What club/loft do you use inside 100 yards?

[dubbelbogey]

Anything from a 9i to a 60, depending on the target, lie and conditions.

 

One constant is that under a 100, I'm never swinging as hard as I do with "full" shots. I'd say 70-80% effort is typical. I only swing a 60deg at 100% if I have to get over a tree, or something similar.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get cute with it either, and fool myself into thinking I can hit a "63.458% effort, 52deg wedge, with exactly 7213rpm of spin." (Hahaha!) It's just that the 70-80% swing is the one that produces the most precise control for me. In this range, more often than not, I'm playing pretty aggressively to the pins.

 

That said, each of these clubs has a couple of gears I can go to and when it gets under 60 yards, it all comes down to having practiced those distances. BTW, I love when a target is under 60 yards - the closer the better. I'm not among those that are fans of leaving a ball at your "best full swing distance." My mediocre shot from 40yds will generally end up closer to the hole than my better-than-average shot from 110.

 

 

[dcfas]

50*  100-110

52*  90-100

56*   <90

This year I’m going to try what Monty and others have suggested in using more club, less swing. I have always figured a full swing is easier than less than a full swing, but with a method like the clock visualization it shouldn’t be too hard to dial it in. I hit the ball high. Would like to lower trajectory.

[rkillian]

Really just about anything from 8i down to my 60. If we are counting chipping as well then even my Hybrid. I have been making a conscious effort to  A) try and play the higher percentage shot and B) use as little loft as possible. 

 

That said, my most used clubs inside 100 yards are probably my 52 and 56.  

[8overpar]

52° from around 115 yards to green side chips. I did carry a 56 for a bit but after playing only two sand wedges for 20+ years I took it out. I carry 52 and 60 and never had any issues. 

[highandright]

I never take "full" swings with anything below PW, and often not even with that. 100yd is typically a 3/4 50*. Most things under 90yd, I go with my 54*. The 60* is pretty much exclusively for sand and really short-sided things, as anything more than about a 40yd shot with that club is rolling the dice for me.

[Hairpie]

Anything from a 9I to s 60* wedge. Lie, weather, pin location, and green firmness/contour all factor into my decision. My main focus is getting the right trajectory for the shot.

[trilerian]

If I ever need to feel bad about how far I hit the ball, WRX never lets me down...

Full swing 54* gets me right about 95 yds carry, but if the situation calls for it, I'll hit my 5i 100 yds, or try to, lol.  If I need to carry it 100 yds, I most likely grab my AW and hit a 3/4 swing, if I need 100 carry then roll I'll pitch a 9i.  Inside 100 yds, well, I use my imagination.  The 60* doesn't get used outside of about 40 yds, it is mainly used for pitches that need to land on the fringe and roll on.  

[MattC555]

85 yards or less - 58° if I'm flying it in, PW if its a bump and run.  Full 100 yards is a 56°.  3/4 56° for 90-95 yards. 

[MikeW2]

Anything from 7 iron to 60. Really depends what I’m faced with and how my minds eye sees the bast way to get it close then I pull that iron. I’ve actually even used my 20* hybrid to “putt” a shot from roughly 50 yards out on a couple of occasions.

[cgasucks]

On Full shots SW for 80y, GW for 90.  Less than full swings, pitches and chips under 80y it could be anywhere between a SW to a 9 iron for me.

[reider69]

I just read an article that said Moe Norman used one wedge for everything and learned how to hit all the shots.  I think he used a 50 if I remember correctly.  There is some value to getting used to one club imo.  I use a 58 and 54 depending on the situation.

[JTRAV87]

54 degree about 70% of the time inside 100 yards and 60 degree for most of the other 30%.

[JeffJ1014]

I use my 56° for anything 50-100yds.  I have a 60° that I have mainly for fringe chipping, but I'll use it for shorter pitches if I find myself in that 30-45yd range.  

 

[SlothofDespond]

Less than full swings inside 100. I use my 50 down to around 80 yards, and 54 inside that unless there's a need to grab the 58.

 

When I was younger I recall the advice was to try to take a full swing with a higher lofted club when possible. I never really saw better results going that route compared to getting comfortable with a partial swing with a lower lofted wedge.

Edited April 30, 2021 by SlothofDespond

[JermWRX]

I never use a full swing inside of 125 unless I have to hit a high, hard shot to go over a tree or something. Use a variety of lofts from 46-56. Never a full backswing. Come back to 9 or 10 o’clock and vary the flight by where I put the ball in my stance. Makes it simple to control distance and flight

[JermWRX]

2 hours ago, rkillian said:

Really just about anything from 8i down to my 60. If we are counting chipping as well then even my Hybrid. I have been making a conscious effort to  A) try and play the higher percentage shot and B) use as little loft as possible. 

 

That said, my most used clubs inside 100 yards are probably my 52 and 56.  

Love the hybrid chip. Easily my favorite club to chip with. Little hop up and rolls out to the hole. Easy to practice and even easier to execute. 

[rkillian]

2 minutes ago, JermWRX said:

Love the hybrid chip. Easily my favorite club to chip with. Little hop up and rolls out to the hole. Easy to practice and even easier to execute. 

Playing most of my golf at muni's with what I would say are medium to quite small greens, that are often slightly elevated, and slow-ish, the hybrid chip has been an increasingly useful shot. 

