What the heck is a "Distance Wedge"?

[Ernest Jones]

Lately I've been seeing more and more reference to a "distance wedge". Rather than read through every wedge related thread (although I did do a quick search) to find out what the heck y'all are talking about, I thought I'd just come right out and ask, both for my benefit and for the benefit of anyone else who has never heard the term.

So, please help me dispel, or at least mitigate, my ignorance...

"WHAT THE HECK IS A DISTANCE WEDGE?"

[dbuck]

I think it is  the club we old timers referred to as an 8 iron.

[mdl]

I have no idea, but I'll throw out a guess for fun.

Remarketing of the gap wedge?  Maybe attack wedge didn't catch on well enough.  Most people still call it a gap wedge, cause attack wedge sounds silly.  So maybe some marketing team thought people might take up the distance wedge language cause it makes more sense (it's the wedge you buy cause modern PWs are too strongly lofted and you need a wedge with more distance than your SW), and it might sell better than gap wedge?

[mmoan2]

I think it is what we old timers used to call an 8 iron.

Funny.

Distance wedge I think is best attributed to short game teacher Dave Pelz - it is any wedge shot above a pitch that does not utilize a traditional 100% full swing. For most people, it's wedge shots between 45-110 yards, based on a 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 swing.

The question is interesting, however, because I don't know that Pelz ever really does a good job of explaining the mechanical differences between, say, a 1/4 swing and a pitch shot. His book was really good for me at showing me a few things -

- Short game is necessary. Almost sounds like a "no duh," but when I was a kid, I didn't practice short game more than 5 minutes. Or know how to. The Short Game Bible is kinda like a wake up call for first-time hacks, IMO.

- The 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 distance thing and measuring distances between each.

- Good anecdotes and some other stuff.

[billchao]

I have no idea, but I'll throw out a guess for fun. Remarketing of the gap wedge?  Maybe attack wedge didn't catch on well enough.  Most people still call it a gap wedge, cause attack wedge sounds silly.  So maybe some marketing team thought people might take up the distance wedge language cause it makes more sense (it's the wedge you buy cause modern PWs are too strongly lofted and you need a wedge with more distance than your SW), and it might sell better than gap wedge?

I had an attack wedge. Stupid name. I called it my gap wedge, but if I had to stick with the AW, it was my approach wedge. I was going to say the distance wedge is the new club that gaps the PW and GW because they made the irons 20 yards longer ;-)

[saevel25]

Lately I've been seeing more and more reference to a "distance wedge". Rather than read through every wedge related thread (although I did do a quick search) to find out what the heck y'all are talking about, I thought I'd just come right out and ask, both for my benefit and for the benefit of anyone else who has never heard the term.

So, please help me dispel, or at least mitigate, my ignorance...

"WHAT THE HECK IS A DISTANCE WEDGE?"

Short wedge shots that use full swing motion instead of a pitching motion. There is a gap between the max pitching distance and your full swing wedge distance. Usually in this area you need to hit a shot with full swing mechanics to make up for it.

For me, I can hit a pitch shot about 60-70 yards max, with the pitching motion described here on the forum. I still got 30-40 yards before I can hit a full wedge shot into a green.

Sometimes you might need to hit a lower style shot from 40-50 yards, so you might use a full swing motion because it brings in more shaft lean.

[mdl]

Funny.

Distance wedge I think is best attributed to short game teacher Dave Pelz - it is any wedge shot above a pitch that does not utilize a traditional 100% full swing. For most people, it's wedge shots between 45-110 yards, based on a 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 swing.

The question is interesting, however, because I don't know that Pelz ever really does a good job of explaining the mechanical differences between, say, a 1/4 swing and a pitch shot. His book was really good for me at showing me a few things -

- Short game is necessary. Almost sounds like a "no duh," but when I was a kid, I didn't practice short game more than 5 minutes. Or know how to. The Short Game Bible is kinda like a wake up call for first-time hacks, IMO.

- The 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 distance thing and measuring distances between each.

- Good anecdotes and some other stuff.

Nice, that makes more sense!  Seems less intuitive of a name than partial wedge.  But has it's own sort of logic.  Full swing mechanics for a shot longer than pitch distance is a distance wedge.  Sure...

[Ernest Jones]

Short wedge shots that use full swing motion instead of a pitching motion. There is a gap between the max pitching distance and your full swing wedge distance. Usually in this area you need to hit a shot with full swing mechanics to make up for it.

For me, I can hit a pitch shot about 60-70 yards max, with the pitching motion described here on the forum. I still got 30-40 yards before I can hit a full wedge shot into a green.

Sometimes you might need to hit a lower style shot from 40-50 yards, so you might use a full swing motion because it brings in more shaft lean.

So, in other words it's a regular wedge, one that you've taken a little off of? Sounds like 98% of the wedges I hit, minus the pitches/chips. Is this a relatively new term? I've never seen it until about a week ago...

[mmoan2]

http://www.amazon.com/Dave-Pelzs-Short-Game-Bible/dp/0767903447/ref=pd_cp_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID;=17Q8BJ3M91VJBDJA4NV8

Read the review. Maybe "distance wedge" was around before Pelz, but it sounds like the kinda term someone would coin to bring attention to their system, for better or worse. It is decidedly NOT a full swing in this book, though. Maybe it is elsewhere.

[saevel25]

So, in other words it's a regular wedge, one that you've taken a little off of? Sounds like 98% of the wedges I hit, minus the pitches/chips. Is this a relatively new term? I've never seen it until about a week ago...

More than a little in some cases.

My 56 degree wedge is something like,

Club parallel to the ground - 65

Between the two - 80

Arm parallel to the ground - 95

Full Swing - 110

[Ernest Jones]

More than a little in some cases.  My 56 degree wedge is something like,  Club parallel to the ground - 65 Between the two - 80 Arm parallel to the ground - 95 Full Swing - 110

That looks a lot like my SW distances. Although so far this year you take about 10y off each of those values. Distance is slowly coming back. On Topic: so distance wedge is just another way of saying partial wedge shots as distinct from pitches. Got it. Nothing new, just new terminology. Thanks for clearing that up for me. :-)

[iacas]

I call it what Dough ( @saevel25 ) said a wedge shot hit with a shorter version of "Full Swing Motion" or "Full Swing Mechanics" designed to hit the ball a specific distance. Often they're thought of as 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 wedges, and the mechanics and even setup are quite different than pitching or chipping.

Dave Pelz likely didn't coin the phrase, but it's understood to mean what I'm saying here, I believe, within the instruction industry. Sieckmann's book calls these shots "Distance Wedges" for example.

[Ernest Jones]

I call it what Dough ( @saevel25 ) said a wedge shot hit with a shorter version of "Full Swing Motion" or "Full Swing Mechanics" designed to hit the ball a specific distance. Often they're thought of as 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 wedges, and the mechanics and even setup are quite different than pitching or chipping. Dave Pelz likely didn't coin the phrase, but it's understood to mean what I'm saying here, I believe, within the instruction industry. Sieckmann's book calls these shots "Distance Wedges" for example.

Yes. Got it now. It's what I always called partial wedges, which differ from pitch/chips insofar as they are literally shorter full swings. I often use a swing with my 60* wedge that feels like horizontal clubshaft with a full follow through that goes approximately 50-60 yards with a ton of spin. Usually stops dead and has shaft lean just like a full swing.

[14ledo81]

FWIW, I have always thought of them as partial wedges as well.

[saevel25]

FWIW, I have always thought of them as partial wedges as well.

Distance Wedges is a pretty new term. I always called the partial wedges as well. I like the term distance wedges more because it actually makes you think you need to hit a distances.