Doc’s Pro Lesson: Wedge Control and Consistency
This week’s lesson comes from PGA pro Phil Moore. Contact Phil on 07851351513, email phil@johnnyfostergolfacademy.com and check out the site www.johnnyfostergolfacademy.com.
Very often from 100 yards and in I witness amateur golfers trying to hit their wedges either far too hard or they have the same length of swing for every distance of shot. They then try and judge the shot by how fast or slow they swing. The following article will help your entire wedge game ranging from a pitching wedge to your 60 degree lob wedge. Our lesson themes are control and consistency - music to any golfers ears!
A full shot with a wedge is played with a smoother rhythm than a full shot with a driver or fairway wood. The wedge swing will also appear a little shorter than compared to one with the long clubs. The reduced swing speed allows you to control the ball flight a lot better and also enables you to make your distance control more consistent. If you hit high 'floating' wedge shots that spend ages in the air, you will never get real consistency on your distance as the ball will be at the mercy of the wind for longer. So it will pay dividends to improve your swing pace, tempo and power application. Swing smoother and have a better tempo on your wedge shots and you will see your trajectories come down; distance control and accuracy improve significantly. Not to mention that spin will actually help you, rather than take you away from the hole.
Having thoroughly studied the best wedge player in the world, we at the JFGA recommend that you govern your wedge distances by the length of your backswing. This approach allows you the comfort of always applying the same swing speed to all your distance wedge shots. By adopting a '2 swing length' strategy with your distance wedges, you have armed yourself with a very functional way to control your flight and spin.
In the picture to the left we see a "9 o’clock swing", where the left arm is parallel to the ground, as if at 9 o'clock (for a right handed player). Out of the two swing lengths this is obviously the one that will travel the shortest distance meaning that you should have more control over the shot.
Next is the 11 o’clock swing that should obviously travel a little further. How much further? Well that’s for your practice to find out. You can see from the picture on the right that the shaft is still short of parallel at the top of the backswing, this will encourage that all important degree of control you are searching for with these scoring shots.
As mentioned, practicing these new 'control' swings will provide you the the facts about how far you hit each length of swing and which shot in particular you are best with. So, develop your most reliable 'go to' wedge distance and spend time initially checking in the mirror that you are actually swinging to where you think you are; this will really speed up the learning process. Next time you’re out on the course or the range have a few shots using each of these swing lengths and see how more consistent your distance wedge game can become! It's amazing the offensive scoring game you can create just by adding variety in swing length with your already existing wedge set.
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