Three shots, one repeatable rotation engine. The framework Dan Grieve has used to help tour pros win majors and amateurs stop fearing the chip shot — built around a single pivot, with setup changes doing all the work.
Most golfers try to invent a new technique for every greenside situation. Grieve's system does the opposite: one repeatable rotation-based swing engine, with only setup, ball position, shaft angle, and follow-through length changing between shots — never the fundamental motion.
| Release | Shot | Trajectory | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Release 1 | Chip & Run | Low, running | The default, lowest-risk shot — good lie, plenty of green to work with. |
| Release 2 | Soft Landing | Mid-height, checks with spin | Carrying rough or a fringe onto the putting surface where the ball needs to sit down quickly. |
| Release 3 | Lob Shot | High, minimal rollout | Short-sided pins, greenside bunkers, and situations with very little green to work with. |
"You don't need 15 short game shots — you need 3 excellent ones."
The most reliable, lowest-risk shot in the short game — and the one every other release is built on top of. This is a rotation shot, not a hands or arms shot.
An imaginary pole runs from the lead foot through the lead hip, shoulder, and up through the lead ear — all rotation happens around this fixed axis, with no lateral weight shift.
Best for: any shot with a clean-to-average lie and enough green to work with. If in doubt, default to Release 1 — it has the largest margin for error of the three.
Built for situations where the ball needs to carry an obstacle — rough, a fringe, a run-off area — and then sit down quickly rather than releasing out toward the hole.
The technique engages the middle section of the wedge's bounce, sliding the club under the ball to impart extra spin rather than pinching it off the turf.
Best for: a reasonably good lie with some fringe or rough to carry. Requires the club to get cleanly under the ball, so a plugged or hard-pan lie should default back to Release 1 instead.
"If you find yourself on that short, sticky grass around the fringe with not a lot of green to work with, the right shot is to carry it onto the putting surface and let it feed toward the hole."
The highest-risk, highest-reward release — a longer swing that gets the ball up quickly and stops it close to where it lands, for the tightest pin positions and greenside trouble.
This release uses the trailing section of the club's bounce and requires actively releasing the clubhead through impact rather than holding the face off.
Best for: high-risk, short-sided situations with minimal green to work with, or escaping greenside trouble where height and a quick stop matter more than precision distance control.
Technique alone doesn't lower scores — decision-making does. Work through these four questions, in order, before every greenside shot.
A tight or hard-pan lie rules out Release 2 immediately — the club can't slide cleanly under the ball. A plugged or heavy lie pushes toward Release 1.
Plenty of green to work with favors Release 1. A tucked, short-sided pin with little room favors Release 3.
Between two releases that could both technically work, pick the one with the larger margin for error.
Confidence shifts week to week. The shot that's been trained most recently and successfully is usually the right one to trust under pressure.
"The lie tells you what you can do. The pin tells you what you want to do. Your confidence tells you what you should do. And if in doubt — Release 1, always. More room for error, every time."
The same three-release logic extends beyond greenside chipping into full pitch shots and bunker play.
A pitch shot spends more time in the air and is played from farther off the green than a chip. Club selection controls trajectory more than technique does — the same swing with a lob wedge produces a high, soft shot, while the identical motion with a pitching wedge produces a low, penetrating flight that releases more on landing.
Bunker technique borrows directly from the release system — shot height and spin are controlled the same way, by engaging different parts of the club's bounce and adjusting face angle and swing length, rather than by changing the fundamental motion.
Two drills to build the core skills the system depends on: eliminating lateral sway on Release 1, and controlling spin quality for both pitching and Release 2.