How to hit tour trajectory wedges?

[FlopScotty]

When I se really good players play their wedge shots they have a nice low trajectory and lots of spin. How do you do it?

This is something my game is lacking. My long game is starting to come together, but i struggle with distance control and trajectory on my wedges.

My wedge shots are high and often fades a little, even dough I usually hit draws with everything from 9 and down to the driver. If I try to get my hands in front of the ball with my wedges I either duff, blade or shank it!!

Any tips, swing thoughts, links or videos are appreciated.

[MiniMoe]

One thing that will help is not not try to max out the clubs. Most Pros are only hitting their wedges 70-80%. Not hitting it so far will help the trajectory. Also, use the arms more, the hips and wrists less for a lower, more controlled ball flight. But be careful changing your swing, it might have other problems elsewhere in your game. If that does not work, go down a club. Instead of hitting a SW, the t GP, or the PW.

[FlopScotty]

OK, Check out a couple of vids from a session at the range today.

Down the line SW 85 yrd shot:



Face on SW 85 yrd shot:



Tell me what you think, these shots pretty high and slight pull.

[TMO]

Lag is what you are missing. With a SW you should have approximately 15 degrees of lag. It's hard to tell but it appears that your shaft is perfectly vertical at impact.

[FlopScotty]

I think that is spot on TMO, lag..... I think that is why I do not have a really decending blow and struggle with consistency when it comes to ball striking. On the really bad shots I flip my wrists to early and all kinds of bad shots can happen.

I will have a talk with my pro on how to achieve more lag. But, if some of you in the forum have had the same problem any tips or hints are appreciated.

From what I understand with regards to the golfswing, lag is "trailing" of the golfclub all the way to impact. Somthing you achieve when you swing the club fluildly with all the correct moves. In other words, if you swing the club correctly, lag will come by itself.

Found a pretty good article on this site:
http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/l/blclubheadlag1.htm

[Shorty]

When I se really good players play their wedge shots they have a nice low trajectory and lots of spin. How do you do it?

You certainly aren't going to learn how to do it by hitting off a mat.

You need to get to a place where you can hit off the ground. The mat will disguise fat shots and you'll find that you basically can't mishit a short iron off a mat.

[FlopScotty]

You certainly aren't going to learn how to do it by hitting off a mat.

Good point Shorty. I usually always hit from the grass in front of the mats at our range when I practice irons.

I just needed to get my swing on tape yesterday:)

[Nick88]

Hitting low wedges with back spin is simple to learn in my opinion.

Place the ball level with your back foot, hands will automatically be forward of the ball.
When you take away take it away a tad steeper than normal this makes you come in slightly steeper than normal causing to squeeze the ball and creating some meaningful back spin.
Also dont swing flat out, 70-80% is your max with wedge shots!

[TMO]

Place the ball level with your back foot, hands will automatically be forward of the ball. When you take away take it away a tad steeper than normal this makes you come in slightly steeper than normal causing to squeeze the ball and creating some meaningful back spin.

I know this could spark some disagreement but I wouldn't change your ball position simply because that means that you are going to be changing your swing plane as well as a few other parts of your swing. If you want to hit the ball lower with the same swing plane, you can simply narrow your stance. The tension that your body creates will shorten your swing and allow you to maintain your lag easier. With more lag, you deloft the club hitting the ball lower.

Again, just my opinion though.

[billm408]

^ Agree. Also think quiter hands. Less wrist cock, more shoulders will bring ball flight down.

[ryohazuki222]

Personally, I think your swing is too big for an 85 yard wedge shot.

I was taught that I should keep the "times" symmetrical. like 3 to 9 or 4 to 8 or 5 to 7. I've found that 3-9 gives me almost as much distance as an all out swing... and since I cut off the follow through it keeps it much lower than the towering wedge shot I hit with a full follow through.

more than anything it helps with distance control.

[imtomtomim]

ok, most people won't tell you this, but what ties a golf swing together is tempo. With your tempo, there isn't as much acceleration at the bottom due to you starting the swing pretty quick. I'm not saying you don't accelerate, but you start pretty quick so you don't need to accelerate as much. If you drop your hands and wait to accelerate later, say when your hands are at your pockets, you will get a lower shot. Since it's not as high, it's not as much spin as that shot you have already, but it is plenty to stop it, especially a sw. You can also choke down on the club more which makes your shot a bit shorter because your shaft is shorter, but also, the shorter shaft will stiffen the flex a bit giving you less spin and a lower trajectory. Experiment with these reasonings and see what works for you best. It helps you get a lot more variation in your trajectory adding lots of shots to your bag.

[rtylerg]

Dude you have a nice swing! Excellent tempo, rhythm and balance. I've been struggling with the same wedge issues. One thing that I've found has been helping me with the wedges is to really load my weight onto my left leg (front leg) in the downswing. Almost like a single leg squat. It helps the club lag more and actually shortens my backswing. Anyways that's been working for me. Let us know what you find works for you.

[logman]

I thought you got more spin from a shallower swing arc not a steep one.