Thanks James. Interesting and appreciated. I have to say my short wedge game is hugely better by using your baseline approach, being shallow, and brushing the ground. No changing for me - I hit more great shots this year than every before.

Really, thank you for this. I couldn't quite figure out what Mayo was on about from his insta posts but this provided so much clarity.

Just talking about this with my teaching pro at the moment and was getting a bit confused. Thanks for explaining this James

"The average golfer is very suited to having a large margin of error ..." Very diplomatic of you Mr. Ridyard. 😂

Love this! Between you and Joe, my dreaded chip yips have all but disappeared. Of course I love the low spinner but for my students, they need to understand the best options and how to apply them. James and Joe, my absolute two favorites!

I love conversation. Thats how we get better. Really good video.

Great explanation! Would love to see a video where you explain different grip types and matching those with different releases

Very in depth. Lots of nuance. I would guess Joe would agree with you on many points. His main argument is simply that having a steeper AOA does not mean you will dig into the turf. I imagine hitting shallow AOA with the club face a few degrees open can create that 55 spin loft he references often (Dynamic loft 48-49 and AOA 5-6 instead of 10). I also think I remember you showing us you hitting 17 down on a pitch and you didn’t take any earth. The arc visual to me is the most critical and as you said making the proper adjustments to body or setup etc. Thank you for your work. I have learned a ton from you and I have always been a good short gamer and short game coach but now I feel even smarter. Cheers

James, I wonder how much course conditions determine the used angle of attack. On tour, the courses are firmer (in general, and I refer to FW and greens); thus, the player can be steeper without digging too much, or at all, this is my assumption, but would love to hear your thoughts. I think a simpler technique with little to no "swing" thoughts is probably more effective. Timing the release and the club exit requires skill and practice...

Nice clear explanation Mr R 👍🏻

Very helpful video. Issue I find with a lot of short game technique videos is that they’re all hitting shots from the fairway/short grass. I understand why, but most shots around the green are from, at the very least, short rough.

This is well done!

Would your players have intentions to tweak their baseline aoa based on course conditions? Thanks for these details, brilliant.

Great video James, I like that neither you or Joe are saying one way is correct, that seems to come from others, Joe's just defending steepness. Its horses for courses as someone who is shallow into the ball often playing in very soft UK conditions steepness scares me, even in the height of summer our greens aren't 12 on the stimp so 5500 spins isn't needed from 12 yards. My priority is margin for error and have had success employing what Dan Grieve advocates - using the different parts of the bounce/sole. It's a great discussion and nice to have options. Thanks

Great video James...I am not great at this and funny enough I asked you about aoa a couple of weeks before all this came to light...I would still love to get together with you for a lesson if you will be in Florida this winter. Hopefully, it will work out. thanks again for all your great videos,,,Cheers...!!!

Hi James - as always amazing content. I’m a professional golfer, tried getting in touch with you on IG, any chance you could do a video on how much head movement towards the target is acceptable in the backswing, obviously some players do it more than others, your head for instance just swivels but like a max Homa probably gets a couple of inches ahead … is there a match up for it and so on …

I have come to the conclusion that we have allowed ourselves to become too focused on what's happening with our arms, hands, clubs when chipping/pitching. We should focus on the landing area of the golf ball and let the body do what's required to get the ball to that point. Almost forget the technique. When I am throwing a ball to the basket, or ball of paper into the bin, my mind is not clouded or confused with attack angle. It's focused on getting the object to a target. I seriously believe alot of us have been misled by following science that our brain and body can already factor in. Just my opinion.

James…I just felt your video was a little critical of what Joe has done to help Viktor, & he has. There’s obviously more than one way to chip & pitch…you & others teach the use of the bounce…Joe & others don’t…they both work, clearly. I’ve always been taught to use the bounce with varying degrees of success but recently decided to try what Joe has got Viktor to do & my short game improved immediately. I’d be interested to know your thoughts regarding Padraig Harringtons stance relating to the use of the bounce being so overrated, etc. I do appreciate you replying to my messages…my comments come fm a good place. Andrew

Watched this a 2nd time…critical of Joe’s teaching…that’s all this video is about. If your attack angle is too shallow, as mine was…doing what Joe has done with Viktor makes perfect sense

The improvement in Viktor Hovlands short game is nothing short of amazing. I think it’s the opposite of what you teach & what other so called experts teach.. I personally think the use of bounce is vastly overrated…a view shared by Padraig Harrington amongst others.