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Wedge -- thin lies -- blading them -- help


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With the LW I tend to blade them over the bunker and over the green when I'm faced with a very thin/hard lie and the ball is on some hardpan or grass/hardpan, and I need a short high shot, say 10-20 yards.

I'm wondering if this is a bit mental, or are these generally as unforgiving as I think they are. What's your wedge technique or strategy for thin lies —•any tips? Do you use a wedge with more or less bounce? A PW, 9-iron, something else, different type of technique? Where do you aim to strike the ball, descending blow? Where's your weight?

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Use a wedge with less bounce, go for a 9-iron or PW.

If its very dry, almost concrete hardness of dirt, i will use a low bounce wedge or an iron. Just trap the ball and it should take one long jump check and roll a decent distance. With the lob wedge, don't open the clubface and don't ever try to help the ball into the air. Its tougher to pull off because of the bounce. Just think of this, most irons have a bounce of 1-2 degrees, a lob wedge has a bounce of around 6 degrees, thats huge for tight lies.

But if you have proper technique you shouldn't blade any short game shot.

Practice keeping your left foot forward and always have a bit of shoulder rotation, not much, but don't hands the club. When you use your hands your more willing help the ball into the air and blade it.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
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Are you blading the ball because you're too far behind it and hitting the equator after a fat bounce shot, or just blading the equator on the intial shot? If the former, focus your eye on the very front of the ball (towards the target) and on the latter, are you standing up before you're through the shot? The face of the club should be pointing to the sky when you're done with these tiny shots and all arms, not hands. Rotate through the shot, too.
I make all my own clubs:
Driver: Snake Eyes Python XLD | | 3-Wood: Snake Eyes Python XL Faiway, 15*  | | Snake Eyes HT Iron Set, 3-, 4-Utility, 5-, 6-Hybrid, 7-PW Cavity Back | | Golfsmith G-40 Wedges, 52, 56, 60 | | Distance Master DM-AS2 Putter | |Ball? The last one I found ... that... was YOURS!!
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Weight forward (hips), swing bottom forward, descending blow, hit the ball first, don't flip the wrists.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Use a wedge with less bounce, go for a 9-iron or PW.

+1 on using a PW or 9 iron from tight lies.

Driver: Titleist 907D2 9.5 Stiff
Hybrid: Adams Pro Black 18*
Irons: Mizuno MP60 (4-PW)
Wedges: Vokey SM 50/54/58/62
Putter: Yes! CallieBall: TM PentaHome course: DeBell Golf Club http://www.debellgolf.com/

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It's almost impossible to explain as god knows every golf magazine has tried.. the only way to truly "get it" is to take your shag bag & LW to the practice green and hit 10 yard to 20 yard pitches...if you hit 50 - 75 a day it will be unbelievably frustrating (and embarrasing) the first 15 or 20 times but you will eventually understand the techique. It may take you the rest of the summer but IMO if you can master that shot it will go a long way to understanding the full swing. Why?...the margin of error is far less than hitting a 460cc teed up driver or a 7i off a nice fluffy lie. You cannot cheat and expect to execute this shot.
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I used to struggle with the same thing. I would cock my wrists on the backswing, and try to flip them through on the way down. That means an inconsistent point of contact (sometimes fat, sometimes thin) and no distance control.
As others have mentioned, you should have your weight forward, slightly open stance, and swing with your shoulders. The reason is simple: it's much easier to control your big muscles (shoulders) than it is your smaller ones (forearms, wrists). Think of it like a putting stroke. Also, you want the club to follow through the same distance as your takeaway.
Your philosophy should be this: focus first on just getting the ball on the green somewhere . You're much better off chipping to 15 ft away, giving yourself a chance at par, at worst a bogey, rather than trying some uber-difficult finesse shot, blading/chunking it, and now bringing double-bogey into play. Once you a comfortable with a consistent stroke, you can now focus on distance control and increasing those up-and-downs.

In the bag:
Ping G5 Driver 9 degree, Ping G10 3-wood, Nike 3 hybrid, TaylorMade R9 Irons 4-AW, Cleveland CG15 56 and 60 degree wedges, Odyssey 2-ball blade putter

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took me all of last summer to be able to hit the shots I can hit with a LW now.

One thing that "clicked" was this.
Walk over to your ball and take a swing while you keep walking..... you get a wrist snap that won't fully release and you'll get a sweet shot (if it works)
You'll have your weight on your left side and will have a descending blow without flipping your wrists. Don't try it if anybody/anything valuable is around because you might mess up.

My Clubs
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Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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With the LW I tend to blade them over the bunker and over the green when I'm faced with a very thin/hard lie and the ball is on some hardpan or grass/hardpan, and I need a short high shot, say 10-20 yards.

I had that problem for a while. What works for me is trying to focus on "bouncing" the clubhead on the ground.

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Mizuno MP-53 4-PW with GS-95

Mizuno MPT-11 Black Nickel 52* and 58* with GS-95

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I had that problem for a while. What works for me is trying to focus on "bouncing" the clubhead on the ground.

That's hard to get a feel for... It works but you'll have to hit a lot of shots

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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I try to forget about the ground and focus, like I always try to do, on hitting the ball first on a descending blow. I try to be extra sure to keep my head down and feel my swing across my chest before I look up. For me, if I can fight the urge to "look" the ball into the air and concentrate on hitting it, I've won the battle. If it's really hard pan, it may hurt a bit when you hit into the ground, but the ball should already be aloft by that point.

In the bag:
FT-iQ 10° driver, FT 21° neutral 3H
T-Zoid Forged 15° 3W, MX-23 4-PW
Harmonized 52° GW, Tom Watson 56° SW, X-Forged Vintage 60° LW
White Hot XG #1 Putter, 33"

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L wedge has the highest degree of bounce which is causing you to bounce it off hardpan. What you want is a wedge with low bounce such as pitching wedge, just open the face, play it forward and stay down on the shot. L wedge is for fluffy lies and sand.
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L wedge has the highest degree of bounce which is causing you to bounce it off hardpan. What you want is a wedge with low bounce such as pitching wedge, just open the face, play it forward and stay down on the shot. L wedge is for fluffy lies and sand.

what are you talking about?

SW has the highest bounce. Most LW's are low bounce.

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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what are you talking about?

I concur - the OP's 60 has 4 degrees of bounce - that's pretty low.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Yep, Sandwedge has highest degree of bounce, because it has to go through sand and not dig in. The bounce helps it glide through the sand, thats why SW are not good for tight lies. Lob wedges can be low to medium in bounce, usually 4-8 degrees, SW can be 8+ in bounce usually. Go to Titliest's website and check out the wedge information, they explain bounce very well.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Yeah. Same here. It's a good idea to try.

SQ Driver
52*, 56*, 60* Spin Milled Wedges
AP1 Irons 3-9
:Nike: VR 3 Wood
Studio Select Newport 2Ball: :titleist Pro v1/ Pro v1x

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Wedges-52*-Wilson JP BeCE(54* bent to 52*)-TT-Release sensicore-hard stepped R

              56*Wilson R-61 BECU Sandy Andy- Release sensicore tipped same as 8 iron

               60* Wilson Harmonized BECU-Release sensicore tipped same as 8 iron

Woods- Star Grips  Irons Energy Grips

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Note: This thread is 5037 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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