wedge distance consistency

[brianb9999]

Hello Sandtrap,

I have been working on hitting my wedges lately (54* sw and 60* lw) in an effort to build some consistency in my 100 yd and less game. I have practiced various shots off of fairway and rough, and I have noticed I hit my sand wedge with much more consistency in terms of loft and distance, generally about 70-80 yards. However, I can't seem to hit my lob wedge quite as well...when struck properly, it probably travels about 40-50 yards, but I often think I hesitate on my downswing for fear of blading the ball and sending it shooting past the green. When I feel that hesitation, the clubhead speed slows down and it travels woefully short (blading happens occasionally with my sand wedge as well, but less frequently). The other issue I have is that my sand wedge travels at best 70-80 yards, and I hit my pitching wedge probably about 110. I often find myself in between clubs at a critical juncture and end up doing a 3/4 PW swing, but I am less consistent when not executing a full swing. Would it be worth it to invest in a 50ish degree gap wedge and play around with it for awhile? I already carry 14 clubs when I play: 1,3,5 wood, 3-9 iron, PW, SW, LW (and I am stubborn about giving up those low irons or changing to a 56* SW since I love my current PING iwedge oh so much). I only play casually so I don't think anyone would care if I carried an extra just to try out some different shots.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Brian

[MizunoPez]

Typical I tend to avoid hitting a full lob wedge unless its necessary. I'd much rather hit a 3/4 sand as I feel there is more control. I always carry 4 wedges in my bag (46, 52, 56 and 60). Have a go with a 50/52.

[boogielicious]

Brian,

A gap wedge is something I would recommend.  You will be able to take full swings and fill the gap.

For the LW, I use a 58.  I will preset more weight at set up on my left leg than with other irons, still keeping my knees bent the same.  The swing is not as hard, but I focus on making good contact.  The feet are also set closer together, which helps the weight shift to the left side.  I do the same with my 54 wedge.

You can vary height and distance with ball position.  Moving it back a bit (say 1/2 ball width) with produce lower flight with more spin.

Practice with half or three quarter swing first.  Focus on steady head and weight shift to your left side on the downswing.  After you have that down, move to to a full swing.

[brianb9999]

Well I found a used 51* golfsmith wedge for $15 so I think I will play around with that a bit and maybe just forgo the lob wedge for now (I'm playing 18 today and tomorrow). I've had to work on my full swing so much earlier this year, but now I finally have the luxury to get back to working on the short game, so I'll keep trying all different kinds of shots with the wedges. Just curious, for those that carry 4 wedges, do you use a hybrid to replace both 5w and 3i? I have never owned one because I never felt I could hit one well, but I probably could now. I usually use my 5w for long rough shots but feel at a loss when I'm in the 170-200 range because I just can't get my low irons airborne out of the rough.

[David in FL]

Replace the 60* wedge with a chipper.  I'm dead serious.  It's not as "cool" as carrying a lob wedge that you can't hit consistently, but your scores will drop dramatically.

I carry 2 hybrids in place of 3 and 4 irons.

Welcome to the forum!

[inthehole]

I find the 58 is DRAMATICALLY easier to hit than the 60.      Can't explain it, but the 58 can be opened up just like the 60 for the Phil-esque ultra flops & seems just as easy as the 56 for full shots.    I like a 45, 50, 52 (bent to 53)  & 58 combo

[Hardballs]

What loft is your pw?? Sounds like a gw would be usefull! My pw is 45* & my sw is 56* so I have a 50*gw to fill the space! Then I bought a 62* lw for short flops over bunkers/hazards to the green! Sometimes it works very well and I don't have to open the face, occasionally ill skull it, but daren't use the lw on full shots anymore as its hard to gauge distance with it, but nothing a few hours practise won't cure when I find the time!

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by brianb9999

Hello Sandtrap,

I have been working on hitting my wedges lately (54* sw and 60* lw) in an effort to build some consistency in my 100 yd and less game. I have practiced various shots off of fairway and rough, and I have noticed I hit my sand wedge with much more consistency in terms of loft and distance, generally about 70-80 yards. However, I can't seem to hit my lob wedge quite as well...when struck properly, it probably travels about 40-50 yards, but I often think I hesitate on my downswing for fear of blading the ball and sending it shooting past the green. When I feel that hesitation, the clubhead speed slows down and it travels woefully short (blading happens occasionally with my sand wedge as well, but less frequently). The other issue I have is that my sand wedge travels at best 70-80 yards, and I hit my pitching wedge probably about 110. I often find myself in between clubs at a critical juncture and end up doing a 3/4 PW swing, but I am less consistent when not executing a full swing. Would it be worth it to invest in a 50ish degree gap wedge and play around with it for awhile? I already carry 14 clubs when I play: 1,3,5 wood, 3-9 iron, PW, SW, LW (and I am stubborn about giving up those low irons or changing to a 56* SW since I love my current PING iwedge oh so much). I only play casually so I don't think anyone would care if I carried an extra just to try out some different shots.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Brian

I found the higher the loft the more certain you need to get your hands ahead of the ball at impact. There's so much loft, and flipping at the ball will just kill the distance. If your having issues hitting thin shots, i recommend presetting your weight forward and trying to keep it there. Keep more pressure on your front leg, maintain more flex there in the knee.

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by saevel25

I found the higher the loft the more certain you need to get your hands ahead of the ball at impact. There's so much loft, and flipping at the ball will just kill the distance. If your having issues hitting thin shots, i recommend presetting your weight forward and trying to keep it there. Keep more pressure on your front leg, maintain more flex there in the knee.

truer words were never spoken.    Keeping the hands forward with the 60 is paramount ...

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by inthehole

truer words were never spoken.    Keeping the hands forward with the 60 is paramount ...

Unless if your hitting pitch shots, then you can get away with using the bounce more, but full wedge shots, its a bit different.

I found that the bounce effects the shot as well. i am wondering if its just better not to hit full wedge shots, like a normal iron shot, if the grind on the club is not made for that type of shot. I am thinking of sticking with some more full grinds for full shots, then just not hitting full iron shots with wedges i will get for pitching. They might overlap a bit. Like get two 52's. But hey, what ever works. I just find that the grind for a 56 allows the club to slide under the ball way to easily on full iron shots.