How Cameron Young Approaches Difficult Wedge Shots (w/ Me and My Golf)

Okay, so we're here at the Tightness Performance Institute. What a place this is and we have Cameron Young and we're doing tough spots and we're gonna kick off with a It is pretty tough. Actually, we've got a down slope to a tight pin. Yeah, we've got about maybe 20 yards here Yeah, we'd love to get your thoughts on How you make these look so easy for the amateur golfers at home and just your approach to to a few shots Let's let's kick off with this one and just walk us through. What are you thinking when you get to this shot? Oh, man I've probably made a course management error to get here. How do you sucked? Yeah. Yeah, that's that's my probably my first instinct but yeah, I mean anytime you've got Downslope like this to me and you're trying to stop it. The the thing you're gonna find the most difficult is creating height Because you can you can create spin with strike But something like this spin is probably not enough just because of being on a downslope you landed on a pretty flat green So kind of height is your friend and for me One of the ways I do it is is introducing just a little bit more rotation in the backswing for me Seems to help me create some height and then I can also do You know a little steeper attack angle So kind of I'll choose either one or both to help me create a little bit of height And you say rotation of the face in the backswing? Yeah for me because usually I'm pretty I don't break my wrist much I feel like I don't really rotate the club much and when I start to feel like I roll it just a little bit I think it just helps me keep the face more open through the ball and creates a little bit of height What would you say in this scenario here? Let's say you're in a tournament. What would be a realistic expectation for you? Like what would you be happy with? Um, I mean, we've got a bit of breeze, which is definitely the breeze is helping me I think anything anything where I feel like a really good putt goes in so like anything inside of six or seven feet where If I hit a putt how I mean to it goes in I feel like it's a pretty good shot here Okay, because that's a big part of it isn't it? I mean you played in plenty of pro-ams and Expectations of what an amateur golfer would have in this situation. Yeah, 20 feet is fine. You're on the green Yeah Yeah for your average golfer. It's just you can't you can't leave it in that bunker or something like that So our standards are a little higher but there is an element of that to it, I mean there's you know, it's shot selection I think is Important just in terms of limiting your risk with the potential to hit it close I think one of the hardest things for amateur golfers in this scenario is contact. It is the priority in this How would you how do you figure out your stance here to give yourself the best chance possible based on this slope? Based on the slope. I mean, I I think a Lot of a lot of contact to me is just how you kind of maintain relationship between My whole left side and the clubface like the more tension I can create there where all all the clubface and Clubhead motion is dictated really by all this stuff is is how I do it So for this one, I'd be obviously I'd be probably Leaned a little bit with the slope not too much because I want to still get it up in the air Yeah, and not that I'm gonna be doing anything like this, but you know, I don't want to be driving it into the ground either Yeah, so this one I probably would I probably would try to hit my shot with a little bit more rotation To me it kind of feels like I take it up and almost like lay it off a little bit That just helps me and in real life. It's not that but that's what it feels like to me And that should create a little bit of height. So we'll see Got a little bit of wind helping me. Thanks a little open address just to help you with the bounce Yeah face a bit open kind of just opening the face and then gripping it. Yeah, I'm not gonna do anything like that but yeah, just a little bit of rotation in the backswing for me and Then just kind of trying to trying to slide it under the ball. I'm not gonna you know, take a big divot or anything It should be pretty shallow. I love the practice swing just practice. Yeah That you know so important for anyone watching this that they get used to understanding where the ground is and getting that feel Yeah, I'm getting getting used to a speed that feels appropriate that you're not Like you might get in there and take a practice swing beside who that feels like a really inappropriate length swing for the shot Like it's you know, it's not big enough for I feel like I could hit a hundred yards So I'm trying to pick a shot where I feel like the miss hit is somewhere except Now that the wind has died Anything over the bunker is good. Okay, and this is 60. Yeah, this is 62 actually It was a really good it was a good strike. Yeah, really good. I was really happy with the strike a tricky I mean look that we see this all the time Andy's a golfer in this situation. We're trying to lift it Yeah on the back foot. Yeah, it's all contact like you guys How about first ship of the day? It's not fair Loaded as well that is Foot What would you do Cam? If the wind was the other way around the other way around you'd have to just be a little bit more accepting that you've made a mistake Would you ever go like left or right of the flag I mean and you haven't got a lot of difference I suppose Yeah, I mean, I think it would depend just on you know this specific shot I don't think you really gain much going one way or the other But if you do get in a really tough spot sometimes you'll have a slope like here I mean if it was really bad going left the green does eventually kind of just Go up a little bit and going right it could get away from you So I probably wouldn't would hedge