Wedge Trouble

jph100

hi

could people advise me on how to setup to a shot with the wedge(mines a 58 degree) from beside the green+further out and the technque involved eg wrist break or not etc

thanks

ShriekingSheet

This is a common problem but there are a few little things you can work on that can make a big difference and have you standing over a 30 yard pitch with great confidence.

Firstly, 58 degrees is essentially a Lob Wedge. A LW is the most lofted club any golfer will carry and (except in the cases of extremely skilled low-ams or pros) is only used when needed, ie: when you can't use a PW or a SW.

The lob wedge is perceived to be quite a flashy club and is your best bet for playing Hollywood flop-shots around the 9th and 18th greens in front of the club house, but more often than not you'll end up looking like a twat! (trust me on this )

The point is that the only time you really need to use 58 degrees is when there's a bunker between you and the flag and you need the ball to stop quickly. Otherwise, use the grass between you and the flag and a PW or SW - both of which have more margin for error than a LW which is likely to either go close or leave you further away than you started.

Then to address your question, from 15 yards to 70 yards your basic technique is the same for all wedges. The basics are -

- stance slightly open / in practice put a club down on the target line and pull your left foot a few inches back from it with your right toe almost touching the shaft

- weight favours your left side / no weight shift required for a short shot / just turn back and turn through

- ball mid to back of your stance

Now to get the hang of the body movement I can't tell you enough about how this simple drill works. Get a long thin towel and tuck it under each arm accross your chest. A glove under each arm will do the same if you haven't got a towel. So you're clamping from your elbows to your shoulders against your body. Pick up the wedge and hit shots without letting the towel slip out.

The idea is that your arms can't swing independantly of your shoulders/body. Your chest turns back and through and the ball flies. Your not thinking wrists and hands. I find it's good to think of the butt of the club pointing into your belly button for most of the move. Notice if you hinge your wrists early or you swing with your arms and not your body, the butt of the club points left of your torso immediately.

You should feel like the fixed fulcrum of a helicopter with one blade.

Obviously, as with all shots you need to be accellerating through the ball. Also, with this shot it's good to think of getting into the 'shake hands' position with your right hand as you follow through. Your hands should turn naturally so you're right hand is held out as of to shake someone's hand after the ball has gone.

This is something you have to practice a bit and process yourself into a couple of simple swing thoughts for real-time. If you take the above on the course and try it it just won't work.

Let me know if there's anything you want to clarify.



It'll be extremely awkward at first but you'll get the hang of it.

Trampas

Always try and land the ball on the green and not the fringe.

I think there is a 1/3, 2/3 saying.

Where you should pitch the ball a 1/3 of the way to the hole and let it run 2/3

Also try and play the same shot for each chip where you only ever change the club and not the swing

Can't be done all the time but it will help you get started in the end.

I usually chip by slightly delofting the club face.

Chipping is probabaly my strongest part of my game.

Putting is my worse

PhilipMarlowe

Decent short game tutorial here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ona3KgfjWjg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ona3KgfjWjg

ShriekingSheet

Trampas wrote: »

Always try and land the ball on the green and not the fringe.

I think there is a 1/3, 2/3 saying.

Where you should pitch the ball a 1/3 of the way to the hole and let it run 2/3

That's kinda confusing when you think about it but it comes down to the difference between chipping and pitching which might be useful to clarify.

Chipping is the fly 1/3 run 2/3 part your talking about. This is from the fringe with maybe 10% fringe and 90% green to go over. It's a low running shot.

"Always landing it on the green" would refer to pitching which is a more lofted shot from further out (or over a bunker from close range). In the case of pitching you obviously can't use both rules above as you're more likely working with 80% fairway and 20% green. But because the ball is flying higher it's stopping quicker and so you can fly it 80% + of the way and let it release the rest.



This is confusing enough as it is but what helped me get my head around it was to use a PW as a starting point and to say that when your shot is 40 yards, half fairway and half green to the flag, you use a PW. When the break down of the shot varies, you vary your club accordingly.

So if it changes to 40 yards, but with 30yards of fairway and 10 yards of green you change to a SW which flys further and stops quicker (hence still landing on the green).

And with 10 yards of fairway and 30 yards of green you use a 9 or 8 iron to hit it lower and run it most of the way.

Now this is not realistically what guys do given that short game is hugely dependent on feel and preferance of how you like to fly the ball. But when trying to understand the principles involved it's a good, logical way of looking at it. Once you understand that you can then go and decide what suits and works for you - that's what makes the game so good.

Mister Sifter

If you look up the Dave Pelz website, he has a practice routine with a scoring system. I noted a lot of it down and made my own little routine up. A few weekends ago i went to Carton House and spent a few hours trying them all out and keeping note of the results. I'm trying to play a fair bit of pitch and putt and also doing a bit of other practice. Every month or so i plan to go back and do the same routine again and see how i''m improving and what parts of my short game needs most work.

ShriekingSheet

Graeme1982 wrote: »

If you look up the Dave Pelz website, he has a practice routine with a scoring system. I noted a lot of it down and made my own little routine up. A few weekends ago i went to Carton House and spent a few hours trying them all out and keeping note of the results. I'm trying to play a fair bit of pitch and putt and also doing a bit of other practice. Every month or so i plan to go back and do the same routine again and see how i''m improving and what parts of my short game needs most work.

Yeah the Pelz stuff is great. EXTREMELY technical for short game teaching but still great. Much more geared toward the good golfer trying to get better I would say.

stockdam

My wedges and chipping are the worst part of my game. Half of it is technique and the other half is confidence gained from practice.
For chipping....play the ball back in your stance and keep the hands ahead of the ball. Keep the shoulders turning through the ball and don't flick with your hands. Take a couple of practice swings until it feels right and then shuffle over the ball and repeat.

jph100

ok thanks everyone.

i do tend to hinge the wrists a little,ill go away and practice now!

PhilipMarlowe

I had a horrid time of it a couple of years ago from just off the green, it puts a lot of pressure on your game because you tend to fear missing greens and always assume you cant get up and down.
Confidence is key here.... when I was struggling it was because I was thinking technique instead of doing it naturally.
Study the technique that you need like in the video or wherever, then practice this as much as you can, even in your house have a wedge lying around and dig up an (old) carpet whit a few swings every night lol!
The other thing when you struggle with this part of your game is you will tend to lift up your head to see what kind of shot you hit instead of trusting that you did the right thing, which of course makes your chances of spooning even higher