3/4 Wedge Shots Iffy...

[WUTiger]

For my short game, I've worked on a variation of the Dave Pelz method of 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 wedge shots.

I call them quarter, half and three-quarters. Quarter and half are coming along pretty well, but 3/4 seems to be iffy. 3/4 means I come up to shoulder level, and then swing. Sometimes I tend to baby it and come up short, other times I overcook it. Only get expected distance about a third of the time.

Most frustrating experience was during January thaw on a tough, uphill Par 5. I hit two good shots, and am about 70 yds. from flag going into a headwind. Thinking birdie, I try a 3/4 with my GW, and just nail a rocket. It's still rising as it goes OB behind the green.

Without seeing my swing, does anyone have ideas on why the 3/4 is so tough? My 46* PW and 50* GW are the biggest problem. Less with 54* SW, and 58* LW I rarely go more than half swing.

Had this problem all last year, and it won't go away.

[saevel25]

Lets say this, you usually always pick a club you can hit full on nearly all shots, so if you don't practice those shots you never developed feel for it.

Try this, play a round were you up club one or two clubs and force to hit 3/4th shots..

[mtsalmela80]

I would hit a similar distance with a 3/4 GW shot,  a full relaxed shot goes 100 yards pretty consistently for me. Maybe you caught that thin? That's what would cause that for me. That's the problem with 100 yards and in, if caught thin it will typically go further than I want.

Originally Posted by WUTiger

For my short game, I've worked on a variation of the Dave Pelz method of 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 wedge shots.

I call them quarter, half and three-quarters. Quarter and half are coming along pretty well, but 3/4 seems to be iffy. 3/4 means I come up to shoulder level, and then swing. Sometimes I tend to baby it and come up short, other times I overcook it. Only get expected distance about a third of the time.

Most frustrating experience was during January thaw on a tough, uphill Par 5. I hit two good shots, and am about 70 yds. from flag going into a headwind. Thinking birdie, I try a 3/4 with my GW, and just nail a rocket. It's still rising as it goes OB behind the green.

Without seeing my swing, does anyone have ideas on why the 3/4 is so tough? My 46* PW and 50* GW are the biggest problem. Less with 54* SW, and 58* LW I rarely go more than half swing.

Had this problem all last year, and it won't go away.

[Mr. Desmond]

Try laying up to full or half swing distance, until you work through it. Apparently, something within you is not comfy with 3/4 shots.

[westcyderydin]

It is definitely something you will get better at once you practice it.  For the 3/4 swing i take a normal swing but try to feel like the top of my swing ends when my arm is parallel to the ground.  I am really not sure if it goes a little farther back than that or not, but it works pretty well once you are used to it.

[jamo]

When I hit those shots I try to control distance more with my body than my arms. It's more of a feeling, but you might want to try it out.

[WUTiger]

Good ideas from all.

Saevel,

Hitting 3/4 for a whole round could help out. Last season, when having trouble with 3W, I kept driver in the bag one day and used 3W for all tee shots, and all longer approaches. Really got 3W going.

mts, I sometimes have days when impact point walks up and down center of clubface (some thin, some fat).

MrD, on full or half for awhile... Back about 1985, a pro taught me to go with just quarter and half swings, from SW down to 8i. It worked fairly well for awhile, but I lost my touch during a couple of low-play seasons.

west, Will check my 3/4 "top" in mirror; it's harder to "feel" than quarter or half

Jamo, In August lesson, pro suggested I have more consistent body turn on partial wedges. Before that, I used pendulum (arm drop) swing for quarter and half, but iron swing - full body turn - for 3/4. Lately I've seen similar short-game tips recommending you match body turn to desired distance/length of backswing. Just need to practice it more, I guess.

[WUTiger]

Parallel left arm cured it!

Quote:

...  For the 3/4 swing i take a normal swing but try to feel like the top of my swing ends when my arm is parallel to the ground. ...

Checked out my 3/4 "top of swing" in mirror, and found that "hands at shoulder" only existed in my mind. I was doing a "Zorro" move trying to find this position.

I tried the left arm parallel to ground, and that was a lot easier to feel and set consistently, and made the downswing smoother. It's going 80-85 yards on 3/4 GW, about 95 on PW; a few are a bit fat, but none of the chunks I spoke of.

On that Par 5, I had about the same 3/4 GW shot today and put it pin high about 20 feet to left. Thanks, WC and the others!