The Lesson Tee

Wedge Spin

A question I’m often asked is “how do I put backspin on a shot?” To properly spin a sand wedge or a gap wedge, a few things need to happen, but there are two principles that are absolutes:

Make ball first contact

Hit the shot with a high amount of speed

In addition to strike and speed, two of the main mistakes I see are the setup and the moment after the strike. In the pictures below we will look at two address positions.

In the first position, you will see that my body position is correct with the ball in the center of my stance and slightly more weight on my lead foot. The error lies in the hand or shaft position. My hands are slightly forward (left of my belt buckle). From here, as the swing reaches impact, the clubface will be slightly delofted, which will result in a flight that is more penetrating and less likely to spin.

In the right picture you will see my address position is the same as before. The difference lies in the hand/club position. Now the shaft is more “neutral” (pointing at my belt buckle). From this position when the swing reaches impact the clubface will be utilizing its natural loft, giving me a better chance to spin the ball.

Now look at the finish. In the left picture you can see that my hands have released the clubhead allowing the toe of the club to swing to a finished position. This is ideal for a standard shot, but for a high lofted spinner this is not going to work.

In the right picture you can see that my hands are holding off the release of the club, essentially adding loft through the strike.

Know your game, if you are a player that has trouble getting the ball hole high or past hole high, then backspin is not the thing that you need to work on. If you’d like a lesson - either in person or virtually, my contactinformation is listed below!

Alan Reese

PGA Professional

Salem Golf Club

areese@pga.com