54 and 60 degree length problems

[alexander19]

I consider myself an above average player when it comes to length. My drive is 285-300, my 150 club is 9 iron. I have a 54 and 60 degree wedge (14 and 12 bounce which I know makes no sense but I received them as a gift). For some odd reason I am not getting the distance I want on either of my wedges. Most course I hit my drive and have myself between 85-115 yards which I think should be a nice easy 54 wedge. I find myself hitting these baby fades or hitting them way to high. My 60 degree wedge is even worse, I max out at around 50-60 yards when I feel that most people with my distance should be 75. I tend to have a strong grip but maybe I am using a weak grip with these wedges. Please feel free to give me any advice.

[slabm7]

Just my opinion but wedges are not distance clubs, they are scoring clubs. Who cares how far you hit them its how much control and consitency you have with them. I never take over a 3/4 swing with my 58 and its my club inside 80 yards.

[blackxpress]

Boy, that is weird. You average about 290 with a driver (above the PGA average) and only hit your lob wedge 50 yds.? By my calculation you should be going about 140 with that baby. ;-}

[GolfBear]

I think the answer is simple.   You don't average 285 to 300.    You probably think you do because you haven't measured it accurately.    You've probably hit a few bombs that roll out to 270ish or maybe even 300 and you translate that rarity into a "I average 300".  I once hit a drive 320 but I average about 260.

The real question is, who cares how far you hit your wedges?  The important question is "how close to the flag do your hit your wedges".   If I hit my lob wedge 65 yards and it lands 2 feet from the flag and you hit yours 120 and it lands 30 feet from the flag I'm clearly going to score better.

There are no strokes deducted for distance.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by alexander19

I consider myself an above average player when it comes to length. My drive is 285-300, my 150 club is 9 iron. I have a 54 and 60 degree wedge (14 and 12 bounce which I know makes no sense but I received them as a gift). For some odd reason I am not getting the distance I want on either of my wedges. Most course I hit my drive and have myself between 85-115 yards which I think should be a nice easy 54 wedge. I find myself hitting these baby fades or hitting them way to high. My 60 degree wedge is even worse, I max out at around 50-60 yards when I feel that most people with my distance should be 75. I tend to have a strong grip but maybe I am using a weak grip with these wedges. Please feel free to give me any advice.

I used to hit my LW 90 yards on a full swing. Years later another 60 degree wedge was my 70 yard club. I was consistently hitting it off the toe - really nice tiny wear spot 1/2 way from the toe and the sweet spot. Once I reprogrammed myself to hit the sweet spot, my LW became my 90 yard club again. Just a thought.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by alexander19

Please feel free to give me any advice.

I used to have the same problem until I realised I was seriously flipping. The shorter the club, the more loft you add at impact when flipping and hence the more distance you lose. You can get away with it to a degree with shots off of a tee. I know immediately when I start flipping as I immediately start hitting my irons too high and losing a good 10-20% distance.

[Gopher1000]

Re: Flipping -- I feel like I suffer from the same thing. I hit really high shots (usually with a draw). While I love the high shots, it creates distance problems within the bag, especially at longer yardages (180+). Are there any good explanations/instructions/videos on how to correct flipping? Thanks!

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

I used to have the same problem until I realised I was seriously flipping. The shorter the club, the more loft you add at impact when flipping and hence the more distance you lose. You can get away with it to a degree with shots off of a tee. I know immediately when I start flipping as I immediately start hitting my irons too high and losing a good 10-20% distance.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by Gopher1000

Re: Flipping -- I feel like I suffer from the same thing. I hit really high shots (usually with a draw). While I love the high shots, it creates distance problems within the bag, especially at longer yardages (180+). Are there any good explanations/instructions/videos on how to correct flipping? Thanks!

Check out the Casting and How to Create Lag video by Herman Williams on Youtube. Practicing the drills in the video helped me stop flipping from one day to the next. And it helped me with all the shots and clubs in my bag. Good luck!

[jshots]

I too have length problems when it is only 54-60 degrees. Brrrrrrrr

[TourSpoon]

Sean is on to something...

My 54 is my 105 club and my 60 is my 85 club. This is for a 85% full swing with good contact through the ball. I average about 265 off the tee when I am on. With the wedge swing try putting more weight on your front foot with a narrow but open stance. A good drill is to set up with more weight than you need (exaggerated) and hit shots to minimize the weight shift. Pulling off the ball with a big turn is not the swing you want from 100 yards in. Since the wedges are precision clubs you can't afford to swing like you are hitting a longer club because where you hit it on the club face is so important. Slow your tempo down, shorten and feel the club head through the ball making the best contact you can. From there start to increase until you find your zone. Sometimes on the course when I feel a little off, I just feel  a little more weight staying on the front side. Good luck.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

Sean is on to something...

My 54 is my 105 club and my 60 is my 85 club. This is for a 85% full swing with good contact through the ball. I average about 265 off the tee when I am on. With the wedge swing try putting more weight on your front foot with a narrow but open stance. A good drill is to set up with more weight than you need (exaggerated) and hit shots to minimize the weight shift. Pulling off the ball with a big turn is not the swing you want from 100 yards in. Since the wedges are precision clubs you can't afford to swing like you are hitting a longer club because where you hit it on the club face is so important. Slow your tempo down, shorten and feel the club head through the ball making the best contact you can. From there start to increase until you find your zone. Sometimes on the course when I feel a little off, I just feel  a little more weight staying on the front side. Good luck.

With each set of wedges, finding a swing speed that provides the most consistent ball then turf contact is tricky. Whatever that distance ends up being for each wedge it fine for me, as long as it's consistent and comfortable under pressure.

For example, with my Hogan wedges, a comfortable full swing with my 60 degree LW seems to be about 85 yards (like you said - not 100%, but a full "wedge swing" nonetheless) and yet on one teeny tiny par 3 at my course (just 88 yards with a tiny green - really strange), I have my 54 degree dialed in to land on the front 1/3 of the green and release to dead centre. I see much shorter hitters (with longer clubs) than me taking full cuts with their LW and their results are either perfect or all wet (there's a pond in front).

[Gopher1000]

Great video--thanks!!

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

Check out the Casting and How to Create Lag video by Herman Williams on Youtube. Practicing the drills in the video helped me stop flipping from one day to the next. And it helped me with all the shots and clubs in my bag. Good luck!