Davis Whitmer joined the staff at Princess Anne in September 2020 after more than three years at the Sea Island Golf Performance Center in Georgia .
Learn to Glide : Never Chunk a Chip Shot Again
by DAVIS WHITMER
DO YOU STRUGGLE WITH INCON- SISTENT CONTACT AROUND THE GREENS ? Do you have trouble predicting how fast a ball will come out from different lies ? What if I told you there is a strategy to completely eliminate the flub or chunked chip shot from your game ?
If you properly utilize the part of the wedge called “ the bounce ,” then the clubhead will glide smoothly across the surface of the ground from any lie . This strategy will increase your margin for error and help you start to develop more touch around the greens . In the words of wedge legend Bob Vokey , “ bounce is your friend .”
Have you ever wondered how a PGA Tour player can chip a ball from the green and not take a divot ? It is because they are using the bounce . I am going to present a solution that may sound contrary to the way you have been taught short game in the past . Stay with me as we make friends with the bounce and learn to glide .
What is the bounce ? Wedge bounce is the angle created from the leading edge to the lowest point of the sole or trailing edge .
A wedge with less bounce allows the sharp leading edge to dig into the ground . The more bounce your wedge has , the higher the leading edge is going to be lifted off the ground , allowing the wedge to glide smoothly along the surface . The bounce glides and the leading edge digs .
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
The first step in learning to glide is assessing your current wedge configuration . Check the bottom of your wedges as they will all be stamped with degrees of loft and degrees of bounce . Bounce recommendations will vary based on the types of grass and sand you regularly play on . For those who are playing on more fluffy lies or soft sand in bunkers , I would recommend relatively high bounce ( 10- 12 degrees ). You will want low bounce ( 4-6 degrees ) if you play on particularly firm or tight conditions . If you tend to play a variety of courses with different playing conditions , I would recommend more bounce .
Now it is time to draw a line in the sand . We have to understand that our full swing concepts and technique are completely different from the short game for the simple reason that our objective has changed . Our objective in the full swing is to make the ball go fast and far . Our objective in the short game is to slow the ball down so that we may more effectively control distance . Here is an example : Smash factor is a strike efficiency rating that is calculated by dividing ball speed by club speed . If you swing your driver 100 mph , you would expect to see a ball speed of approximately 150 mph . This would give you the optimal smash factor with a driver of 1.5 .
With our short game shots , we want the golf ball to be leaving the clubface at the exact same speed that the club is moving . A smash factor of 1.0 . Imagine underhand tossing a ball to someone several feet away . You would be moving your hand at the exact same speed as the ball would be moving when it left your hand . This allows you to accurately predict how far that ball will fly . We are trying to create the exact same scenario with our short game .
What are some key technical elements to make the ball go fast ? To make the ball go fast with your driver and irons , we would want some amount of forward shaft lean at impact and ball-first contact . Now , we are going to apply the exact opposite techniques to your short game to slow the ball down . We must let the club shaft return to vertical at impact as your club
DAVIS WHITMER
34 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH / A PRIL 2021
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