Using only one club, 56°, for ALL short game work...

My short game has been in a slump lately. I use a pw, 54 and 58 wedge.

A few years ago, I only used a 56° for all short game shots, and my short game was the best it ever was. It wasn't perfect, but it allowed me to get so familiar with the one club, that I could rely on it with confidence.

What do you think about this approach? Does anyone else use only one club for all short game work?

Hit em good

As long as the grind is versatile enough for tighter lies, have at it. Simplicity isn't a bad thing most times. Surprised you couldn't make your 54/58 work tho.

I tend to be in your camp and use my 60 wedge for most everything inside 80 yards, but I have a few rules I stick with in NOT using it, only because they always seem to cost me an extra stroke here and there when I try to go against my rules. For many years I always used my 56 for everything (before 60's were commonplace), then somewhere I read some book or found articles on wrx and I went to the 60, 56, 52 degree process. I found myself over thinking shots too much and never feeling as comfortable as you should be on those shots. For the last 5 years or so I have gone back to one club (60 degree) for the majority of shots inside 80 yards with a couple of basic rules below :

if I'm in heavy rough and the shot is more than a chip or flop in and around the green, I will not hit my 60. My miss is that I tend to sweep under the ball and distance control is shaky if I am around the green and I am at grade or above it, I will not hit my 60. I usually then go to a 8 iron or pw for a bump and run as I usually prefer to keep the ball low vs very high; and on tight lies, the last thing I want to do is stub the 60 or blade it and not get close to the hole. With the lower irons good contact is guaranteed and I normally don't have a putt outside of 5' on most of the courses we play. If on extremely fast greens with a lot of slope, all of that goes out the window

Sounds good for around the green but what about your wedge yardages? I think it would hurt your longer wedge game to not have more go-to yardages

It’s not like for decades and decades the SW was about it in the bag.

When the Gap wedge came in, some wondered how mentally flabby players were becoming. “What? You can’t open your PW face? Pathetic.”

...kind of reminded JP when gps came out, oldster purists were like,”Hey, distance calculation is an acquired skill!”

you are trading versatility for consistency, and that’s fine. I carry three “green side” wedges, but mostly use two around the green. 50 degree is more for half shots and pretty much only used when I want to roll the ball as much as possible around the green.

54 wedge is the workhorse I use for the majority of shots. If I’m not short sided and don’t have an obstacle I have to carry over, I use the 54. I’m most comfortable with it and practice with it regularly.

i practice second most with a 58. Use it in the sand, for flops, short sided to drop and stop... get it up over trees. Basically, it does what I can’t with a 54.

my bag is also currently home to 12 clubs. I am adding another long club for #13 and have no plan on finishing the bag, so I have plenty of room to carry wedges.

my question for you is where does your short game begin? I consider anything under 120 yards to be short game... from 120 to 20 yards, I’ll use a variety of clubs... but mostly the wedges. I’m comfortable bumping and running with more of my clubs, but it’s just not a shot I hit much.

from 20-5 yards, I’m most comfortable with my 54. I am comfortable with the club for the short wedge shots... I’d only hit the 58 if I had to or the 50 if I’m I’m in a weird situation where I want to lower flight.

5 yards and in (to the green) just comes down to how much green I have. I’ll get the ball on the ground as quickly as possible with a wedge or an iron, unless it’s a tiered green. I’m most confident with my 54 but can use the 50 or 58 if needed.

my 58’has the bounce and grind to be my sand workhorse, and I’d rather not wear out my 54 in the bunker!

The thing all pros say when asked what the biggest mistake amateurs make, is that we all take out a high lofted wedge whenever we get near the green. And that we should use the club which has the least loft in order to get the job done. If that means a heel-up 7I to ‘putt’ onto the green with, a bump and run from a 9I or whatever, that’s what I’m now doing. It’s much easier to do the above than use any high lofted wedge 80% of the time.

