I hate Wedges

[superotto80]

So i was wondering. i have been playing for a year. I am very happy with my self taught improvement. My last round I shot a 102 which I am happy with. By far my biggest problem comes within 60 yds. I cannot hit a wedge at all. I would give you details but i chunk, top, slice and hook with my wedges. It really starts with my 9iron and any club shorter than that. Any tips!

[st0wgolf08]

So i was wondering. i have been playing for a year. I am very happy with my self taught improvement. My last round I shot a 102 which I am happy with. By far my biggest problem comes within 60 yds. I cannot hit a wedge at all. I would give you details but i chunk, top, slice and hook with my wedges. It really starts with my 9iron and any club shorter than that. Any tips!

Do you have a video of your swing?

[superotto80]

Unfortunatly no. But if it helps at all my iron play is solid. I guess it would help if you guys let me know how you approach wedge shots.

[Donnie_Brasco]

choke down on the club.. this will give you more control through the backswing and through the ball..

[TheNatural]

at your HC i advise choking down at 50 yds and keeping the backswing at halfcock, use a high lofted club and move hands forward to deloft and try to just run the ball up a green. practice it a little until you figure what club and backswing works best. choking down will make you stroke the ball closer to your eyes, head etc..when your 20 yds from the green I like to use a 60* and take a putting stroke, dont break elbows at all just a full putt stroke on a choked down club. this will scoot it up on the green and help keep you from skulling, since even if you skull with a putt stroke ...the roll will probably put you on the green anyway but not over it!

[PiKapp23]

Two of the most common problems with those shorter shots are 'dipping' into the ball and 'deccelerating' through the ball. Both of these will cause lots of bad shots and always seem to be a bigger issue with wedges and less than full shots.

For the dipping problem, you just have to think about not moving your head on the downswing. I still struggle with this and have to remind myself not to dip my head through the shot.

As for the problem with deccelerating through the ball, this is often caused by a backswing that is too long and the player deccelerates the club as they make contact. The better plan here is to take a shorter backswing and accelerate through the ball.

Another thing I see sometimes (and have done in the past) that can also cause these issues is arms not being kept extended. What I mean by this is that address you should stand tall and keep you arms extended (no bend in elbows) and maintain this extension through your swing (while also remembering not to dip and to accelerate through the ball). What some players do is bend a little more for short shots and do not have arms extended full at address, then when they take their swing their arms extend out and causes bad misses (fat or thin).

[clubhousehero]

I was horrible at these shots last year but figured it out and now it's one of my strengths. My broblem with half shots was i didn't make a full body turn.

What i do is but the ball back in my stance (just inside my right foot). Hands in their normal position in the middle of my body. Then i make a full shoulder turn, hands waist high and a full wrist cock. Then i just swing down on the ball. When i do it right i take a big divot. And i make sure not to uncock my wrists to early.

I don't know if it's right but it works for me.

[bogeyhitter25]

Take shorter backswings, and accelerate through the ball. The more acceleration, the more spin.

[GaijinGolfer]

Open up your stance a bit, choke down on the club and make sure you accelerate through the ball, focusing on really turning your hips through impact.
Beyond that, just practice, practice, practice. The shortgame can be really frustrating because you have to be so precise to get the ball near the hole. Just keeping working at it, keep a positive attitude and believe in yourself.

[imtomtomim]

There's some pretty good advice here but I know one of the most common problems around is getting too handsy and it really shows with your scoring irons. Make sure you have your hands infront of the ball at impact and the shaft is somewhat leaning forward. You do this to make sure the bottom of your swing arc is infront of the ball. If your swing is behind, you'll either hit the ground and swing fat, catch it on the up swing thinning it, bounce off the ground behind it and hit it on the way up again, and most other inconsistencies are caused by this problem.

A couple drills.

Take one of your higher lofted wedges and put it behind the ball. Now try to carry the ball into the air, pushing it forward. If you're not loose in the hands and wrists and are missing the forward shaft lean, the ball will not carry on that club. This will help you get a good feel of what you're supposed to do.

Another one would be to grip the club in your left hand and instead of putting your right on the club, just grab your left hand. Now take a couple swings like this, or pitches or chips. This makes your grip on the club weaker and forces you to pull the club into the ball instead of using your hand strength to flip the club at the ball.

Hope this helps!

[McGolf-Doggie]

The shortgame can be really frustrating because you have to be so precise to get the ball near the hole.

My problem seems to be blading it.

I can go to the range and hit 50 beautiful chips and pitches without a problem, and I get on the course and I blade it over the green into the bunker on the other side. Whether from the fairway or the bunker. Arrgh. I'm not sure why I do that.

[Fat Slice]

Inside 50 yards if there's no hazard and the turf is tight, I'll run it up there with an 8 iron rather than chip it.

[TheLauncher]

Something simple that has helped my short iron and wedge striking recently is ball placement. Previously I was playing my 8-9 toward the middle of my stance and wedges more toward the front foot, trying to get the ball in the air by hitting it on the upstroke. After reading on this site about ball placement ( http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ball+placement ) I started playing shorter clubs toward the back foot, which really makes so much more sense. The higher lofted clubs need no 'help' getting the ball up, and the backspin imparted by a descending blow gives the ball flight stability. Now, taking a 56* wedge with slightly open stance with the ball off of the right foot and pinching the ball has become one of my favorite shots to practice.

[87vert]

hmm I am the opposite. I love wedges.

Im getting the mickelson short game video. So once it comes in I will post some of the tips.

[pshizz]

My problem seems to be blading it.

keep your head down, and hit through the ball. Just like your practice strokes...trim the grass.

[Neco]

Keep your "middle" directly behind the ball at address. This should even up your stance as well. This should help on the short irons as well.

[Paddymaster]

well if you get within wedge range, hit it back to your iron range and hit and iron.... no just kidding. Honestly its too hard to tell what you are doing if you hook slice top and chunk wedges. usually its either one or two

[Damien45]

So i was wondering. i have been playing for a year. I am very happy with my self taught improvement. My last round I shot a 102 which I am happy with. By far my biggest problem comes within 60 yds. I cannot hit a wedge at all. I would give you details but i chunk, top, slice and hook with my wedges. It really starts with my 9iron and any club shorter than that. Any tips!

If you know the distance of your 8i, play the hole to that distance. For example, let's say you hit your 8i 130yrds and you are on a 492 Par 5. If you hit your driver only 220, you would be 272 out. That would be a 7i followed with an 8i. Just because you have 272 to go, doesn't mean you have to go for it. Play your strengths against the course and you could see lower scores.

NOW, that being said...it is easier said than done. lol I am still trying to remember not to pull out the boom stick on long par 4/par 5's. It's an ego thing. Since I know my score is up there, taking a bogey on a par 4 because I played smarter is better than a snowman because I didn't.