Nothing is more disturbing than hitting a great drive, only to bury your wedge shot into a green side bunker. Talk about a wasted opportunity! Let’s think for a moment about the clubs or shots in your bag that you have the most control with and what those strokes have in common… maybe we can apply that to your distance wedges to give you better opportunities to score.
1. Putting
2. Chipping
3. Pitching (not the flop)
Does anything come to mind when thinking of these strokes?
They’re all shorter strokes, more compact motions, with the hands and arms staying in front of your chest the whole time… or at least they should be!
If we can apply this theory to your distance wedges, you’ll begin to produce the same control. Let’s start by understanding that full distance is not the goal with your wedges, it’s distance control and accuracy. Therefore, let’s shorten our back swing to achieve some of this. I like a position that is roughly 3/4 swing, or if you can picture a clock with your feet at 6:00 and your head at 12:00… we need to get your hands to travel no further than 10:00. For most people, this is the point where the upper body will reach a full turn, thereby leaving your arms and hands right in front of your chest.
As we move into the downswing, let’s take a look at the lower body to continue our theme. Much like a pitch shot, the lower body should not be a major power source that leads the whole swing. We want the legs to be more passive in a manner that is more reacting to the rest of the swing. Think stability and keep a solid connection to the ground with your feet. I’d like your feet to feel as though they’re in cement shoes. As you move into the follow through your trail foot and leg will move out of the shoes, but should almost feel as though they’re being pulled out of the cement.
Looking at the upper body, arms and hands in the follow through, this should be very much like a punch shot or a knock down with the hands and arms mirroring the back swing to finish at the 2:00 position.
All these items should combine to produce a slightly lower penetrating flight… think about the last time you played darts… I’m sure you didn’t lob the dart in with a high trajectory… and nor do we want to when controlling our wedge shots!
1. Putting
2. Chipping
3. Pitching (not the flop)
Does anything come to mind when thinking of these strokes?
They’re all shorter strokes, more compact motions, with the hands and arms staying in front of your chest the whole time… or at least they should be!
If we can apply this theory to your distance wedges, you’ll begin to produce the same control. Let’s start by understanding that full distance is not the goal with your wedges, it’s distance control and accuracy. Therefore, let’s shorten our back swing to achieve some of this. I like a position that is roughly 3/4 swing, or if you can picture a clock with your feet at 6:00 and your head at 12:00… we need to get your hands to travel no further than 10:00. For most people, this is the point where the upper body will reach a full turn, thereby leaving your arms and hands right in front of your chest.
As we move into the downswing, let’s take a look at the lower body to continue our theme. Much like a pitch shot, the lower body should not be a major power source that leads the whole swing. We want the legs to be more passive in a manner that is more reacting to the rest of the swing. Think stability and keep a solid connection to the ground with your feet. I’d like your feet to feel as though they’re in cement shoes. As you move into the follow through your trail foot and leg will move out of the shoes, but should almost feel as though they’re being pulled out of the cement.
Looking at the upper body, arms and hands in the follow through, this should be very much like a punch shot or a knock down with the hands and arms mirroring the back swing to finish at the 2:00 position.
All these items should combine to produce a slightly lower penetrating flight… think about the last time you played darts… I’m sure you didn’t lob the dart in with a high trajectory… and nor do we want to when controlling our wedge shots!