for you isn't it the amount of times I see Phil Canyons in in their port yeah yeah. And everywhere yeah I did a little bit of it obviously it was a way you know it was um you know Charlie. And Georgia quite a bit and then.

And that was that was that was great to do because you meet lots of people. And you kind of you know it's fantastic um but that can be quite challenging I remember once I was at the the open at King's barns I had about five players there. And um that's quite challenging when you've got players similar tee times it's like who do you go stand with. And that was quite interesting. But no I I like Ben I love what woburn's a great Club I mean we've got three Great Courses here amazing short game area really nice club life I live locally. So I can come in. And do my coaching. And and do bits. So um I'm not saying I wouldn't go on tour and do a bit. But um yeah I think you've got to balance everything haven't you you've also known teaching person how people can come here. For in-person lessons clinics you also do we've got a lot of international listeners. And viewers you um online coaches right yeah yeah through Skillets really busy with that yeah. And is that do you. And it's not a loaded question do you find still great success on online coaching with students as well yeah totally. And there's a real reservation about um whether online coaching works um because sometimes you want to get your hands on someone but I think in in short game it 100 works. And and so you know people send their videos in I'll sort of annotate over them draw lines so they can see. For themselves what they're doing and then.

I'll do a video to camera saying uh about what they need to go. And to work on with some drills and then.

They send them back and we go forward like that and it works great results and some people are doing it in their office yeah. And they're just swinging and hitting an airflow ball suppose you need to see the result as much obviously a full swing there's a lot more going on with a chip you can look at the taxes yeah. And I think nothing I think online coach will keep growing without it I would be surprised yeah yeah I mean it's I suppose to some degree it's what I do online coaching videos it's not just in person. But people will make make notes. And that's why a lot of the stuff that we do online is not only big. And simple very visual we put lots of words on the screen as well for people who like to read it rather than just see it um but yeah I think I think coaching's definitely changing it's still a huge aspects of the game shouldn't be undervalued by at all. And people who want to improve need to ideally seek the best or you know learn the best information and for you you've made it as easy as possible in person online or by the book yeah exactly. So hopefully everyone can learn something. And that's the thing that's that's the benefits I think the downsides of where we are still a lot of amateurs such as fittings hard. For wedges and that needs to improve possibly this place is an absolute exception because the short game facilities quite literally it's the best I've ever been to no questions asked. But most General golf courses where a lot of our listeners are members that I'll play out you either have an all right put ingredients I need a clubhouse which you're not allowed to chip on yeah very often there's either no chipping green. Or it's a massive afterthought and it's a little piece of rubbish land in the corner it's hard for amateur yeah it is hard um there's no doubt about it I think the practice facilities in the UK generally uh if you go somewhere like America. Or Dubai is like totally different like they really put much more of a an emphasis on practice facilities than we do in the UK you know again Go Back 40 50 years ago nobody practiced today.

In the UK I mean you know the the deal was just about um [Music] a lot of the classic courses the practices are just like non- existent yeah. But also they built the golf course and then.

The clubhouse yeah. And then.

If there's anything left or took a pin and it's chipping green where anything built in the last 20 years has a much different it has almost I think you should build your practices first. And then.

Build the course and Clubhouse around that and America correct it's the driving range that almost gets built first yeah that's the center. And everything gets built around that's the beginning of your experience isn't it you know you need to arrange you've got I think you can do lots from home I think you really can if you can you can video yourself. And you can work through through you know what you're trying to do you keep points. And you can be creative you know you can just soft balls can you just go under the coffee table over the coffee table over the sofa whatever under that's still practice yeah he's 100 still practice. And I was I think probably going back to when I was a good chipper was when I was an assistant Pro in the Pro Shop yeah in the shop in the shops trying to get shots over clothes. And trying to hit shops over the counter and all these sorts of things and like I said yeah the kid how many chipping comps insane yeah whatever yeah yeah the best thing. And yeah yeah because it put you under pressure you were competing against other players you can test yourselves you you pick stupid shots like you hit shots from in bushes. Or you know different shots that you want to play you play Creative I think more of that needs to happen is we grow from become adults as well like chip. And comfortable we've got one on the go at the minute we're at the Grove yesterday it's got me six all so we've got the satellite way which my money might be on you now Rick after this yeah it's really funny. So we do we've had a couple of Chimney cups recently last time actually just about people. But what's funny so we do alternate picks it's not winner picks also okay I like that it's quite good all my sharks are on fluffy lives at about 15 yards guys the tight yards a tight lines really close. But it's been good for us to get you it's helpful because that's giving you the that's giving you the hard shots you don't want to do the ones I don't want to do kind of combination it's quite competitive we have a laugh. And it's you can't beat it and then.

One thing I would say with Junior is I don't think I don't see it quite as much the whole Juniors around the green as much as as I used to do. So I'd like to encourage it for juniors to start doing that again more and more you know if he's playing for a Pro V1 or whatever it's just honestly it means everything doesn't it yeah. And also say to Juniors get this get the 60 degrees out your hand just try and learn to chip with a little bit less Loft and I know you might you might think you know you know. For one shot in particular you need that 60. but yeah if you start to chip with less Loft like we did a little bit to say to it you learn to release it you learn to try. And play a softer shot with a stronger loft is. So powerful yeah. And um and then.

Yeah put the sticks in your bag. And go and play but sometimes when you're going. For nine holes just go out and have your maximum loss to say 54 and see what you can do yeah yeah. And you've got to get that creativity and I think the flare back in June is I think it's slightly lacking because there's too much loft in their hands from too early age these days it's a little bit like then.

The stories of sevi trying to hit three irons out of bunkers brilliant yeah. So if you get it throughout a bunker so you've got a sandwich in your house yeah it seems easy got that aspect. And also just just just mechanically now how do you do it like how do you hit a high shot well you get lower your cup your wrist more yeah. And that's how you do it. And you get your three iron looking like a 99 at the top or whatever and you can play the shot. And then.

You take that into your sandwich and say okay let's try let's drop it down like we did a bit in the bunker can we play a higher shot a bit more spin. So you can learn two ways from that well damn that has been amazing I think listeners. And viewers will have picked up a lot there I'm going to watch this back many times many times. So I just think like I say it's a part of the game that players struggle with. And to have a system and a almost a manual like it feels a bit light there's someone there saying no follow this yeah it's one two. Or three I want you to learn those things we'll put a link to the book down below so if you want to check it out I'd highly recommend it um worldwide shipping yes it's available in Amazon worldwide yeah wow. And where is it 30 degrees guys thanks. For watching be sure to follow down on this social media let's blow him up over 150 000 followers on Instagram maybe it would be amazing uh we're gonna have some lunch we're gonna play some golf thanks for watching foreign.