that way, especially with a face this open. It's kind of going to be going this way Well, that was superb. Should we go to this one here? So we're going to yeah, I don't want to try that again I'll bring some other wedges just in case but let's Andy. Let's go to this black and white flag over there. Shall we? So we actually need to actually you need to know how far that is actually 47 it's fine. 47. There we go. He's tuned in. He's got his inbuilt right inbuilt GPS Yeah, I like what you're saying about the left shoulder though. You've got a point. It's almost like that's driving the motion, isn't it? Yeah, that's that's where I can avoid Throwing it with my hands or if I feel like if I manipulate it with this The mistakes are just smaller Whereas if you're trying to use your hands You can hit some more spectacular shots with your hands But I think the mistakes get smaller Yeah, the more I kind of try to simplify the motion and throughout a season that makes a big difference Yeah, yeah for sure I mean if you you make it you never know like when when a bogey is fine and the double is awful throughout the course of the season and if You know, you make a small mistake and you happen to make a bogey You're probably better off, you know Playing that shot more than the really risky one for sure. Well, this one's an amateur's dream to play I'm sure you it's the same for you. So it's eight on from that side. Okay, seven from the right So obviously you got seven yards past the flag and then probably seven yards left of it Okay, and I would say it slopes towards it obviously got wind off the left. Yeah Yep All right What have you brought 52 and 56? Okay, I probably would go with the 50. This is a 57. Okay Yeah, the biggest thing here is just getting comfortable with with hitting a different club out of the bunker They just they do react differently I mean with different souls like that 62 if I really need to I can go right under something whereas a 57 or 52 It's just not gonna dig the same way. Everything's gonna come out a lot flatter This is K star in the 60 correct, which is which is we know for a fact. This is really good in bunker shot Yeah, it's great Yeah, that was a change we made last year that I think dress I was in a super low bounce Which was really really fun sometimes and other times not so much. We were talking actually off-camera earlier saying how you are Renowned as a phenomenal ball striker, but your when we looked at your short game stats and wedge stats last year made some big improvements That's obviously something that I said was a conscious effort. Yes, but was the equipment important for you as well? Yeah, absolutely changing out some things. Yeah, we moved we moved that a degree aloft. We moved this a degree aloft And then change that grind. Yeah, so it's been it's just a little tweaks. Nothing major But just giving myself I've learned to pitch with the 57 a lot We've kind of found that certain weeks kind of week to week. We find which club on a simple pitch just rolls like but and Some weeks. It's this some weeks. It's 52 When it's a little softer Yeah but having that option and being comfortable with it has made a lot of the simple ones that I used to just hit 62 a Little simpler. Yeah, and I feel like all of a sudden my distance controls gotten a lot better and I have a lot more tap-ins As opposed to three footers or four footers. Yeah, which has been really nice But back to the 50-yard bunker Thing on this again, it's all strike. How do you? You know, what are you thinking? Is there an intention? How do you play this shot so you can again give yourself the best chance possible of taking this clean? I presume you're taking this relatively clean From there. I probably won't I would I would play some kind of explosion shot I think I'm I'm lucky to have a good bit of speed and I also naturally have a lot of lean So for me these I think aren't quite as hard Just because naturally I want to really go after it that way and take some loft off of it So I really will kind of just put it like a little back of middle in my stance, okay and Deloft it and hit an explosion shot all the way there Don't know if that's what what other people do But that's my all I'm left of it because I know it's gonna come out kind of fading a little bit Oh, I've hit it too far. Oh You know Yeah, this sand is actually quite fun makes it a little easier Beautiful it's interesting. You just said then you felt the sand was firmer. Yeah, I thought it based off my feet I didn't really dig in much. Okay, and I felt like it was gonna be a little bit more powdery But there's a bottom to it underneath which actually makes it a little so so how did you adjust for that? Just a little just a little bit softer a little more open face Yeah Just a little bit before the ball on these shots. Yeah, it's it's Close to it obviously, but not extreme where I feel like I'm gonna actually take one clean ever. Yeah And obviously it depends like this one, you know, if I miss it, there's a little backstop So if I miss it eight long It's gonna end up back on the green where short is you're left with another bunker shot So it's again protecting against kind of a secondary miss because this is another one where your caddy has failed you He's in a lot of trouble today. Yeah, he's having a tough tough go today His math machine is broken Just release it Spin back close. Yeah again good to show him here. You know, the expectations of getting it close is hard, isn't it? It's like yeah, give yourself a chance of a put on this. Yeah, exactly I mean, I would that that second one I think was pretty deep I don't know how close in and up maybe 20 feet, but that would be a reasonable shot. Yeah Good Here The divots and we generally see this that when you see someone who's really good Long game that may be short game this like as you say a bit more of this