It's been awhile since we have added a post to this blog and I thought it appropriate to take some time and fill in the community with what we've been doing and accomplished in 2018. As we have always said, the information we provide in video download form and at our workshops is the information we use in our teaching with every level of player. This information is applicable to the club level player and the elite level player as it directly relates to their skill development. Yes, technique is a part of skill development as much as training practices to challenge their current skill position.

This year saw some exciting new endeavors and accomplishments. Probably the biggest one is the roll-out of James' Wedge Matrix Teacher Accreditation program (https://wedgematrix.com). This program is designed not just to certify instructors and send them on their way but to be involved in their teaching and guide through continuing education on the subject of wedge play. So far, 3 different meetings have occurred. One in the UK, on in Spain and the other in the USA. There is another day scheduled on Friday, January 25th in Orlando, Florida for those professionals attending the US PGA Merchandise Show. Information and Registration for this opportunity can be found here. 

James has also been doing some extensive research and work in the area of chipping yips. This research has helped James get a clearer picture of the underlying causes behind the chipping issues most often afflicting golfers. I've had the pleasure of watching James work with players that have the yips and to see him go through a fairly methodical approach is fascinating as he pinpoints the issue(s) to be addressed. So far, he is experiencing a 100% success rate in helping players with the yips. So, if you have them or know someone who does, it would be well worth your time to get in touch with him.

Lastly, James has been working with some players on the European Tour and US PGA Tour. He has been doing both full swing and wedge work with his players and has seen 3 wins happen to students of his this year. Congratulations James to you and your players. I hope to see him in the States more often as his stock rises and he's sought out by even higher profile players including major winners.

John has spent the majority of this year working with players on the US PGA Tour and some time on the LPGA Tour again. In an effort to generate some peace and refocus, John has backed away from his social media profile quite a bit as he needed to spend some directed time with his children. As things start to quiet down, he plans to re-engage on social media and put his website back up. One of the reasons James and I have remained good friends is our mutual understanding of the importance of family and that it comes first. I needed some time and James has been very accommodating and accepting of my break. 

John's stock is also on the rise as a putting coach on the US PGA Tour as some players joined the ranks and additional coaches brought him in to do assessments and offer advice on their clients. The year ended up a bang as one of the players he works with broke an 11 year win drought on the PGA Tour. It was a week when all the cylinders were firing and his putting was able to fully support his superb ball striking. 

I hope you enjoyed this year in review and appreciate the changes to the website. Our partnership in Short Game Secrets started with a text and has grown into the highest grossing self created and produced video series on the short game in golf. We appreciate all the support and will update you with future plans for seminars, workshops and new content coming 2019.

JG/JR

I recently posted a blog entitled "The Premium Balls Test" that included a video discussing the results of 6 premium balls tested against one another to determine if there really is a difference between the balls we are convinced to spend hard earned money on, if you'd like to refresh your memory on what happened you can view it here

This generated a lot of interest and I promised that by mid May I would reveal the wildcard ball that is not in the premium ball price range yet outperformed almost all of them.

So here we are, it's mid May!

And the surprise package is.... TaylorMade Project (a)

TaylorMade Project (a) - UK Website

TaylorMade Project (a) - US Website

So TaylorMade have produced a ball that is long off the tee & very soft around the greens, in fact they have produced a ball that should shake up the premium ball market forever and here's why..

I'm not sure why anyone would choose the more expensive balls (even from the same manufacturer) when this is available at almost half the price, what reason could there possibly be besides ego? Remind yourself when you next buy balls that this game is ALL about performance and this ball out performs the majority, if however you derive confidence from playing a more expensive ball then that is also going to enhance performance so that might be the way for you.

Just do me a favour and try these balls out, would love to hear your thoughts (you might even thank me!).

Attention Golf Consumers:

As a player, I've long wondered whether or not there are any significant differences between premium golf balls around the green. Certainly, there are differences off the tee but what happens when the shots become shorter and impact is less explosive? Does the technology that costs millions pay off for you the golfer? 

I decided to make a short video to show you the differences I found amongst a small group of premium golf balls (in the $40, £40/dozen price range and higher). The conclusions I drew are easily understandable and will hopefully make a difference to your ball selection so you get the most out of your game going forward.

Are you really getting what you are paying for and can a better more informed decision be made that best fits your needs and preferences. Most importantly, for some of you, can I get premium performance without the premium price. This video will provide some information to help answer these questions. We can't give you the names of the golf balls just yet but take a look and see what we have to share then stay tuned for the final answer coming later in May.

At Short Game Secrets, our mission is to provide you with the information you may not find anywhere else and help you, the player and consumer, get the most of your time and hard earned money.

