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3 Releases: The Short Game System - Never thought about shaft lean in chips like this til I real this...

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V14_Heels

V14_Heels

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I'm reading this book called 3 Releases: The Short Game System by Daniel Grieve.

It's a fairly simple to read book that I think is pretty effective at illustrating three styles of chipping and when and how to use them. I'd recommend it if you want to better understand chipping but one section in particular kind of made me go "whoa". I just had never thought of shaft lean chipping in this context. I learned old school, ball way back in stance, narrow stance, everything open, with both feet pointed towards target.

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Seems real obvious after reading it, but I just hadn't thought about it in such lame terms.
 
V14_Heels said:
I'm reading this book called 3 Releases: The Short Game System by Daniel Grieve.

It's a fairly simple to read book that I think is pretty effective at illustrating three styles of chipping and when and how to use them. I'd recommend it if you want to better understand chipping but one section in particular kind of made me go "whoa". I just had never thought of shaft lean chipping in this context. I learned old school, ball way back in stance, narrow stance, everything open, with both feet pointed towards target.

View attachment 9179079

Seems real obvious after reading it, but I just hadn't thought about it in such lame terms.
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I was taught that same way of chipping 30 years ago as a beginner. With that narrow, open stance and massive forward shaft lean you absolutely have to make precise contact with the leading edge of the club entering that microscopic spot between the bottom-leading-edge of the ball and the ground. Unless you have a fluffy lie it takes great hand-eye coordination and steady nerves to do anything other than chunk or blade chips.

There were a few years where I pretty much never took lessons and when I returned to my original instructor, in the very first session he said, "I can't wait to show you how wrong I was for all those years teaching people to nip the ball cleanly with the ball back and hands forward". We spent a couple entire lessons (this was about 15 years ago and 15 years after I started playing golf) learning Use The Bounce. It was a revelation.

He basically apologized for having taken half his career to figure out the way he had been taught to chip and the way he'd taught hundreds of students was pretty much a Bad Idea. I can yip or duff one now and then as much as the next hacker but at least the 90% of my chips that I don't duff are good, solid shots that get somewhere near the hole. A few weeks learning Use The Bounce made chipping easier than the old way had ever been, even after a decade-plus of practice.

Cue the Monkees "I'm a Believer"...
 
Three Releases is a terrific book! I use the R1 chip as my "go to" around the green. Also use A1-A3 pitches, which I find much more repeatable than clock face positions. For all of these shots, making sure that the bounce is engaged substantially de-risks the shot.
 
Thanks for the book rec.

I have consciously tried to abandon that method of chipping. It's death on a soft fairway lie if you miss.
 
It seems to me teachers are moving away from the shaft lean style and teaching more to use the bounce. Basically, if you are using the bounce correctly you should be able to hit the turf well behind the ball and still hit a good chip
 
Don’t discount Forward shaft lean completely. It helped me to become a much better chipper.

Also, for those that flip their hands at impact while chipping having the ball back with forward shaft lean and quiet hands can quickly get them hitting much better chips.

I’ve since learned multiple ways to chip and pitch the ball.

As in anything the best technique is the one that works for you for the course conditions and situation. Whether that is using a hybrid or a chipper, a 7 iron, sand or lob wedge, or making a putt chip.

You might get better results chipping cross handed or as I witnessed someone do on Monday in a tournament chipping one handed.

If you need like my buddy a club with onset to prevent shanking that’s ok. Technique is one thing, results are another.

Whatever allows you to enjoy the game with less stress and shoot lower scores is really all that matters.
 
I have to say that in all my decades of golf, I never truly understood how to use the bounce on a club. I guess I was lucky to play well without that understanding.

I learned to chip with a little forward shaft lean. Did this for a few years, untill I was taught something different, that made me a much better chipper. That being to to duplicate my putting set up, and stroke to chip with.
 
I just heard about this system on the Rick Shiels podcast last week and am intrigued. I might have to buy the book.
 
the bounce was one thing I wish I had understood sooner. Shaft forward/back, ball forward or back...time and place but the bounce and using it sure makes those short-sided chips from the deep rough where club is barely going to touch ball much better.

I have had a fair amount of success with Mickelson's hinge and hold in certain lies...but in others it has scuffled. Having the use the bounce method available is a powerful tool in other lies has just made it easier and better
 
Forward shaft lean was the key to getting my chipping on track. I was a flipper and thinner, and my usual short game miss was setting up the ball in the middle of my stance and flicking a LW blade into its equator. Placing the ball further back made me keep my hands forward and the blade down.

The use the bounce method works - I did it for a couple months after reading about it on this forum. But my instructor wanted me to start practicing the back foot, shaft lean style of chipping to help integrate hands forward into my full swing as well. It ended up paying off there too.
 