A couple of years ago I bought into the 4* degree gapping throughout the bag when I bought my Hogan Ft Worth irons. In theory it made sense to have a 47*, 51*, 55*, 59*, & 63* wedge. In practice it was awful. Way too many clubs from 110 yards and in. Too many choices, too much confusion and second guessing of club selection. Because of it I did a full reset.

Now I carry a late 1950’s era Wilson Triple Duty wedge as my do it all short game wedge. At the time they marketed it as from the rough, sand, or tight lies, hence, Triple Duty. I figured it might do one or two well but no way all three. Well, this thing does perform from all those lies. It measures about 54* but with the rounded leading edge and grind it opens up very easy for flop shots. Out of the sand it is money, my bunker play has never been better. Hood it a bit and it’s perfect for chipping.

Now it is the only club I use from 85 yards in. I have much more confidence in my short game and my scores have dropped significantly.

One club is the only practical approach when you have to play most of your golf riding a cart. You usually aren't close enough to your ball to evaluate anything, so you have to grab your two besties, your wedge and putter, and go play.

For me that's a 60 degree. I am much better at taking loft off than adding it, so the 60 works for most pitches and bunker shots and I can do things (back of stance or a little mini hook shot) to hit it lower if need be.

I don't see any problem with trying a (shudder) Square Strike or Cleveland Niblick or the like if that works where you play. I will never forget the round I played with an older lady in Las Vegas back in the mid 90s. She was a member at this particular club, and it was generally open in front with no forced carries. She had a Stan Thompson chipper. It was a drive in the fairway, something up in front of the green, one with 'ol Stan and one putt. She did that 14 times in 18 holes for the easiest 76 I have ever seen. Most guys won't use a chipper out of pride, but it can work wonders under certain conditions.

This can be a great idea if you put in some practice. By far the best part of my game is chipping and pitching. I decided about 5 years ago I would primarily use one club around the green unless there was an unusual circumstance that made me use a higher lofted club or a lower lofted.

I use a 56 any time I am within about 50 yards and I feel pretty confident that I can almost always get up and down.m or have a good shot at doing so. I can flop it better with my 56, I can stop it better, I can get it to run out.

My only problem is that it is an older 56 and I can not find any new wedge that seems to have the same grind. I would love to find a new version of the club but I can’t seem to find something that sits the same, opens up etc.

I've used 56* for most everything 80 yards in before. Now I use either 52* or 58* depending on the shot. Around the green I like the 52* whenever possible and use the 58* when needing loft and/or spin.

90 yards and in - 56 degree sand wedge ONLY. I can close it or open it up to make it 46 or 66 degrees.

No second guessing and I can practice with one club only - why make a difficult game more difficult. I went to  a short game presentation by Rocco Mediate and this was his advice.

I listened to him and I've gone from the worst chipper in the world to an average one.

I use a 56* for 95% of shots inside 90 yards. Full & partial shots, chips and pitches. Utilize 2 types for each one. if I'm feeling it incorporate the flop shot. Big advantage is simplifies distance control, I'll know my landing spots and how ball will kick.

OP here.

I just got back from the chipping green, trying out my new 56° only system. In summary.....: a complete disaster.

54 / 58 are back in the bag, and signature has just been updated. Thread closed.

Well, that was quick.

I've done it both ways, 90% of my shots with a 56* sandwedge or switching up depending on conditions.

Either way, it takes a while to get comfortable with the shots and setup required so a single trial 7 hours after starting the thread is probably not enough time to really give it enough of a chance.

You are absolutely correct.

The problem is, I'm a complete mess with my bag set up. I change my bag and my WRX WITB signature, after every round of golf. Example, yesterday the Ping Redwood putter was performing terribly, so it is out and the Odyssey two-ball is back in. Chipping was poor, so 56 replaced 54/58. Practice session with 56 was terrible, so 54/58 went back in, and I got them re-gripped and loft on 54 changed to 53 today.

