Short Game Secrets: Joe Mayo & Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley

Go inside a short game lesson with PING Brand Ambassadors Joe
Mayo and Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley at the US Open as they discuss
Joe’s philosophies on angle of attack, low point and steep vs.
shallow.

US Open Pinehurst what a place this is the great players are here obviously one is Victor holand his instructor Joe Mayo are you going to watch me chip are you going to help me here Joe like you like you helped the great Victor hin the FedEx Cup champion I’ve seen you chip I don’t think you need very much help so well there was one off camera there but we’ll tell you about it but what that high and it just came out like a one iron so what what you like me to do Joe hit me a couple to this first hle right okay we’re going to measure what you’re doing now to be honest with you all someone who doesn’t play I broadcast as you all know is you don’t play a lot now the first thing that goes really is chipping and the putting would you back that up yes short game the The Touch touch shots I can still hit a driver I can still hit a 79 on there to 25 ft I can do all that but when it comes to St escaping shot like you people going to work this is where you need to practice if you want to get the scoring down okay so you just want a couple here to the short flag absolutely little under it little under it little under it yep and just popped up a little higher I’d like in this this in there a little lower and I would agree with that yep little like that but just didn’t hit it okay what did I do wrong you didn’t do anything wrong you didn’t hit it so what I want the viewers to understand is on that shot his angle of attack was 9° down 9° down so that mean means the club head was moving 9° down when you hit the ball now to your way of thinking is 9° down steep yes it sounds steep doesn’t it yeah did you gouge the ground not really no but I had the club face open but you were still 9 degre down the bottom line is this is that you didn’t gouge the Earth you didn’t take a deep divot and we have been told that when we gouge the ground and we take deep divots that were too steep that shot you just hit proves that that’s not true so hit me a couple bit more here low spinner to the first hole same thing absolutely okay well you talk you you helped me there because before we INE that that that third shot yep you said you didn’t commit you just didn’t hit it just didn’t hit it I hit that a little firmer but one thing I don’t like about that Joe as a player I want that to be like that am I right I’m feeling that is like that but then it turns over absolutely and and and I’ve had players relay that same feel to me as well but of note would you agree you hit the ground slightly before that shot yes lucky not to bounce up a knife yes you were 3° down so you hit the ground too soon when you were shallow the shot before where you were 9 deg down that low point was forward you hit the ball very solidly with a predictable launch and a predictable spin on this one you hit the ground too soon and you agree here the US Open hitting the ground too soon can be a disaster oh a disaster especially if it’s soft or when it gets firm if it bounces before it the drop kick blade oh knife over the back over the back so think about it the shallowness move the low point back you hit the ground to soon so let’s pull up one more ball and I want you to focus on getting the low Point slightly more forward that little low spinner in there what what do you mean forward please explain with you you ex explain where this golf club strikes the ground not behind the ball try to strike the ground right in front of the ball gotcha absolutely yes gotcha that that’s not the closest but that felt the best even though I did hit a little bit behind it do that again so I’m you want the player to feel almost like hit the ball and this is where it hits the ground 100% correct okay you hear you you feel that ground first I did okay let’s keep moving it Forward because again that is very shallow that’s amazing that this is something that I actually leared as a kid not through a coach like yourself but just me around the green all day you’ve got to hit the ball first you have to hit the ball first just common sense isn’t it move that low point forward did it again wonderful I’m doing them all the time okay they’re not horrific but but would you agree that was a great shot absolutely you you’re just making so much sense lach angle good spin rate good very controllable very predictable don’t look at the machine what was your angle of attack steep or shallow I don’t know I can improve like that like you can’t believe I I can stand here like 6 hours like I did as a youngster and what you’ve just told me in 5 minutes I can improve my chick uh chipping no end you can ladies and gentlemen watching this he was over 9° down you were almost 10° down perfect launch perfect spin a shot from a good player of yourself you said it was a very acceptable shot there was no digging there was no divot taken us open conditions almost 10 degrees down so right now you should be saying wait a second hold on this is kind of giving me a little bit of a I’m I’m spinning right now my head is spinning because I was told that steep equals digging steep equals knifing it’s not true and you’re living proof of it right there as a matter of fact the two shots that you hit that you kind of bounced or flubbed that you didn’t like you were extremely shallow the perfect shot you were almost 10 down very steep one more time for us you’re sl see I would if I was if I was now on tour I’d almost practice what you’re teaching i’ I’d be giving it these ones absolutely I’d be going forward of the ball we got to we got to give even to rehearse it I have no problems with that now move that strike point forward oh I tell you what I just underhead it I can do that okay just a little harder low got hit harder yes okay now what happened then you see how the ball launches upward down so now this is going to get a little bit technical for people watching you hit the ground cck clearly too soon yeah when you hit the ground too soon grass and or dirt gets between club and ball yeah when that happens we lose this thing called friction and friction is is helps us spin the ball it helps us control launch angle well when that dirt in that grass got in there frictions out the window the ball pops up in the air and the viewers at home watching this they experience that shot every day when they play they flub one or they fat one and the ball goes this way with no spin whatsoever but the reason why I did it was just so could explain why why you all get in a bit of trouble you know right so you know the the the the 10 handicapper the 12 handicapper right now at home he wants to hit that low shot that comes in there spinning like the tour players but his shot goes up too high like a lollipop with no spin because friction was destroyed because of that so let’s do it again hit it cleaner and as you said five minutes ago ball first now this is all practice you know you have to practice all the time what Joe is saying but that’s what golf’s all about you improve this part of your game gwz you’re going to have some fun with your golf and Dav he said 10 and 12 handicapper you are a good player but you can easily be single figures 100% agree that’s the one lovely shot lovely shot that was the one 8.2 degrees down not shallow not shallow again perfect strike great launch High spin agree yes so what we’ve learned in the 5 or 10 minutes that you’ve been hitting shots is when you get a result that you don’t like you’re too shallow you’re hitting the ground too soon when you get the shot that you do love that nice low launch high-s spin shot your angle of attack is very steep which means you’re moving the strike point on the ground more forward and as you said hitting the ball first like the greats of of of the past you know I’ve looked at Jose Maria ol’s chipping St played a lot with him sevie I played a lot with him the great Luke Donald Geniuses absolutely and guess what they do they hit the ball first yeah unless they’re trying to hit the ground first on a specialty shot but I guarantee if we had Jose Maria right here hitting these shots it’s ball first every single time and he’s just going to rip them in there and if we had Victor here hitting shots for us I promise you these things were coming in nice and low spinning like crazy ball first Contact so there you go what about one last question Joe is how much is mental commitment in a shot like it you because you can’t just practice this you’ve got to commit you’ve got to have confidence does confidence come with persistence and and practice absolutely you know I I say that confidence comes from repeated successful attempts repeated successful attempts if you flub five in a row you probably don’t have much confidence but uh working with PJ tour players getting them to believe is half the battle sometimes maybe even more and being a great player yourself you know that believing and trusting in what you’re doing is huge and and I have a I have a saying that at this level at the US Open level when you’re standing in the Fairway and you’ve got to hit a golf shot your belief trumps everything and if you don’t believe you’re dead in the water that’s how I feel well I tell you what this week at the US open at Pinehurst if you can’t chip you might as well get in the courtesy car jump and drive out the front gate and jump on another place and go home Joe it’s just been an absolute learning experience and thank you ever so much ping play your best