game is great Right, I think it's a short game. Maybe it's not so good Yeah, I'd say in some cases it is in some cases it's not and when you get playing really firm fast greens Try more cases where it's not Yeah Okay. So this isn't the caddies. This one's not the caddy's fault. No, this is just a good driver You've just got a little unlucky. Yeah Okay, divot here now. We'll go to the red flag actually So you've got a little bit of going to work with so the situation here isn't too bad But we've just got to deal with yeah, obviously this line Just talk us through what your thoughts are here based on obviously you've got plenty of green to work with Yeah, well, I probably would go I probably would reach for the 62 Just because that's my that's what I practice with the most. So that's kind of where I'm most comfortable with strike But something like this I just I probably would go to playing a bit of a lower shot All my all my focus would be strike So it would be trying to be a little bit steeper a little bit more right on top of the back of the ball especially given that I do have green to work with I don't need to you know, get it up in the air and stop it at all So I'd be you know, the shot that I feel that I can most confidently strike is a little bit back in my stance Getting down on it pretty good And like almost feeling like a little bit of a draw Just to make sure the face keeps up and closes on the ball Because the more I'm doing this I think it just gets harder and harder. Yeah, right It's interesting that you said that the club selection is more Dependent on what you practice most what club you use most. Yeah, it's not like because you could it you got what you get Yeah, pitching that's good. Yeah. No, I mean, that's when if I ever do a clinic or anything like that I want the one thing I say to amateur golfers is You know If you have a shot it kind of doesn't matter what it is Whether it's pitching wedge or sand wedge or if you can just strike it consistently and play that shot, you know 90% of the time you can make it work and get it to reasonable par putts a lot so you don't have to know every shot to Be able to get a lot of things up and down even if it's a 53 a 52 degree wedge or whatever it is If you can just strike it consistently, you know what you're gonna get you can play it around this bunker to 12 feet And that's better than trying to hit the club. You're not comfortable with yeah and getting it wrong It's nice to master one club, isn't it? Yeah, so you know how it's gonna react and you've got that confidence to just go I can pull it out right and not all of us have time to master two or three Especially the guys watching this. Oh, yeah Okay. Well, I mean we yardage wise here one of the maybe 45 yards about 45 something like that Yeah, I just I just be hitting a little bit kind of feels like a little flighted draw Just really focused on strike So good But you guys you could see you did, you know, it's purposely looking where you struck the book the ground Yeah, and it was beautiful. Yeah, that's the key there. I mean that you're just given so little room for error with any bit of sand The biggest thing is just making sure you get Ball on club first and you can deal with a little too hard a little too soft Yeah, as long as the contact is good. Yeah, that's the main thing and for me just that little feeling of Making sure everything keeps going through the ball. This Helps me with that. We say all the time to our students that for every shot There's a different line So there's a different technique and maybe even a different club and you can see we're literally here to here and then slightly different in The flags and you play a totally different shot, you know Rotating the face open to shutting the face down and driving it Yeah, that's just so important that we understand that but I like the fact you've done them with the same club Yeah, and you've been able to do it that way We're gonna get this one here Andy we're gonna get I think so. Let's go. Yeah, that's kind of Stance over this one. Yeah. All right. I'm disappointed in my long bunker play. Yeah, I feel like usually I do well at that I feel like you like that one. Yeah, I did I was excited about it. I think that's second one. I underperformed. I think that's good Yeah, good distance just a little right 16 feet. We're gonna go here. Yep. Okay, I'll let you choose the lie there Pierce Where do you want to where do you where would you say on this one? Cam is it is a challenging shot because it's quite grainy this stuff is as well Probably this short one anything short side. It just gets harder. I mean that one is kind of straight to it This one's a little less. Should we do one to each? Should we go once this check everyone wants the red one? So maybe that's the red one first give us your give us your thoughts on that one. Yeah So this is not too dissimilar to the one we hit over here earlier But I don't think it's as extreme. I don't have to work quite as hard at stopping it Just because I have there's a little bit of grass under it Being in a little longer grass and I have a bit more green to work with So I probably would I would open the face again and I'd be leaning down the hill just a bit But I wouldn't really be doing Any extra rotation in the back thing? I think it kind of is with a little wind into me It's a relatively normal pitch just with an open face. Yeah It'll come out pretty low, but it should have a little bit of spin It's almost like it's a little bit of faith. It's like you're almost like cutting up and holding against them Yeah, for sure. That's it's a good way of putting it. It's it's nothing crazy, but it's just favoring kind of that Yeah, open a little bit of Cuddy It's come out too soft One yard, it's just caught. Yeah, it came out a bit. I'm also a bit better than I thought There you go Even yeah, just the