Wedge Practice

[Albusdumble831]

I've recently begun playing golf about 2 years ago and needless to say, I definitely have the love for the game. I'm constantly looking for ways to improve my short game, more specifically with my Wedges from 100 yards. What type of practice/training do you guys do when working with your Wedges? I currently play 52*, 56*, 60* Wedges.

[Shipwreck]

Learn your 1/2, 3/4 and full distances with them, then start toying around with gripping down 1”, 2” etc to cover even more.

[llewol007]

Graham McDowell has a great video on youtube about wedges. He said that you should have two shots into a green. A high soft lander and your low trajectory bump and run unto a green. Master those two with all three wedges and now you have 6 shots in your arsenal. Like others have said you can also use the clock technique in terms of learning different distances. When learning shorter swings, I suggest remembering your hand position instead. For me I have my hands at ear level, shoulder level and hip level. Those three positions. If I dont get the distance I was looking for, I either club up or club down. Always have the same follow through to completion and never decel on wedge shots. Try it out and see which method works for you.

[JJK947]

> @Shipwreck said:

> Learn your 1/2, 3/4 and full distances with them, then start toying around with gripping down 1”, 2” etc to cover even more.

 

This is the best place to start. The 1/2, 3/4, and full roughly corresponding to hip, shoulder and full length swings. With 4 degree gaps you should be able to cover a variety of distances. The shorter swings will flight lower with less spin so you also should have multiple options at similar distances. This is probably the easiest method for most people, 3 swing lengths with 3 wedges so you have 9 yardages and adjust from there if you have to.

 

Other option is to get your full yardage with your 60 and just hit that from everything inside that yardage. This requires much more practice and developing feel for different swing lengths, ball positions, and releases. I use my 60 degree wedge for 99% of shots between 100 yards and chipping range by varying those factors.

[iutodd]

I don't have a ton of time to practice and I play to around an 8 handicap so I have to get everything I can out of the time I have to practice and play. I don't know where you're at with your game but I do a few things:

 

Focus on contact. Wedges are all about distance/spin control and making good contact is vital to having any control over your distance or spin. I don't swing hard and I don't swing easy...I focus on making a quality pass through the ball. Controlled aggression is the name of the game here.

 

I have stock starting points with each wedge - my 60 degree can go 80, my 56 is my 100 yard club, and my 52 is 115. Knowing those helps with layup yardages, it also helps to figure what kind of swing and shot you're looking to hit. If I'm 105 out I can either go harder at a 56 or knock down a 52. I generally prefer to knock down but it depends - if the pin position is in the back I know I don't want to go over so I'd probably hit the 56 and take 25-30 feet under the hole. I also basically never go hard at the 60 because it's just that much harder to hit hard. 87 yards is a 56 basically every time. Having a GPS or rangefinder helps with this because you know exactly what your yardage needs to be - I actually like the GPS in some ways because you get the carry to the front and the carry to the back.

 

Control your expectations. We watch golf on Sundays and see dudes stuffing wedges to 3 feet. But that's just not really what happens. For amateurs hitting from 100 yards anything inside 25 feet is a really good shot. Patrick Cantlay, who is number 2 in the FedEx cup right now I think - his approaches from 50-125 yards average 18' from the cup across 142 attempts and he's 75th on tour. Some of them are 30' and some of them miss the green and some of them are stuffed. A good shot for amateurs is on the green. Don't beat yourself up.

 

So when you're on the range...like...figure out what your "stock" 52/56/60 degree wedge looks like. Don't try to kill it or get the most out of it - what is your most consistent yardage that you can hit more than 80% of the time? That is your stock yardage. Fill in the gaps from there with 3/4 shots (and remember that you aren't swinging "easy" on these shots - make a good aggressive pass still). But get your stock yardage down first. Then practice those stock shots a lot.

 

A really good way to practice wedges is to go out late in the evening on a weekday when courses are basically dead - you wanna be like the last guy off - find a hole where you are by yourself and hit 4-5 balls from 100 yards, then move up and hit 4-5 from 65 yards or whatever. Then the next hole hit 4-5 from 125 and 4-5 from 50...It's nice having an actual green and hole to hit too - most of us don't have access to a short game practice area...

[Albusdumble831]

Thanks so much for the feedback and options. I have used my Rangefinder and also my club's Trackman to dial in my Yardage for my Wedges. I'm going to use the suggestions and chart my practice and film a little bit as well. We have our Club Championship coming up and I want to ensure that my Focus, and Effort is at an optimum.

 

> @iutodd said:

> I don't have a ton of time to practice and I play to around an 8 handicap so I have to get everything I can out of the time I have to practice and play. I don't know where you're at with your game but I do a few things:

>

> Focus on contact. Wedges are all about distance/spin control and making good contact is vital to having any control over your distance or spin. I don't swing hard and I don't swing easy...I focus on making a quality pass through the ball. Controlled aggression is the name of the game here.

