Hi all,
As I've explained here on the forum before, I'm about 6 months into reworking my swing based on Brian's teachings. I played competitively in high school and college, since then I've had periods of serious play and long periods of NO play. The last time I played regularly in the states I was off 3, but with a timed flip swing that was inconsistent and would have never held up under pressure. I'm now playing in the UK. My handicap was 12 in June and by entering a number of competitions over the summer I got it down to 8 before the winter got here. I think I'm playing much better than that now (shot 70 today with 4 birdies on the front nine), but I don't have any tournament results so who knows.
Thus, thanks to Brian and this forum, I think my long game is in great shape and headed in the right direction. My short game used to be my strength and made up for a lot of problems in my previous swings. Since making Manzella changes over the summer, though, I've become a bit lost in the short game. I learned from a Pro when I was in high school the short game that I used for 20 years, and Brian pretty much sums it up at the beginning of flipper: open stance, strong grip, hands way ahead of the ball, ball on back foot - drop the club down on the ball and flip if you need to get it in the air.
I've 'blown up' that pattern, and from 50-90 yards I can hit nice crisp wedges by playing a shorter version of my normal manzella swing (neutral grip, hands behind ball, etc.). I'm also OK with chips, where I retain part of the old pattern.
But when it comes to 5 to 40 yard pitch shots, I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. How open should my stance be? Where to play the ball? How much pivot? How much wrist cock? What am I trying to do when I hit it, i.e. forward shaft lean, flat left wrist, or what?
Obviously, I'm not asking for answers to all those questions, but I'm looking for some structure in my short game. My course these days is rather muddy around the greens, so I face a lot of short pitches off mud, where hitting it even a hair fat is disaster. Some times I hit it fat, and some times in my attempt to catch the ball first I cut across the ball or hit it thin.
Can someone describe a Manzella approach to the short game, or otherwise help me to stop throwing away shots in the short game????
As I've explained here on the forum before, I'm about 6 months into reworking my swing based on Brian's teachings. I played competitively in high school and college, since then I've had periods of serious play and long periods of NO play. The last time I played regularly in the states I was off 3, but with a timed flip swing that was inconsistent and would have never held up under pressure. I'm now playing in the UK. My handicap was 12 in June and by entering a number of competitions over the summer I got it down to 8 before the winter got here. I think I'm playing much better than that now (shot 70 today with 4 birdies on the front nine), but I don't have any tournament results so who knows.
Thus, thanks to Brian and this forum, I think my long game is in great shape and headed in the right direction. My short game used to be my strength and made up for a lot of problems in my previous swings. Since making Manzella changes over the summer, though, I've become a bit lost in the short game. I learned from a Pro when I was in high school the short game that I used for 20 years, and Brian pretty much sums it up at the beginning of flipper: open stance, strong grip, hands way ahead of the ball, ball on back foot - drop the club down on the ball and flip if you need to get it in the air.
I've 'blown up' that pattern, and from 50-90 yards I can hit nice crisp wedges by playing a shorter version of my normal manzella swing (neutral grip, hands behind ball, etc.). I'm also OK with chips, where I retain part of the old pattern.
But when it comes to 5 to 40 yard pitch shots, I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. How open should my stance be? Where to play the ball? How much pivot? How much wrist cock? What am I trying to do when I hit it, i.e. forward shaft lean, flat left wrist, or what?
Obviously, I'm not asking for answers to all those questions, but I'm looking for some structure in my short game. My course these days is rather muddy around the greens, so I face a lot of short pitches off mud, where hitting it even a hair fat is disaster. Some times I hit it fat, and some times in my attempt to catch the ball first I cut across the ball or hit it thin.
Can someone describe a Manzella approach to the short game, or otherwise help me to stop throwing away shots in the short game????
