Summer is well and truly here, and I am loving being back out on the golf course. My drives are travelling further, I’m not chunking shots anymore, it’s wonderful! However, that’s not the whole story, the firmer conditions present a new set of challenges, especially around the greens.
In this article we will be looking at how you can adapt your short game for the summer and the firmer, faster conditions that it presents. Doing this should help you keep your scores low and your enjoyment high!
Inspired by a recent YouTube video from PGA Master Coach, Dan Grieve, we’ll cover many of the situations he discusses. Dan also has a best-selling book on chipping technique, ‘3 Releases: The Short Game System.’ While we won’t cover that today, do check out his YouTube channel and book for more great tips.
Let’s dive in and explore some simple adjustments we can make to improve our decision-making and performance on the course.
Club Selection
Have you noticed how much faster the greens have gotten lately? Bump and run shots with an 8 or 9-iron that used to check up a little on the first bounce now scoot past the hole, leaving challenging putts to make up and down.
This is because of the firm and fast greens that the hot and dry summer weather produces. To be the very best golfers we can be, we need to be able to adapt to all conditions. This requires getting creative and using a variety of different clubs.
Some golfers have just one particular club they like to chip with around the greens, I exclusively used to use my pitching wedge anywhere around the green, however this isn’t a good strategy in the long term. In the current conditions with the ball rolling a lot more than we may be used to, it is important to be able to use higher lofted clubs when chipping.
This will increase the spin and peak height of the chip, allowing you to stop the ball a lot closer to the hole, reducing the risk of overshooting. This may look like using a 50-degree wedge instead of the 8 or 9-iron you would have ideally played before.
It is key to practise these chip shots before going on the course so you know how the golf ball will react when using different clubs. If you are a player that often chips with the same club, you may need to spend a little more time practising so that you can get used to using different clubs.
Grip Pressure
Have you ever thought about how tightly you are holding the grip when chipping? Regardless of whether you have or haven’t, you should be. It is almost always better to have a light grip pressure, because it is essential for the chipping motion to be relaxed and fluid. The only time it would be necessary to increase grip pressure is if your ball was sitting down in some thick, juicy rough, but we’ll get to that shortly. Having a lighter grip pressure allows you to feel the shot a lot more, and with practice it will become easier to gauge the necessary force and finesse required for these delicate shots.
If you are unsure about your grip pressure, rank yourself from 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely light, barely holding onto the club, and 10 being the hardest you can squeeze the grip. A score of 5/10 would mean you are probably holding on too tightly, a score of 3/10 would be ideal. If this is a drastic change for you, I would again recommend going to the chipping green and getting used to this new feeling.
Thick rough
As mentioned earlier, there is one instance where having a tighter grip pressure is helpful. In the summer the rough gets plenty of sunshine, and in the UK often still plenty of rain, meaning it grows thicker and longer. This makes it much harder to chip from. If we had a light grip pressure when chipping from this lie, the club head would snag because of the friction with the grass and the face turns over in to a closed position.
In order to try and keep the club face square at impact, you would increase the grip pressure, in turn keeping your wrists more locked, therefore less likely to turn over and close the face. Increasing the speed of the swing would also help to cut through the grass better, reducing the impact of the rough on the club face.
However, these changes reduce feel and finesse, and the increased speed will make the ball travel further than your desired landing spot. To mitigate this, increase the loft of the golf club by opening up the face at address. Then the ball will pop out of the rough higher and stop quicker. You may need to aim slightly left of your target because of the open club face.
Putting
During the summer, the firmer ground conditions and shorter, drier grass around the greens make putting from the fringe a smart choice for golfers. This technique, often referred to as using the ‘Texas wedge,’ is a safer option than chipping for many golfers. Putting reduces the risk of hitting the ball thin or choosing an incorrect club, and it provides a predictable roll and bounce, helping to judge distances more accurately. By opting to putt from the fringe, golfers can take advantage of the smooth surface conditions and improve their chances of a successful shot.
Reading the slopes
Green reading is an essential skill for mastering the short game. Most golfers tend to read the green when putting, but the skill is often neglected when it comes to chipping. This has always been puzzling to me, since when chipping, the goal is usually to get the ball rolling on the green as soon as possible. Once it stops bouncing, it starts rolling, behaving just as a putt would, so golfers should read the green to anticipate how the ball will roll when on the green and adjust their desired landing spot accordingly.
The conditions are firmer and faster at the moment, so the impact of the slopes on the roll of the golf ball is more severe. Conditions will vary at different golf courses, so be sure to hit a few chip shots before getting out there.
I hope this has been helpful and once again I encourage you to get down to your practice area and give this a go!
Happy golfing!
Jacob @ Golf Insider