Wedge shots 130 yards and in.

[VanTheMan0519]

I always swung my wedges like I do a 7 iron. Now I’m trying to flight them. I can make a smaller swing and get better distances since I’m not touching the moon on my shots. 
 

At what distance or club do you transition back to a stock swing?

 

Secondly, any tips on flighting wedges? I need to practice more but really focusing on swinging my chest to my lead shoulder. 
 

[delfam]

Let the right arm straighten in the downswing. This helps me get shallow which is needed to get lower flight and spin. Play the ball more up in your stance. Ball back in your stance will get you steep. This has really help me get my wedges flighted lower with spin. I would say a lot of good pro players like to flight their wedges lower instead of higher. I will take a club or two extra and take a half swing.

 

Obviously going over bunkers you need to open the face and flight it a little more 

[wagolfer7]

There's some good tips in this video on flighting and controlling wedges.  

 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

Flighting correctly involves less speed.

[Rdailey9108]

18 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Flighting correctly involves less speed.

But Monte I can hit my pw 150 yds. All my friends are amazed by it.

[Cwebb]

Try swinging your 8 iron like a wedge.  If it's more accurate you might be on to something for most of your set

[getitdaily]

Swing faster, full follow through - high and long

 

Swing less faster, less follow through - not as high, not as long

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by getitdaily

[T_Golf_23]

Inside 130 yards…. Learn to flight your 8 and 9 irons instead of just your wedges. 
 

you will be surprised how much easier it is to control lower lofted clubs. 

[Kuuuch]

1 hour ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Flighting correctly involves less speed.

I was taught to flight the ball by being told to hit a crisp 9 iron 100 yards. Worked pretty well

[Bogeyman_MD]

This is good stuff!

[iacas]

I rarely take a "full swing" at anything from about 170 and in. More solid, flighted, a bit less spin… ball still stops. Only downwind or when playing firmer conditions will I make full swings outside of about 120 up to 170 or so.

Edited February 28, 2023 by iacas

[T_Golf_23]

16 minutes ago, Kuuuch said:

I was taught to flight the ball by being told to hit a crisp 9 iron 100 yards. Worked pretty well

Exactly. 
 

I don’t take a full swing inside 100 yards on anything. 

[Avidswampthing66]

I like to use the clock face method for all 3 wedges.  50, 54, 58

Each wedge I have have three distinct shots for ANY yardage.  It makes 120y and in pretty fun.   If I need to flight it or into the wind at 100y.  I can take the 54 and take it back to 11 o'clock for a lower traj, fighted shot.   There's plenty of info on the web and a few good YouTube vids explaining.  Its very simple, but yet, yields a ton of options.

[MonteScheinblum]

27 minutes ago, Kuuuch said:

I was taught to flight the ball by being told to hit a crisp 9 iron 100 yards. Worked pretty well

Bingo

[KD1]

@MonteScheinblum , could we just take the stock technique we learned in Use The Bounce 2.0 and stretch it out and call it a flighted shot? Just think of it as a long chip shot?

[umamimami]

Check out the wedgecraft guys. They've got free content on YouTube and a fairway wedge shot class (80-130 yds / however far you can hit your wedges) that costs some but is pretty worth it.

 

Main takeaways are low flight high spin. Get new wedges and urethane balls. That's more than half the battle for control and stopping power.

 

I've spent weeks working on body rotation and letting arms catch up. That's done wonders for my distance wedges. 

 

Another piece is reading your lie. Learn what you can and cannot do with certain lies. For example, if the ball is buried deep and you're far out you can't expect to get good spin. 

 

I also got a magnetic chipping alignment stick. 

 

https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/b/tourblog/posts/team-titleist-wedgecraft-short-game-experience-aim-the-loft-not-the-leading-edge

 

This way eye opening for me. While watching the video is good, a huge benefit to having a alignment magnet is that you can practice the moves and learn what you have to do to open the face but keep the loft directed at your target.

 

If you're poor or cheap just bring some tape to the driving range and stick a fresher rubber tee onto your club face, lay down another club/alignment rod and practice the moves.

 

Lastly, for inside 30 yards you need to figure out how you can extend your body while turning (note: late into the downswing). This comes up in one of their seminar videos towards then end and it's solid gold.

 

Extension is a shallowing mechanism but you need to figure out how to extend while also getting the club down (cause you want to nip the ball and not top it). It's a weird thing if you're not used to it. 

 

Best way Ive found for me personally is start ever so slightly hunched and stand up as you pull your shoulder blades down your back during late downswing into followthru. This will also produce that grip pointing at bellybutton during followthru which is a great sign that you've rotated your body and kept control.