I need help...

I think I need to make a decision on my set up, and then just go sell the rest of my clubs so I can't go back and forth all the time.

Hit em good

I play a 45 pw and 56 sand wedge. While I enjoy only pulling one wedge from my bag for short chips, it is too big of a gap in my short game. 52 gw is soon to be the next addition to my bag.

I've long been in the traditional 52/56/60 camp. I think I'm comfortable with that setup largely due the fact that I really like practicing with those clubs. This means typically at least half of the balls I hit on the range are partial swing shots with those three clubs. For me, that's always been one of the most enjoyable parts of practice, so I've very comfortable in that setup.

As much as the loft differences are useful, I think the varying bounce levels (52-mind, 56-high, 60-low) are just as important for varying conditions.

... Like many, when I picked up my first 60* wedge I struggled with it. I decided to become proficient using it and then go back to using other clubs around the green. After about a year of constant practice, especially having fun hitting shots from near impossible lies, I could hit any shot with my 60* and started using other clubs. It was obvious I was better using my 60* than any other club so I have stuck with it since then. I now play a 58* but I use it for every shot around the green. The only exception would be a really long bunker shot where I would use my 52* or 46* wedges.

I used to struggle around the greens but then went to just using a 50 degree Vokey for pretty much everything except sand, although I’ve been known to use it out of bunkers on occasion too. It’s probably my favorite, most confidence inspiring club in my bag for the reason you stated. When I can find time to practice I‘d rather spend an hour focusing on different shots with one club than 20 minutes with 3 that are all different.

I use my 9 iron more than any club for short game work.. best shot saver in the bag,.

Get the ball on the ground as soon as possible is my belief

I have holes out more shots from my 9 iron than any other club.

Now I am using a 52-56. My 56 has been my go to for several years. It is about time to change them out and thinking about going with 54-58.

I currently game a 52 and a 56, but I’m looking into possibly getting any set that comes 4-AW which is 50 degrees, I’m thinking of having my 56 bent to 54 or 55 and calling it a day! I’ve never been successful with a 60 or 60+ degree wedge. I like the idea of having one more up top. I can choke up and feather a 54 degree much better than trying to hit an easy 3 wood or 2 hybrid. For me anyways, it works out better gapping up top, rather than bottom.

50 and 56 wedges in my bag, I usually find myself using my 45 set PW around the green unless its in a bunker. Its comfortable and I know what it will do. Go with whats comfy and inspires confidence, use the 56.

I’ll chip with anything from 7-gap depending on how much run out I need. 56 is for bunkers and little pitches and the 60 is purely an emergency club for those flops over bunkers where a 56 won’t stop. I probably use my 60 once/ twice a month and I don’t even carry it from November to April (winter season) as the greens are soft. You can get away with a 56 and a titleist pts in winter at our course it’s that soft!

I made this switch last year and it was the best decision thats ever helped my short game.. Very very rarely do I need my 60*. I maybe use the 60* once a round. Any opportunity to use my 56 I will and its made a huge difference

Among us amateurs, the less I need to worry about special shots/clubs, the easier it is

I always read these post about getting the ball rolling as quick as possible with the least lofted club possible. I rarely seem to see the guys on TV chipping with a 7 iron. Much more often I see a wedge and the one or two skips and stop shot which I much prefer. Why read every break in the green between your ball and the hole when you can fly over half of that ground and stop the ball with spin? Of course a week ago I embarrassed myself chipping, but the 54 came back this weekend :-).

I used to chip exclusively with a 56... when my nerves were "younger".

Now I take a 56 and a 9 iron with me whenever I miss the green. One of those will usually fit the shot.

Due to money restrains, I went PW, UW, 56*. Hoping this combo will work!?

56° for 90% of shots from 100yds in.

I'll use a 60° when I need to stop it quick, or an 8i or 9i if I need to keep it low and running.