Click Here to view on mobile

We recently asked on Twitter what our followers thought was the best short game shot of all time. Here in Part One of a new series we take a look at Tiger Woods' incredible hole out from behind the 16th green at Memorial, it was truly spectacular and an extremely good example of using your set up to improve the probability of a good result. Something we here at Short Game Secrets place a lot of stock in, we hope you enjoy it and maybe let us know your favourite shot of all time.

Greatest Short Game Shots of All Time - Tiger Woods

James

Who has the best wedge game on tour? I don’t think many people would look past Tiger as having the best wedge game on the PGA Tour yet in 2012 Tiger was officially average on all shots up to 100 yards from both sand and grass. In fact, he was average in all the sub categories also, barely gaining or losing any strokes to the average PGA Tour player performance in these categories.

Wedge play has been separated into 5 categories; 0-20 yards, 20-60 yards, 60-100 yards and sand shots from 0-50 yards & 50-100 yards. In the video accompanying this blog I've taken a look at the leaders in the three 'from grass' categories to identify a few points that enable them to have led their respective categories, I think you'll see that the styles are very different and lend themselves to a particular type of shot which offers a partial explanation as to why they excel in some areas yet struggle in others.

The leaders of the 5 categories were:

0-20 yards: Charlie Wi

 20-60 yards: Trevor Immelman

60-100 yards: Brian Gay

Sand 0-50: Chris DiMarco

Sand 50-100: Sung Kang

I hope you enjoy the video

Masters of the Wedge Game Video

James

We are excited to be offering a Vokey Wedge of your choice as a prize as a thank you for your support in the successful launch of the Short Game Secrets project.

Why Vokey? Well the Vokey SM4's led the wedge testing discussed in the All Wedges Are Not Created Equal blog, generating amongst the highest levels of spin from the fairway and retaining the most spin from the rough. As discussed in the Science of Spin blog the surface between the grooves is a large factor in spin creation with the modern wedge and Vokey have the process perfected.

"The Rules of Golf allow for surface roughness within the impact area of a golf club. The micro-edges created on the face of Vokey Design SM4 wedges using our patented Spin Milled process are one example. Parameters set forth by the governing bodies dictate the maximum allowable roughness across a specified surface area as well as the maximum allowable depth of any markings. When compared against alternative milling processes, Spin Milled wedges have approximately three times the roughness across the specified surface area with similar milling depths. In Titleist R&D testing, this equates to 22% more spin on partial wedge shots using Spin Milled wedges." 

There are three ways to enter:

1) All purchases of the 5 Video Set made between January 1st and Feb 14th will be automatically entered into the prize draw. 

2) Anyone who has already purchased the 5 Video Set can enter by leaving a review of the content in the comments section here, don't forget to leave your name with the comment! 

3) Share a link to the ShortGameSecrets.tv website with a recommendation via Social Media, don't forget to hashtag #shortgamesecrets if using twitter and include either John or myself in Facebook posts so we know they exist!

So there you go, the first of many competitions designed to say thank you and enhance your short game at the same time. You need to be in it to win it!

As a follow up to the All Wedges Are Not Created Equal blog that measured the variance in performance between a number of manufacturers wedges it's worth delving into the subject of spin generation a little with a brief review of the USGA literature that is freely available and commonly held beliefs.

What are the technological factors that effect spin?

- The roughness of the flat surface between the grooves

- The sharpness of the top edge and/or the type of grooves

- How far apart the grooves are positioned

- The depth of the grooves.

The interaction that creates spin is quite simple, it is one that creates the most friction and therefore the most spin. At lofts of 40º and under the interaction is mostly sticking and no slipping occurs, the friction force is the same with both smooth and rough surfaces according to Chou, Liang and Yang (Science and Golf II: Proceeedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf II)

This leads us on to the research conducted by the USGA over a period of years prior to the rule change regarding groove technology, available here USGA Research. The interim paper notes that prior research has found that there is no difference made by groove configuration and face treatment and proceeded to test both the U & V groove types in dry conditions concluding that there was no difference once again.

However during the benchmark player testing there was found to be a difference between modern equipment and old V grooves and balata balls that spun more that any modern equipment combination. From the rough however it was found that the U grooves had the potential to spin MORE than from the fairway! 

The study also concluded that the edge radius or the 'sharpness of the edge' is a contributor to spin but the closer towards a V Groove shape it became the significance reduced to almost none.

Groove spacing was also found to be a significant contributor regardless of groove type.

The type of milling was found to have no significant influence on spin rate from the rough except for an extremely rough surface.

So the question remains as to what was responsible for the often huge performance gaps for spin generation between wedges included in the testing from the previous blog entry. If all the above were bulletproof it would fair to say the performance should be very similar throughout when using the same player, in the same conditions, even allowing for some technical variance. 

We're excited to be planning some testing next month that will include the use of grooved and non grooved wedges from a variety of lies and distances. While it will not be as scientifically sound as the USGA's (expensive) testing it should provide some insight into this fascinating topic in the real world sense.