How to hit shots under 100 yds?

LSU_DON · March 11, 2008

guys, i can hit a ball long for days, a draw or fade, but i have trouble getting control of shots 30 - 80 yds

any tips or techniques to work on those shots?

**dave39** · March 11, 2008

guys, i can hit a ball long for days, a draw or fade, but i have trouble getting control of shots 30 - 80 yds

what do you mean you have trouble? what sort of things happen? chunk? skull? shank? ,,, or is it more distance control?

**Shindig** · March 11, 2008

guys, i can hit a ball long for days, a draw or fade, but i have trouble getting control of shots 30 - 80 yds

Yeah, don't get yourself in a situation where you have to hit them.

I kid a bit, but for starters, you can avoid those shots with course management. Let's say you hit your driver 250 yards and your lob-wedge 100 yards. If the hole is under 350 yards, don't hit driver off the tee - no matter how wide it is. If you aren't comfortable under 100 yards, leave yourself with your favorite wedge to the green. So if your hole is, say, 330 yards and you hit your favorite wedge 110, you want 220 on your tee shot. 5-Wood off the tee maybe? Your friends laugh now and stop laughing when you birdie the hole and take their skin money. Oh, they out drove you? But they didn't hit the green, much less hit inside you. I've seen some friends birdie and par holes by hitting 6-iron PW into a par-4 (long hitter short hole) when they end up with bogeys by hitting driver, even if it lands in the fairway 40 yards from the green. Now, these 30-80 yard shots aren't always avoidable. I have an easy way to hit 80 yards: full swing with a gap wedge. But I'm a short hitter. The range I have to worry about is 30-50 yards. I assume you know how far you hit your clubs with a full swing. But how far do you hit each wedge with a 3/4 swing? 1/2 swing? What if you do a half swing with your 6-iron? How far does the ball go, including roll? Before roll? Go figure that out wherever you go to figure out your distances, the practice range maybe? Chart the distances. If you have a swing that consistently produces a given distance with a given club, even if it isn't a full swing, that's almost as good as having another club in the bag. The real issue isn't how many clubs as much as it is how many different distances and trajectories you can produce with the clubs.

**Avid Golfer** · March 11, 2008

guys, i can hit a ball long for days, a draw or fade, but i have trouble getting control of shots 30 - 80 yds

According to your signature you have 52*, 56*, and 60* wedges. How far do you hit each of those with a full swing? My recommendation is that you figure out how far you each of those when you swing them:

from hip high to hip high from shoulder high to shoulder high & from full backswing to full finish If you've still got gaps I'd say try gripping to where the shaft meets the grip and see how many yards that takes off your shots.

**Lemay427** · March 11, 2008

avoiding those shots is a horrible recommendation. you just need to practice those distances. get a feel for those. i can guarantee that if you practice those short shots, you will definitly get them closer on average than 140-160 yards out. if your a 4 handicap, im sure it wont be too hard for you to get a feel.

**jmurdock** · March 11, 2008

According to your signature you have 52*, 56*, and 60* wedges. How far do you hit each of those with a full swing? My recommendation is that you figure out how far you each of those when you swing them:

I agree. Also, on those swings, trying swinging at 75%, 50%, etc. Always accelerate through, but just dont swing at 100% all the time. Inside 100 yards is a feel game. Some people might have a wedge that they hit 60 yards swinging as hard as they can. I, however, hit my 54* or 58* anywhere inside 95 yards. Depending on what kind of shot I need, I will pull one of those two clubs and swing to whatever length and % of power I need. (58* = 100yds, 54* = 115 yds)

jeremy_norbury · March 11, 2008

The trick is to take the guesswork out of the shot distance. Distance charting is how I solved this problem; I suggest you do the same.

I bought a cheap ($150/€100) accurate laser rangefinder on eBay and spent several days on the range measuring EXACTLY how far the wedges go (PW, AW, SW, LW 60*).

Did this again on windy days (side AND front and behind - hell it's flat here...).

And then again with 75% and 50% power.

**TourSpoon** · March 11, 2008

guys, i can hit a ball long for days, a draw or fade, but i have trouble getting control of shots 30 - 80 yds

Tips: *slightly open stance *weight favoring left leg *avoid excessive movement (ie swaying) *left wrist firm through shot *know distance of each wedge (full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4) *know your trajectories and what kind of shot the situation calls for *lay up to pet distances *practice, practice, practice your short game

**Shindig** · March 11, 2008

avoiding those shots is a horrible recommendation. you just need to practice those distances. get a feel for those. i can guarantee that if you practice those short shots, you will definitly get them closer on average than 140-160 yards out. if your a 4 handicap, im sure it wont be too hard for you to get a feel.

I agree, you should practice those. When I go to the range, at least 1/3 of my bucket is used for half and 3/4 wedges. Knowing how to hit those is a shot saver.

