My Short Game Sucks

[Ogie]

There, I said it. My overall game actually sucks. But playing a par 3 course the other day, I am close to hitting the green from the t-box every time, however, I dread having to use my wedge for the reason below.

What is the difference in the different types of wedges (lob, etc.)? I have one in my bag with a simple "P" on it and each shot with it differs. Sometimes the ball will go straight up and other times it will go like a line drive. I am sure it has everything to do with my poor swing more than anything. Do I need to add a different wedge to my bag?

[ks8829]

Easy solution:

1) keep you feet together
2) slightly open stance
3) weight in the front foot
4) play the wedge a foot behind you back foot
5) swing with your shoulder and take your hands out of the shot
6) practice with different wedges for distance control
7) make solid contact and work on distance control with your wedges

[jasongst]

Pitching is a little bit like putting in the sense that people figure out weird ways to accomplish it and they aren't always pretty. That said, the more similar it is to a normal swing the easier it will be.

I've gone through zillions of revisions prior to getting good at short game shots. Here are some things that remained true that entire time:

1. Learn how to brush the grass in the same spot every time. If you are taking dirt chunks on every swing, your technique is not going to be very consistent.
2. Your hands need to be in front of the club head at impact, or you'll have difficulty doing step 1.
3. Make sure your swing arc is aligned with any upward/downward slope on the ground. Don't worry about loft; better to swing a tad down on the ball. If you hit it solid the ball will fly plenty high.
4. A shorter backswing with an accelerating downswing is better than a long backswing with a floaty, indecisive downswing.
5. Have confidence and allow yourself to use your instincts.

[jambalaya]

"P" is for pitching wedge. It is a club with a loft of about 46 degrees. For a standard set it is usually the highest lofted club in the bag and would be used for just about every shot inside 100 to 125 yards (Depending on how well you hit it.) Most people also carry a sand wedge which usually has a loft of anywhere from 54 to 56 degrees. The sandwedge is constructed with a special sole which gives it bounce to help in hitting shots from sand traps. But you can use if for pitching, chipping and full shots off the grass too. It is about an 80 to 90 yard club for the average golfer on a full swing.

Two other wedges are the loft wedge (about 60 degrees) and a gap wedge (about 52 degrees).

Most people carry a sand and pitching wedge. I have a pitching, gap and sand wedge.

[Octuple Bogey]

I struggled for a few years as a beginner with my short game. Then I figured out that it is one of the easier parts of the game to master mechanically. Distance control and getting the ball to stop quickly after lobbing it over a bunker are another matter entirely, however.

A few rules of thumb I find useful for myself when executing the chip shot are:
1) ball position should be on the far right side of my stance, and my stance should be open.
2) When I make contact with the ball my hands should be ahead of the clubhead and the clubhead should be descending.
3) Similar to the putting stroke, I do best when my wrists remain fairly stiff throughout the stroke and do not bend or break much.
4) I do best when my stroke is fairly short, but natural and with a good tempo. Longer or choppy strokes introduce too much room for error in my case.

Other things to note are club selection. One school of thought says that you should use the lowest lofted club necessary, (but never less than a 7-iron), to just barely lob the ball onto the green and then let it roll the remaining distance to the hole. Another school of thought says that you should almost always use the same club , (usually a high lofted club such as a Pitching Wedge, marked with a "p" or perhaps a sand wedge, marked with an "s") because it is easier to learn how to judge distance control that way when chipping/pitching.

As for practice, I'd suggest just pitching/chipping to a single hole from the same lie until you get your mechanics down and no longer mishit the shots. Once you get to that point I'd start hitting every practice shot to a different target or from a different spot/lie but to the same target so as to learn distance control more quickly. Distance control won't be developed as quickly at that point in my opinion, (whatever that is actually worth), if you are hitting all of your practice shots to the same target the same distance away from the same lie.

I make my practice more interesting by scoring myself in some manner. I usually hit ten chip shots to ten different targets or to the same target from ten different spots/lies and then attempt to putt each shot into the hole. If I sink the putt I give myself a point. Sinking the chip is worth two points. Taking more than three shots to get the ball into the hole, (and I hope I have at least a semblance of an excuse for it), results in the loss of points.

[lollavid]

David Leadbetter's technique for pitching has helped immensely. He suggests a ridiculous amount of weight on the front foot, holding a "V" with the arms, and not using your wrists to chip at the ball.