[lazyjc4]

I can carry my 52* wedge 105 pretty confidently.  If it's a front or middle pin, I'll hit that from 100 out, unless being above the hole is death.  For a back pin, I'll punch a 48* that goes about 90 yards in the air, and will take a few hops forward.  I've tried to develop two shots with each of my wedges, a comfortable full swing, and a lower-flying punch that I can use for into the wind shots, and for back pins where I don't want to risk going long.  With my 58* and 64*, I've even added in a half swing shot so that I can feel good about being inside of 60 yards from the hole.  Those shots have completely changed the way I play par fives and short par fours, I have no issues trying to get as close to hole as I can, rather than laying back.

[wam78]

Living in Dallas we have to deal with some stiff winds quite a bit.  I really like using anything from a 9i to pw to 53* depending on situation.  A smooth, flighted 10 o’clock pw is probably my favorite play to 100 yd.  It’s all about tempo for me.  Prefer smoother swings at that range than trying to hit a perfect 53* dealing with the wind.

[rickybooby25]

17 hours ago, JCray33 said:

I’ve usually used my 60 degree which is my 100 yard on full swing but doing some research I’ve heard 60 degree can be inconsistent on the half and 3/4 shots and I’ve definitely found that to be true! So now I’m hitting my 56 degree (110-115 full) on everything inside of 100...what do y’all play for the feel, inside 100 yard shots??

Usually it’s my 60 degree. But lately I’ve been playing my 56 degree wedge and flighting it in. I find it a lot more consistent. If a pin is tucked and inside 100, then I’ll opt for the 60

[OsnolaKinnard]

Anything from from a 7 iron or less. 

 

[soccerjay]

17 hours ago, JCray33 said:

Does anyone else have trouble with a 60 degree on the feel shots?? Like the 3/4 and 1/2 swings? 

Yah, I feel like anything less than 3/4 is really hard to gauge. Sometimes I'll go for a short bump-n-run type hit and it'll just scoop it out a couple yards and get no distance. But, if I give it a proper swing at 1/2 power with feet pretty much next to each other I can get a nice flop with some degree of consistency. 

[cwilk]

60* for 65 yards and in. 
54* for ~70-90 yards

50* for partials between 90-100 yards. 
 

I’ve stopped full swinging the lob. The 54* is around 110 yards on a full swing. The 50* is around 120-125 yards. 

[mootrail]

1 hour ago, JermWRX said:

I never use a full swing inside of 125 unless I have to hit a high, hard shot to go over a tree or something...

 

Exactly, although that would be inside 90 for me.

[rsballer10]

Same for me, no full swings with the 60 degree. I  like hitting 40-60 yard pitches into the green with it. For this reason, I can play lower bounce in the 60 and get away with it.

 

I like to hit approach shots with my 52 and 56 degree, both full sole high bounce options. This gives me the consistency and stability through the turf that I need.

 

Most of my greenside touch shots are with the 60 just because I prefer less bounce on touch shots.

[eric61]

Once I get to wedges (under 125 or so for me), I rarely use a full swing, and instead prefer like smooth 1/2, 3/4 and like 85ish-percent swings. I personally find I'm more accurate that way, without really sacrificing distance control or stopping ability.

 

95+ is a smooth 47* PW. 

70-95 is a 52* GW using those 3/4 and 85% swings depending on distance

40-70 is a 56* SW, rarely swinging more than 3/4

40 and in just depends on the situation -- my 60* LW when I have to go over something, have a small landing zone or have a tight lie and need to use the Vokey M grind (a closed, low and spinny shot with my 60* is one I practiced a lot and have down, I find it really useful on one sort of crappy municipal course I play with a lot of hard turf around the greens), or my 52* GW when I can do a half-swing with room to run a little bit, are my most-used clubs there. Usually my higher-bounce 56* out of the sand, but it just depends.

[North Butte]

My wedge game and short game is so abysmal these last few weeks I should be embarrassed to say anything but I've never let that stop me before. 

 

A few years ago at the suggestion of my teaching pro I adopted a sort of low-maintenance wedge swing that he said was good for keeping things simple if I'm not going to practice wedges a lot.

 

The basic idea was to go ahead and start at the PW or maybe even 9-iron and program myself so that what I think of as "full swing" is like 80-90% of the effort I'd put into say a 7-iron shot or something. And also move the ball back in my stance with the wedges. 

 

My recent struggles aside, what that does is prioritize making good contact at the expense of a little distance and height on the shot. So with this swing for the distance that be a really full, aggressive SW will need a GW with the controlled swing. And GW becomes PW, etc. 

 

It also has the advantage that my "full" LW only goes about 75 yards so there's not all that much range between there and the little 20-30-40 yard pitch shots that are normal short-game stuff. I can just open up the face of the LW a bit and back that 80-90% swing off a little more and hit a pretty reliable 55 or 60 yard shot.

 

I'm a big believer in this basic tactic but when my swing starts really misfiring even the "prioritize good contact" swing will still hit it fat or come OTT and pull one or whatever. Still works out way better than years ago when I was swinging close to 100% even with the shortest clubs.  

[copegolfer]

i normally use my SW--56* for 100 & in. 

i just find i'm much more comfortable varying my shots with a SW than hitting full LW at say 90yds. 

 

CP

[Sons_of_Pitches]

Just recently switched over to a 52/56/60 wedge system from a 54/58 and so, far so good....

 

80 to 105 yds:  52*

65 to 80 yds: 56*

60 or less: 60*

[Pepperturbo]

Depending on conditions and my vision, I could use 58' LW, 52' SW, 47' PW even 43' 9i inside 100yds.   Even though each of those irons has a static full yardage, I seldom use 58' or 52' for full swings.

 

Oh, if research says 60 is inconsistent it's baloney.  There is NOT a golf club out there that doesn't rely on swing mechanics to make it work.  If any club is inconsistent, it's because the user never practices with the club; let's blame the real culprit.