Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Dial it in with wedges
Welcome
Hello golfers and welcome to this weeks edition of tips & tricks. Over the last couple of weeks I have been working with lots of players within 100 yards of the green. Most people struggle with the shots that aren’t a big full swing so this week I’m going to talk you through how I control my yardages and the factors that are important for getting it next to the hole more often.
Pitching System
Lots of people that I coach come to me and want to improve their consistency of distance control. There are a few factors that influence how far that ball goes and understanding them, especially with your most lofted clubs, is vital.
Strike
Firstly we need to ensure that the ball is making contact with the middle of the clubface. If that ball makes contact with the ground or hits the bottom of the club (the leading edge) first then there is going to be a big difference in how far that ball goes every time. As well as finding the middle going up and down the face we also need to make sure its not hitting from the heel or toe of the club as this will influence the distance the ball travels. Take a look back at some of my previous tips and tricks for help improving that strike location.
Dynamic loft
Each club in the bag is built in a slightly different way and one factor that changes is the loft. Each club is built with a specific amount of loft but that doesn’t mean that will be the amount of loft presented at impact. The best players in the world can control and replicate the loft presented at impact. Too much loft and the club will slide under the ball meaning it goes higher with less distance, presenting less loft will send the ball further with a flatter flight.
Speed
Finally controlling the speed of the club will help us control the distance the ball travels. In the following video I have showed you how I control the length of my swing with my 56* sand wedge to get specific distances. Most people I coach have a rough guess at controlling the length of swing and therefore speed. I like to be a bit more precise at certain yardages and then work around that.
1 – 30 yard swing is bringing my hands waist high
2 – 50 yard swing is bringing my hands chest high
3 – 70 yard swing is bringing my hands shoulder high
If I then want to hit it a yardage in between any of those I can go between them. This will be different for every individual based on the clubs used and the speed generated. Notice how the rhythm on all of them is very similar, I don’t try to hit the longer shots harder, the length of the swing naturally creates more speed.
Summary
Understanding and controlling the factors mentioned above should help you to gain confidence for your pitching. Try to find a reliable strike first then have a mess around with controlling the dynamic loft and speed with different clubs. Use the distance markers on the driving range to measure how far the ball goes when you change one or more of these factors. When you then get on the golf course trust what you have done in practice and land it right next to the pin!
If you want help with your pitching or want to get some yardages on trackman give me a shout, it’s one of my favourite parts of the game to coach and can save you lots of shots on the course…
Cheers,
Josh