However, I would bet that, no matter how much you practice these finesse shots, you're going to be better with a full wedge than a partial wedge shot. Unless, of course, you practice these and not full wedge shots. As such, when you make your game plan for the round, I suggest not deliberately putting yourself in those situations. Sure, sometimes your drive goes longer or you catch an iron fat and need to do one of these shots as recovery, so it helps to practice. My view of course management is just that if it takes you two shots to get from A to B, make it two comfortable shots.

**The Rambler** · March 11, 2008

I suggest making a yardage book. That way you can figure out how to make the shot with multiple clubs if you aren't comfortable with your wedges

LSU_DON · March 13, 2008

thx for the replies, im 23 but ive played 15 years this summer

i play my 60 degree wedge for all shots under 100

56* - 110 yds, 52* - 120 yds, i couldn't bring down my wedge, so i decided to just get clubs instead

i love the 90 - 100 yd mark, but from 30 - 70 yds i struggle for consistency

my problem seems that i can't get distance control on those shots

ex, i hit balls today, half my bucket with my 60* at a 50 yard post, it seemed every shot i hit well flew over it to about 60 yds or more, and if i took off of my swing i would just not strike it well

SHINGDIG - i have considered putting up the driver, but its just tough to accept hitting a 100 yd shot when i know i can hit it to 50 yds out, you make a good point though

according to yalls post, should i focus more on swing speed, or backswing distance? or a combination of both?

**Shindig** · March 13, 2008

SHINGDIG - i have considered putting up the driver, but its just tough to accept hitting a 100 yd shot when i know i can hit it to 50 yds out, you make a good point though

I made the same mistake today. Wide open fairway, hadn't missed a fairway yet today so far (except for one fairway bunker), give it a go... and drive it past my LW range.

There's a lesson in there for me somewhere too. Anyway, long story short: yes, the driver is fun to hit, and it seems hard to accept that sometimes that being farther out makes the next shot easier. But you and I have practiced our full shots more than our partial shots. But we all want to let the big dog eat even when it sometimes should just let the pup out. This is why the long-drive hole is a par-5 when you play a casual tournament

**NCGolfer** · March 13, 2008

ex, i hit balls today, half my bucket with my 60* at a 50 yard post, it seemed every shot i hit well flew over it to about 60 yds or more, and if i took off of my swing i would just not strike it well

Frustrating, I know. I've gone through problems at the opposite end (with the driver). I grew up playing a short course and all I ever hit were 20-60 yard second shots. These shots are nearly all feel. The only thing, technichally, I can advise you to do is to open up the clubface a bit. Nearly all of my shots between 40-80 yards have the same swing but a different degree of opening on my clubface. I get a different height out of it, but the benefit is the distance control.

Again, this all comes down to feel. I usually don't step off distances from inside 60 yards because it makes me think too much. Sorry to repeat what others have said, but the best thing you can do is go to a range and practice. I'd suggest going early or at some time when there isn't many people there and place a couple towels across the range (not down) that are 20-30 yards away. Try and hit the towels with your pitches. I saw my head pro doing this one day and I've done it a few times to help with the shorter pitch shots. The people at the range won't (or shouldn't) mind as long as nobody else is there because there isn't a chance you'd skull one and cripple some 65 year old by taking out their knee. Good luck...let me know if I've totally confused you.

**andre112** · March 13, 2008

Frustrating, I know. I've gone through problems at the opposite end (with the driver). I grew up playing a short course and all I ever hit were 20-60 yard second shots. These shots are nearly all feel. The only thing, technichally, I can advise you to do is to open up the clubface a bit. Nearly all of my shots between 40-80 yards have the same swing but a different degree of opening on my clubface. I get a different height out of it, but the benefit is the distance control.

I actually tried this yesterday. surprisingly, this works a lot better than setting up square and take a small back swing (pelz method).

Afterall, it's how close to the hole the ball is not how you do it.

**marpr** · March 13, 2008

Tips:

I would have to, yet again, agree with TourSpoon.

in addition, what i used to do, is 'trust my loft'. ie. if im 40-50 yards from the hole, i need to take a strong half swing to three quarter with my LW knowing/trusting that it wont go the full 100 yards. personally, i like the fact that i would rather be a touch long that well short. I find that i can better feel how much power i actually really needed by coming down in power, not going up. just my thoughts

**bca42** · March 14, 2008

Iif the course/situation allows (nothing guarding the front of the green) try hitting bump and run shots with say a 6 iron from 50 yds. BNRs are often higher probability shots with lower risk for error than say a 60 yd wedge flop.

You still have to practice it though. Good luck!

**Chilidipper** · March 14, 2008

Carry 4 wedges and carry a 64 also.

**andre112** · March 14, 2008

Iif the course/situation allows (nothing guarding the front of the green) try hitting bump and run shots with say a 6 iron from 50 yds. BNRs are often higher probability shots with lower risk for error than say a 60 yd wedge flop.

please explain in detail how to bump and run. if there are some small hills and/or valleys between ball and the green, would you still bump and run?

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