Winter short game woes

[S17er]

I normally have a reasonable short game but really struggle in winter with the bare, muddy and soft lies with far too many duffs and thins.

I'm pretty sure this is down to not been confident as to how the club will interact with the ground which is a downward spiral. If I stick the ball on a mat I can hit these shots no problem, same with grassy summer lies.

I have limited time to practice but I'm not sure there is any merit in spending time trying to improve these shots as I know I won't get these lies when I play competitions in the better weather/conditions.

Would I be right in thinking most golfers struggle like this or should I see this as a big weakness that I should try to address?

 

[fundy]

Having similar problems, personal opinion is it is a combination of harder conditions magnifying any errors in techniques combined with a fear approach that develops after several bad contacts happen and continues to get worse

Our course is on clay and some of the lies currently are laughable, invariably leading me to hit a lot of bumps with a hybrid as dont feel confident enough with the wedge. Personally am planning a quick short game lesson so a pro can quickly assess if theres anything obvious i am doing thats making it worse, and if not then its time to grind the practise ground

 

[Trojan615]

I think this video explains it very well

https://youtu.be/mRV_URTDyts

 

[Tiger man]

You just have to play to the conditions and accept you are not going to be able to play the same shots you could in perfect conditions. If the lies are bare and muddy the chance of pulling off a flop shot is slim so go with less loft and bump it up.

 

[El Diablo]

This is the most fragile part of my game and at this time of year a disaster area where the confidence gets knocked - roll on some dry weather and firmer lies with fluffier grass .....

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I had a lesson recently and this was discussed, the pro suggested leaving the wedges in the bag and look at using 7-9I more as these tend to dig in less and give firmer contact.

 

[clubchamp98]

I normally have a reasonable short game but really struggle in winter with the bare, muddy and soft lies with far too many duffs and thins.

I'm pretty sure this is down to not been confident as to how the club will interact with the ground which is a downward spiral. If I stick the ball on a mat I can hit these shots no problem, same with grassy summer lies.

I have limited time to practice but I'm not sure there is any merit in spending time trying to improve these shots as I know I won't get these lies when I play competitions in the better weather/conditions.

Would I be right in thinking most golfers struggle like this or should I see this as a big weakness that I should try to address?

Could be down to your wedges
on hard lies including mats you don't need much bounce as the club will bounce on firm lie .
In winter it's totally the opposite you need more bounce just like in sand.
Try playing everything with your sand wedge and be a bit more aggressive through the ball.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Pitch shot from around thirty feet over a bunker to a downhill flag off a muddy lie. What could possibly go wrong at this time of year. My worse nightmare

 

[duncan mackie]

Most amateurs hit a lot of these shots slightly fat.
A nice wet mat positively encourages, and rewards, such shots.

The conditions under discussion will penalise such shots and can come as a very rude awakening...

 

[MartynB]

I normally have a reasonable short game but really struggle in winter with the bare, muddy and soft lies with far too many duffs and thins.

I'm pretty sure this is down to not been confident as to how the club will interact with the ground which is a downward spiral. If I stick the ball on a mat I can hit these shots no problem, same with grassy summer lies.

I have limited time to practice but I'm not sure there is any merit in spending time trying to improve these shots as I know I won't get these lies when I play competitions in the better weather/conditions.

Would I be right in thinking most golfers struggle like this or should I see this as a big weakness that I should try to address?

You're in good company here, short game from mud is very difficult as the bounce 'grabs' on the mud rather than glide over grass as surface is both smooth and pliable. I messed a couple of these today, comment about using more mid irons or even hybrid to chip and run is a good call.

 

[Tashyboy]

Totally agree with getting rid of the wedges and going with 7-9 irons inc hybrids. However playing Sherwood on Friday, the fairways although wet through were gorgeous to play off and you could use a wedge.

 

[S17er]

Some interesting comments here.

it is one thing saying just practice on mats or use lower lofted clubs but that isn't much help when you have to go over a bunker from a dodgy lie.

I guess I need to play smarter and consider the DO NOT MISS HERE areas when hitting into the green more than I would in summer.

 

[Papas1982]

Some interesting comments here.

it is one thing saying just practice on mats or use lower lofted clubs but that isn't much help when you have to go over a bunker from a dodgy lie.

I guess I need to play smarter and consider the DO NOT MISS HERE areas when hitting into the green more than I would in summer.

I watched one of peter finches videos a while back where he discussed Jason Days chipping style.

I've found that works well on almost all lies.

 

[bobmac]

The problem comes when you try and help the ball up in the air......duff or thin.
The idea is to hit down on the ball and take the divot after impact

 

[Tallyblade]

Massive struggles with this on Saturday morning.

One in particular situation with a 25 yard shot over a greenside bunker, downhill lie, green sloping away. Took the bunker and green out of the equation and thinned it about 30 yards the other side of the green.

Triple bogey to follow back to back birdies!

 

[GreggerKBR]

I normally have a reasonable short game but really struggle in winter with the bare, muddy and soft lies with far too many duffs and thins.

I'm pretty sure this is down to not been confident as to how the club will interact with the ground which is a downward spiral. If I stick the ball on a mat I can hit these shots no problem, same with grassy summer lies.

I have limited time to practice but I'm not sure there is any merit in spending time trying to improve these shots as I know I won't get these lies when I play competitions in the better weather/conditions.

Would I be right in thinking most golfers struggle like this or should I see this as a big weakness that I should try to address?

Hey Op! Sorry to hear you are battling this too! I also found winter challenges hurting my touch around the greens.

For me it's part technical part misunderstanding... so I've taken "hitting down" out of my short game altogether by recommendation from my pro.
Been watching stuff from James Ridyard technically same ideas & allowances regardless of season.
I was 88% with 7 out of 8 in scrambling this weekend and spent just 45 mins on Thurs & Fri lunchtime last week.
And most of these were muddy squidge with an array of different shots.
Chipping with either 54* wedge or 9 iron only has helped simplify things too.
Shot +4 due to 3 putts and OOB off the tee
Confidence back! Happy days! Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

So I'd recommend having a look at how you are doing it...
Good luck buddy.