{"id":952,"date":"2015-04-09T07:54:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T12:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/?p=952"},"modified":"2015-04-15T11:17:58","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T16:17:58","slug":"short-game-instructional-shows-finesse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/golf\/instruction\/952\/short-game-instructional-shows-finesse","title":{"rendered":"Short Game Instructional Shows Finesse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"short+game.cover+image\"<\/a>Patches of snow continue to dot parts of the landscape here in upstate New York, so I\u2019m personally unable to validate the effectiveness of the principles set forth in Your Short Game Solution<\/em>, by James Sieckmann. But I can say unequivocally that the text is a thought provoking, different perspective on the subject; and I\u2019m looking forward to a more thorough test run of the program, with the full complement of drills and \u201cfixes\u201d once weather allows.<\/p>\n

Sub-titled Mastering the Finesse Game from 120 Yards and In<\/em>, and co-written with David DeNunzio, the book draws on Sieckmann\u2019s two decades as teaching pro at Shadow Ridge Country Club in Omaha, Nebraska. The material is as much about his teaching method as proper mechanics, having studied the practice routines and techniques of short-game luminaries like Seve Ballesteros, Corey Pavin, and Raymond Floyd. Thus does Sieckmann distinguish between your \u201csolution\u201d and pursuing short-term outcomes popular in our attention-span-challenged culture.<\/p>\n

Along the way, he strives to expose a number of erroneous, or at least misleading, axioms applied to short game play. One such example is that it\u2019s always prudent strategically to lay up to your favorite distance for a full-swing shot. Another is that keeping the head steady is necessary for hitting quality finesse shots. Sieckmann observes that great short game players typically shift everything forward, noggins included, when playing finesse shots.<\/p>\n

He even recommends we reinvent some of the terminology customarily applied to the short game.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026I think we can do the golf world a favor and ditch the archaic terms \u2018chipping\u2019 and \u2018pitching.\u2019 To me, these words entice players to use different arm swings to control distance and trajectory \u2013 there\u2019s only one correct arm swing movement. Plus, they say nothing about sequence. My suggestion is to replace chipping with \u201cfinesse wedge\u201d and pitching with \u201cdistance wedge.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is indicative of another feature of Your Short Game Solution<\/em>, namely that it\u2019s word-driven. There are occasional photos demonstrating club positions, set-up, and so forth \u2013 usually using Sieckmann\u2019s PGA Tour pro pupils as subjects \u2013 and the odd URL to help make a point. But you don\u2019t need your smartphone, video equipment, or launch monitor to implement his teachings, which he emphasizes should be reinforced by recording your progress and observations in writing.<\/p>\n

As such, this is a book for golfers who respond best to oral cues, versus visual ones. At just 171 pages, it\u2019s a highly digestible read, but of course committing fully to the drills and exercises would, as Sieckmann acknowledges, be more time-consuming. Still, Your Short Game Solution<\/em> is an efficient treatment of the subject. Gotham Books, hardcover, $27.95.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patches of snow continue to dot parts of the landscape here in upstate New York, so I\u2019m personally unable to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[13249,980444,711,878,5180,4276,980449,980450,1632],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-instruction","category-golf","tag-gothambooks","tag-james-sieckmann","tag-short-game","tag-corey-pavin","tag-seve-ballesteros","tag-raymond-floyd","tag-shadow-ridge-country-club","tag-omaha","tag-nebraska"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/04\/sieckmann.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":954,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}