>

> I have stock starting points with each wedge - my 60 degree can go 80, my 56 is my 100 yard club, and my 52 is 115. Knowing those helps with layup yardages, it also helps to figure what kind of swing and shot you're looking to hit. If I'm 105 out I can either go harder at a 56 or knock down a 52. I generally prefer to knock down but it depends - if the pin position is in the back I know I don't want to go over so I'd probably hit the 56 and take 25-30 feet under the hole. I also basically never go hard at the 60 because it's just that much harder to hit hard. 87 yards is a 56 basically every time. Having a GPS or rangefinder helps with this because you know exactly what your yardage needs to be - I actually like the GPS in some ways because you get the carry to the front and the carry to the back.

>

> Control your expectations. We watch golf on Sundays and see dudes stuffing wedges to 3 feet. But that's just not really what happens. For amateurs hitting from 100 yards anything inside 25 feet is a really good shot. Patrick Cantlay, who is number 2 in the FedEx cup right now I think - his approaches from 50-125 yards average 18' from the cup across 142 attempts and he's 75th on tour. Some of them are 30' and some of them miss the green and some of them are stuffed. A good shot for amateurs is on the green. Don't beat yourself up.

>

> So when you're on the range...like...figure out what your "stock" 52/56/60 degree wedge looks like. Don't try to kill it or get the most out of it - what is your most consistent yardage that you can hit more than 80% of the time? That is your stock yardage. Fill in the gaps from there with 3/4 shots (and remember that you aren't swinging "easy" on these shots - make a good aggressive pass still). But get your stock yardage down first. Then practice those stock shots a lot.

>

> A really good way to practice wedges is to go out late in the evening on a weekday when courses are basically dead - you wanna be like the last guy off - find a hole where you are by yourself and hit 4-5 balls from 100 yards, then move up and hit 4-5 from 65 yards or whatever. Then the next hole hit 4-5 from 125 and 4-5 from 50...It's nice having an actual green and hole to hit too - most of us don't have access to a short game practice area...

 

 

[Obee]

Yes. Yes. YES!

 

I would add only one other thing:

 

If you generally play a ball that moves quite a bit right to left with your wedges (lots of people starting to get down into the single digits do this) then you also need to learn to hit a straighter shot to right pins. Players who play big draws with their wedges are usually decent players but that ball movement comes at a price to right pins. Playing a tucked right pin over water or a deep, penal bunker, it's very difficult to get yourself to aim way out to the right over trouble hoping that your ball with draw, as usual!

 

Nice to have a straighter shot (either low or high, depending on the conditions) if you are a moderate to big drawer of the ball with your wedges.

 

> @llewol007 said:

> Graham McDowell has a great video on youtube about wedges. He said that you should have two shots into a green. A high soft lander and your low trajectory bump and run unto a green. Master those two with all three wedges and now you have 6 shots in your arsenal. Like others have said you can also use the clock technique in terms of learning different distances. When learning shorter swings, I suggest remembering your hand position instead. For me I have my hands at ear level, shoulder level and hip level. Those three positions. If I dont get the distance I was looking for, I either club up or club down. Always have the same follow through to completion and never decel on wedge shots. Try it out and see which method works for you.

 

 

[juststeve]

Two things you need to be a good wedge player:

1. A technique that results in making consistent contact shot after shot. For me that means using the bounce but any effective technique is fine.

2. A sense of touch that allows you to hit shots from various distances with the correct amount of force.

My own experience is that once you have a consistent technique you will develop touch just by hitting a lot of shots and observing how the ball reacts.

 

Steve

 

[Albusdumble831]

> @juststeve said:

> Two things you need to be a good wedge player:

> 1. A technique that results in making consistent contact shot after shot. For me that means using the bounce but any effective technique is fine.

> 2. A sense of touch that allows you to hit shots from various distances with the correct amount of force.

> My own experience is that once you have a consistent technique you will develop touch just by hitting a lot of shots and observing how the ball reacts.

>

> Steve

>

 

Thanks for the input, Steve. Just returned from the course and around the greens I prefer my 56, but have learned to use my 60, 52 and PW as well. I've also started working on what I call my 50 and over game. The premise is pretty simple where I have to use my Wedges from 50 yards and make Par before I'm able to move back 25 yards. I actually got the idea from the Club Pro. He has his students complete this before they move back to 75 yards, then 100 yards. Seems simple enough but it has made me really hone in on my Wedge play. I'm going back out when my kids get home and work some more.

[Pepperturbo]

Having a practice regime with targets is very important. Most people just hit balls down range and guess they are close to a target, not knowing, really. Controlling distance and trajectory at a target is key. When I was practicing a great deal I was hitting upwards of 1500 balls a week. One or two days a week I worked on wedges only, other days, short PW-8, mid-7-5 and long 4-2i, then 3-D.

 

I worked a deal with the range manager to get the end stall when they first open in the am. I'd set up a hola-hoop every ten yards out to 120yards, and hit an equal amount of balls at each ring totaling 250 balls. Also, the fence running the length of the range hand telephone polls every 20' or so along the side. I hit a bucket of balls at each poll and keep a record of times hit so I could track progress. Good luck.