How Dan Grieve uses Trackman to build a better short game
Discover how PGA Master Coach Dan Grieve uses Trackman data to reveal the numbers behind his 3-Release System and help golfers build a more consistent, adaptable short game.
Ashley MasonHe might have helped you improve your pitching. Perhaps you’ve picked up some of his bunker tips or learned how to manage difficult lies. If so, you’re not alone. PGA Master Coach and short-game guru Dan Grieve’s 3-Release System has helped golfers worldwide improve their game around the green.
He recently teamed up with Trackman Sales Representative Ashley Mason to examine what Trackman data can reveal about the short game.
Using Dan’s 3-Release System as the framework, they explore how changes in technique show up in key numbers such as attack angle, spin rate, launch angle and land angle — and how understanding those relationships can help golfers practice with more purpose, adapt to different shots and build a more reliable short game.
The key is not to chase a single ideal number, but to use Trackman to establish baselines, understand how different techniques change the data and learn how to adapt those numbers to different shots and lies.
Start with consistency
For Dan, it starts with one of the fundamentals: consistency.
“What I think is great to get consistency in the short game — to me, it's all about consistency. Consistency of strike, consistency of spin, flight. The consistency number to me is one of the most important on Trackman,” says Dan.
Dan urges golfers to begin with their stock chip. By hitting the same shot several times, they can see how consistently they launch it, strike it and create spin. Once that baseline is established, Trackman can help show what happens when the shot changes.
The full session goes much deeper. Dan and Ashley also explore the relationship between feel and real, how rough and uneven lies change the numbers, how upslope and downslope shots affect attack and land angle, why Release-3 can stop the ball without a big increase in spin, and how smash factor can be used to control different pitch shots and trajectories.
Watch the full video above, or follow the link below to see the entire session.
The data behind the 3 releases short game system
Further reading: How Tour players use Trackman to build feel