Distance problems with wedges

[CowtownTexas]

Any suggestions?

I'm a fairly good golfer who's been on a hot streak lately. I'm really only struggling with one type of shot these days and it's from a relatively easy distance: 80-110 yards.

Right now, I'm playing TM RAC OS irons and carrying a Cleveland CG10 wedges of 56 and 52 degrees.

I've always been a long hitter but went through the process of completely reworking my swing over the first half of this year. Historically, I could pound the ball but had no real control and would develop a bad duck hook on my worst days. Initially, I was just tring to learn to fade the ball, but it turned into a slice, the shanks, back to a slice, and ended up leading to several lessons.

I practiced hard and have seen my handicap move from 11 in December, to 17 by May, and now down to 9 heading into August. Needless to say, I've had a turbulent year on the golf course.

I'm happy with my end result and while I've lost about a club distance across the board on my irons and a few yards with the driver, I have a great deal more control and can still rip it on good days. That all said, the only shot I seem to really struggle with involves my two Cleveland wedges.

Currently, a good smooth pitching wedge will travel around 117-120 yards with an extremely high ball flight. In the past, I used the for shots between 105-115 and the 56 between 95-105. These days, I can't hit the 52 over 90 yards and the 56 goes so short I can't remember the last time I attempted a full swing with it on the course.

Does this seem pretty abnormal to anyone? I've had pro's look at my swing, but can't seem to find a solution. I've considered a new gap wedge, but don't know if I should got to that much trouble. I'm still getting the ball on the green, just not as close or with as much confidence as I want.

And I'm sure it's not a power problem. Though I haven't tested the other clubs, with a driver my swing speed is around 113-114 when swinging about 90%.

[spk74]

If I were you, I'd use impact tape to see where you're making contact on the wedge face. That might solve your problem. Get some Tom Kite impact patterns and you're ready to go. Try adding some lead tape to play with the swingweights a bit. The Cleveland CMM is a low-density material, and I find the CG-10/11 wedges to be very very light for my tastes. I like my wedges pretty heavy (D6-D7)...and I prefer to stay in the 75%-90% range (Pelz). Get Dave Pelz's short game bible (if you haven't already).

[arkstorm]

I had a similar problem once. It turned out to be that I was releasing too early with my wedges and the club would sort of slide under the ball rather than pinching it against the turf. A few easy drills and I was hitting my wedges great again, pw 120 gap 105.

[binneguru]

I had a similar problem once. It turned out to be that I was releasing too early with my wedges and the club would sort of slide under the ball rather than pinching it against the turf. A few easy drills and I was hitting my wedges great again, pw 120 gap 105.

 

:man_in_love: same think with me. I kinda wussed into them for finesse and had all right spin but i didn't hit them that far.

[kpetro]

I had the same problem until recently. What helped me was to really concentrate on not letting the clubhead beat my hands to the ball, if that makes sense. Maintaining that lag helped me a ton.

[CowtownTexas]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think arkstorm and bineguru suffered through the same thing I'm doing.

 

Though I didn't mention it, I have noticed that I pick alot of my wedges clean or leave a very small divot. That would be consistent with sliding the wedge under the ball rather than impacting the ball.

 

I'll go get some contact tape and all of y'all's suggestions and head to the range tomorrow evening.

[binneguru]

seems cool. try this:

It helps me when i get wayward with my wedges. Works great with chipping too. I got into a closed face inside out swingpath which worked fine unless it was some thick rough :man_in_love: This got me away from that.