I just came across the author on a recent Rick Shiels episode. I was taught the same way to chip as a young golfer. I have not read the book but this guy’s IG posts seem to be very much similar to the new way of playing the short game. Bounce is your friend!
 
yea but don't take that one snippet above to mean no shaft lean. He specifically talks about how for a "chip and run" style you need some shaft lean. I read that passage more as "but beware of HOW MUCH shaft lean you got going on."
 
V14_Heels said:
yea but don't take that one snippet above to mean no shaft lean. He specifically talks about how for a "chip and run" style you need some shaft lean. I read that passage more as "but beware of HOW MUCH shaft lean you got going on."
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The concept is that if your wedge has 10* of bounce and you have 5* of shaft lean, there is still 5* of bounce to work with, whereas if you have 13* of shaft lean, bounce is now negative 3*. In the negative bounce situation if the club bottoms out before the ball, it could dig resulting in a chunk, whereas positive bounce will help the club glide into the ball.
 
Shaft lean can be a friend or the devil. Sometimes it's hard to know which.
 
If anyone wants this book , PM me your address and I’ll give it to you. I’m sticking with different system.
 
No magic in this book for me, either. Dry, clinical, not much help.
 
Yeah, weight forward, shaft forward, hold and hinge..... No wonder it takes me 3 chips to get 10 yards.
I have been recently getting lessons, and my instructor was mentioning using bounce when I briefly asked about chipping, I am pretty sure short game will bey next lesson, hopefully I can learn some of this "hands on."
 
My wife got me this book for Christmas. Just finished reading it in two sessions. It’s an easy read, lots of pictures showing examples of his concepts. Can’t wait to get to the club and start working on these techniques. Highly recommended.
 
Got this as a gift as well, I’ve seen a few of his YouTube videos and really looking forward to reading the book and working on the techniques. My short game has always been a weakness and hoping this can turn that around.
 
Dan Grieve is a genius. I'm seriously contemplating hopping a plane across the pond for one of his short-game schools. (Yes, I'm that crazy)

Note that when I say genius, it's not that's he's invented anything new. The three releases are just plain old short-game shots. He's just giving you a system to solidify things in your mind and increase your chances of success. Typically in the past I'd grab a club and make a swing without much thought and then walk away frustrated when I duffed it or it ended up 20 feet from the hole.

Now, I look at the lie and think "OK, what releases are available to me given that lie?"

Then I look at where I need to land the ball and think, "Given where I need to land it, what's the appropriate release and club out of my available choices?"

Then having selected, I know the parameters of the setup and the motion for that release.

I'm not a short-game wizard by any stretch, but having this clarity is definitely improving my short game, and I see nothing but a positive trend as I continue to practice it.
 
I grew up playing golf in the 70's, and we all played short shots with pronounced shaft lean (and we did it very well!)...

I've started using the bounce more, with a more modern setup, over the past 10 years - I can see the benefits of it, but it never seems natural to me.
 
wadesworld said:
Dan Grieve is a genius. I'm seriously contemplating hopping a plane across the pond for one of his short-game schools. (Yes, I'm that crazy)

Note that when I say genius, it's not that's he's invented anything new. The three releases are just plain old short-game shots. He's just giving you a system to solidify things in your mind and increase your chances of success. Typically in the past I'd grab a club and make a swing without much thought and then walk away frustrated when I duffed it or it ended up 20 feet from the hole.

Now, I look at the lie and think "OK, what releases are available to me given that lie?"

Then I look at where I need to land the ball and think, "Given where I need to land it, what's the appropriate release and club out of my available choices?"

Then having selected, I know the parameters of the setup and the motion for that release.

I'm not a short-game wizard by any stretch, but having this clarity is definitely improving my short game, and I see nothing but a positive trend as I continue to practice it.
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IMO, he’s the best out there right now for short game.

The release system is easy, and works.

It’s repeatable.

I love it.

His book is AWESOME, as is his digital content
 
I grew up using shaft lean. Basically the same technique Rahm uses, open face and hands pretty forward. It was very very successful for me. Recently I have been practicing a more neutral shaft position and then returning the shaft to the same position at impact. Imo both techniques have pros and cons, but if you can master the more neutral approach, it opens up a greater variety of shots.
 
Finally broke down and bought the book and have been watching his Youtube videos today. My last round I had like 27 short game shots in 18 holes. Rock bottom. Twenty years ago I had a good short game. Time to admit I no longer do. He also has a $59 Skillest course I may do after I read the book. Maybe the Youtube videos will be enough after reading. Will see.
 
PiratePenguin said:
Finally broke down and bought the book and have been watching his Youtube videos today. My last round I had like 27 short game shots in 18 holes. Rock bottom. Twenty years ago I had a good short game. Time to admit I no longer do. He also has a $59 Skillest course I may do after I read the book. Maybe the Youtube videos will be enough after reading. Will see.
Click to expand...
The book is great. Watch his video where he’s giving Rick Shiels a short game lesson. Really good.
 
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