 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

38 minutes ago, KD1 said:

@MonteScheinblum , could we just take the stock technique we learned in Use The Bounce 2.0 and stretch it out and call it a flighted shot? Just think of it as a long chip shot?

Yes, but the “4 lefts” as I’ve come to call it is better.

[KD1]

19 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Yes, but the “4 lefts” as I’ve come to call it is better.

My googlefu is failing me. What's the 4 lefts? Was it one of the drills from the video series? (It's probably time for a refresher course for me anyway)

[GungHoGolf]

30 minutes ago, KD1 said:

My googlefu is failing me. What's the 4 lefts? Was it one of the drills from the video series? (It's probably time for a refresher course for me anyway)

I done know what it is either, but I’m off to the USPTO to trademark it now. 

[llewol007]

I rarely go full swing when I’m 130 in. At that yardage Im pulling 9 iron hands to my shoulders and firing away. Better trajectory for me going to a hole. 120 is my Pw with my hands to my ear which I consider full swing on all my swings but maybe considered 3/4. Depends on situation. Graham McDowell said you should always have two ways into a hole location. 

[jds_mlb]

19 hours ago, KD1 said:

My googlefu is failing me. What's the 4 lefts? Was it one of the drills from the video series? (It's probably time for a refresher course for me anyway)

Let me see if I can remember correctly. 
(from a right handed perspective). 

First left is set up with your weight more on your left side.

Second left is move the ball position forward (left) 

Third left is stay on your left side in the backswing. 
Fourth left is move almost completely to your left side during swing. 

[Rdailey9108]

48 minutes ago, jds_mlb said:

Let me see if I can remember correctly. 
(from a right handed perspective). 

First left is set up with your weight more on your left side.

Second left is move the ball position forward (left) 

Third left is stay on your left side in the backswing. 
Fourth left is move almost completely to your left side during swing. 

 

 

[Pepperturbo]

On 2/27/2023 at 2:02 PM, VanTheMan0519 said:

I always swung my wedges like I do a 7 iron. Now I’m trying to flight them. I can make a smaller swing and get better distances since I’m not touching the moon on my shots. 
 

At what distance or club do you transition back to a stock swing?

 

Secondly, any tips on flighting wedges? I need to practice more but really focusing on swinging my chest to my lead shoulder. 
 

Adjusting trajectory of ANY iron, including wedges, requires adjusting face at impact, how hard I hit the ball, length of my swing, and how I finish the club or face after impact.

 

Each club in my bag has a 10-12yd short of stock carry distance, and 10-12yd long of carry distance; of course my swing varies according to those desired distances.  Ten-twelve yds short means slightly softer impact compared to stock yardage.  Longer than stock means I hit the ball much harder.  It's not an exact science, but a feel shot.

[ppjn348]

I was listening to Gareth Raflewski on this topic and he mentioned he has his LPGA pros practice 1/2 and 3/4 shots. I used the clock system for a while but will be using this method this season.

Edited March 1, 2023 by ppjn348

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Full PW I will hit up to 140, I will hit my gap wedge full (~125) from time to time but I try to avoid hitting my 52-56-60 full ever because the spin becomes unmanageable. It would have to be a very specific shot. Keeping the club in front of me and not getting too steep are my keys to keeping the ball down. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by TLUBulldogGolf

[596]

80% of my range time is hitting my stock 140 yard 8 iron at the 100 yard flag.  

 

Even on the course any shot inside 140 is a partial shot using an iron that is 20 to 30 yards longer then I need.  It's much much easier, more consistent and more accurate. 

[Langaandy]

Anything over 110 and I'm normally moving to an iron. For me thats just a more reliable hit.

Simply put, In and around 100 is a PW, 70 and lower is SW, and my Lob is for getting out of bunkers or high lips.

 

For me its all about hit reliability. For example, full swing properly connected I can hit my 64* lob out past 50, it probably goes about 200 high... but thats not the point. however, if I hit it fat, which i find easier to do than you might think, that 50 can be left in the rearview mirror. I dont have that issue nearly as much with any other club.

[ezra76]

Get a bucket, find a place to hit some shots. I go out here 2-3x a week and learn something new every time.

 

 

[DaveMc82]

On 2/28/2023 at 12:01 AM, Rdailey9108 said:

But Monte I can hit my pw 150 yds. All my friends are amazed by it.

You’ll have to look at moving up tees if you hit your PW that short 😝

[gators78]

I only started hitting better wedges when I tried to play what felt like a very healthy draw swing.

 

Try to snap hook your 56* and you’ll be surprised how well it comes out.