Lesson Tee: Wedge Work

Golfers are ‘all or nothing’ creatures. While hitting a full shot from the tee, their confidence and commitment are high because they can make a good, full move on the ball with minimal guess work. The end result may vary, but the player has a plan and understanding of what should happen.

As they get closer to the hole, more variables come into play. What type of lie will I get? Where is the pin? How far do I have to hit this shot? Am I between clubs? All of these factors can give the player doubt.

Once doubt creeps in, players experience a lack of commitment, move away from sound technique, and start to improvise. This leads to more poor shots and fewer positive results. I often see this when players encounter wedge shots that are in the 40 to 60 yard range.

Common Mistakes:

Improper ball position: In an effort to make contact, players will play the ball too far back in their stance. This leads to a steeper angle of attack, lack of distance control, and inconsistent contact.

Lack of trunk rotation: Many players stop the golf swing at contact. This keeps our hands and body from finishing the motion.

“Helping the Ball”: This is when the player tries to lift the ball into the air. This motion lacks consistency and results in many chunked shots.

Unbalanced swing length: This is where the backswing and through swing match, leading to inconsistency.

Proper Technique:

Address & ball position: Assume a slightly narrow stance. The ball should be placed in the middle of your stance, slightly favoring your left side (right hand players).

Swing: This motion is mostly trunk and upper body. Your lower half will remain fairly quiet. The big key here is to match the swing length from back to through swing. Accelerate into the downswing; speed will help us rotate through to a proper finish.

Strike: The ground is our friend. If we assume a proper setup, our goal is to hit the ground at the bottom of the swing. This will eliminate any “scooping” motion, and will allow us to use the club head properly.

When encountering shots that make us uncomfortable; the more positive we are mentally, the more likely we are to hit a good shot. We all have a tendency to talk ourselves into poor shots. Let’s reverse that trend.

Alan Reese PGA Professional Salem Golf Club areese@pga.com