Wedge Play Advice/Tips/Drills

[Leftyplayer]

I thought I'd make a post to get some feedback from everyone about wedge play. This is one part of my game that needs improvement. I don't know how many times this year I've been in the 60-120 range and either miss the green or leave myself with a 40 footer. Also I tend to hit alot of fat shots with my wedges, very frustrating at times. Any advice/tips/drills would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Jay845]

Best things I have done to improve in this area.

I also struggled with this area of my game as well. This spring I decided to focus on it big time. So far the results have been great and I have improved significantly. Here is what I did:

1) Bought a laser rangefinder (Leupold GX-1 to be exact). This allowed to accurately determine distances to any targets on the range. I then grooved a swing (lead arm paralell to the ground) for my LW, SW, GW, and PW (this is similiar to the Pelz method) and noted the distances of each. I didn't go into 1/4 or 3/4 swing distances, as I feel this gives me enough info.

2) Focused on ball position and alignment. I tended to set up open to the target with my ball position much to forward. Importance of ball position became quite evident during the drill below.

3) I hit a ton of pitches focusing on what I believe Brian refers to as the "flying wedge". I might not have the terminology correct but basically you maintain your wrist angle well past impact. This improved the consistency of my contact and I am not near as flippy as I used to be on less than full wedge swings.

That is what worked for me. Once I was confident with the distance (rangefinder), ball position, alignment and maintaining my wrist angle everything got way better.

 

[cmartingolf]

Wedge play...

Direction: There is absolutely no reason to hit a wedge any great degree off line. Okay, 5 - 10 yards left or right if your lie is awkward, but you should be mad at yourself.

Distance control: this is bit more challenging. Sure you can have four wedges and think of a clock and how far back you want to swing your arms, or, you can learn to feel the mass of the club in your hands, learn to leave that mass alone and deliver the undisturbed mass to the ball with your pivot. Yes, I'm talking about lag pressure.

1. Address hands
2. Become impact hands
3. Impact hands get stressed by your pivot and the inertia of the club.
4. The pivot guides this stressed condition
5. If you don't mess with your impact hands (leaking or flipping or helping or quiting or whatever), and enjoy the "STRESS" you'll be able to guide the lag pressure via your pivot to some wonderfully accurate and dependable shots.

I'm sure I'm frustrating some with simplicities, but it really isn't that hard.

BMan could do one hell of a short shot video. I'll be first in line to buy it.

 

[savydan]

In my opinion, people that have a hard time with wedges and half-wedges have the same flaw in their swing as in a full shot, except that they have learned to time their compensations a full speed, and not on slower, shorter swings.

A half wedge should be easier to hit than a 6-iron. Period.

If not, there's something going on in all your swings. You've just learned to compensate a full swing, not a shorter swing.

I'd start by asking what are your misses in your full swings?

 

[Leftyplayer]

Thanks for the replies above. I worked on my wedges the last few days and have gotten some good results. Two things that have helped are one, too have club face lined up too target with slightly open stance. The other thing is what Martin mentioned up above about the lag pressure. I found that once I started to feel that lag pressure it made a huge difference in contact with the ball.

 

[softconsult]

I have always, decades, played wedges and 100 yards in shots with an open stance. Last year I was dialed in. This year we were often playing off no grass and soggy conditions. I became very inconsistent, often sticking the lead edge in the ground.

This was one of my desired topics during my lesson with Brian about a month ago. The first thing he pointed out was my pop-out due to the open stance.
He squared me up and I worked on eliminating the pop-out. Club then came in more shallow and leading edge was as prone to digging.

We worked on hitting it with a small pivot. I did it a few times, but it, as with any change like this, it was a struggle.

I have continued to work on this since the lesson. I am really fighting the years long habit of open stance and cutting across short shots with an open face.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Fat shots with wedges generally indicate flipping and/or a too in/out impact or sometimes a sway off the ball in the backswing