lie. I mean this it helps that this place is in pretty unbelievable So you can you can do a lot more than some places you expected worse. Should we have a checkered one here? Yeah, and then maybe that's yeah, let's play a normal a normal line Then maybe we'll find one where we can just sit it down. Yeah, for sure This one. Yeah, this one you have less green to work with the more especially as a right-hander The more the ball gets above your feet. It's actually easier to get to come out softer I Don't know the technical reason why but it's just that's kind of how it works. So this one I think is not too bad again Based on my prior performances. I'd have to focus on getting it there rather than stopping it but yeah, I just I'd be Kind of choking up on the club to where I feel like I'm able to put my chest in a normal position Because the ball is closer to me than if it were flat ground So I'd be choking up a little bit and then very similar to the last one. I don't think it needs anything special It's just a matter of a little open face and a good strike I think a good thing with something like this is that we know that when we stand on a slope like this with a Short iron that the loft is always gonna point a long way left. You're automatically getting that face. Oh, yeah Yeah, essentially squaring it to Get the hole not not bleeding edge or anything But when you kind of get in if if you could see it better I'm sure you can't on camera but to me that face looks like the loft is pointed at the hole Way it's gonna be way over there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's kind of I love that It looks to me like it just is square to the square to the hole one Kind of just ride it through a little bit open. Okay, should we go one more way sitting down a little bit? Yeah, it's not something a little bit different. We got me something bad. Okay, here we go. Let's go something. It's too it's too immaculate Trying to say much less eloquently Why don't we do a step on can we do a okay? Let's go in here. There you go. There we go. That's a bit extreme, but that's okay. That's okay. It happens. Okay Now we're gonna need a bit of snow a bit of speed bit of attack angle This yeah, it's it's essentially a bunker shot at this point What if you actually got one this bad? You probably would be trying to chunk it a little bit yeah, and I'd be trying to guess at how much speed I need for It to get over the bunker Even if I hit it shorter than I mean to so I'd be aiming like a good ways over the bunker Trying to chunk it a little bit Wide open face just trying to get it up in the air and keep it from running away from me too much Almost this is like a calculated duff. Yeah, it's it's like a it's a calculated poor shot Yeah, it's basically what I'm what I'm going for. What I like about this is when you're setting up there Just hold their second. Yeah, the whole back of the club. Yeah Yeah, exactly Yeah I mean and that's just it's we talk about using the bounce that's literally so that I can hit the ground as hard as I Want the club's gonna come out the other pop-up? Yeah Yeah, because that's the other thing that you do need in this you need speed as Andy said earlier We need to be aggressive to get that ball there yeah, so it's it's just a it's a big old chop into the ground and let the club kind of bounce up into the ball and See where it goes So good Yeah, you don't play that one again do you practice that more than I'd like to admit You hit that in a tournament and you're very happy. Yeah, I tried to convince my caddy once and he said no We're gonna play that back to him and you'll be all over yeah fair enough. Yeah, I'm glad that was cam and not us playing Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm great. So thank you guys really good. I appreciate it. Yeah Fantastic. Awesome. I would have liked to see you guys hit a couple but oh I get to step on it now Yeah, you get to step on it now double God same shots gonna be a nasty one, isn't it? Which one that what did you guys get? I call it the purpose chunk Yeah, I Say that's like that's like a thing you do in college with your college teammates and just like hit a hundred of them in a day Some I was too nice there That's pretty tough There you go Now Andy's normally really good at these shots So I'm like I'm back in him But the fact that you try to make the way you did I like the speed of what you had to hit it I was surprised I thought it would come out harder than it did The club didn't come back up. There's a lot of turf there. So I'm gonna have to go hard on this. Oh, yeah Are you thinking anything about angle of the club on the way back? You going out a bit more? Not really. It's it's to me. It's just I just feel like I'm trying to get the club coming straight down Yeah to where it's just like that bouncing because you can see when you're playing the fuller hardest I should get you to sort of pause. Yeah a little bit. Yeah. Oh Man, that's so good So you hit mine that was mine yeah One more. I think that's that's like that's so good. I'm done. I've never hit a shot No, you didn't know you just you patent teaching that shot I put that gone camera. Let you stand on it. Yeah. No, go ahead There you go. Oh, geez, that's too easy. That is piss. Come on hasn't even broken the ground. That's it. I get it There we go Riley come on you get it inside those two pierce. I feel like yeah, that's a really close match Whole high is usually closer than you think. Yeah. No, I think yeah, I think you've done in there I feel like I've really got to go high on this. You just got to go hard and trust that soul Feel like it's got to be well out. Oh Totally acceptable on the green though. You there you come on get on there. We'll take it. Yeah, absolutely Could it be a lot worse? Thanks, yeah, that's fine. Thank you guys. Have a great week. Thank you. Appreciate that