Become Wiser with your Wedges

If you ask a number of elite golfers what their favorite club in the bag is, many of them would choose a wedge. Accuracy with wedges becomes a big part of how birdies are made and pars are saved. In today’s game of long, powerful drives, even the longest hitters like Bubba Watson have incredible wedge games. This is due to all the hours they have spent hitting a variety of different wedge shots. If you asked most average golfers what their favorite club is, a high percentage would choose their new $500 driver. Depending on the golf course, you probably hit your driver half as much as your wedges every round.

A good way to shave strokes off your score, is by improving your wedge yardages. To begin with, you should absolutely know how far a full swing with each wedge goes. Go to the range for a practice session focusing on 100 yards and in. Spend a little time hitting between 5-10 solid wedge shots and figure out the distance they carry. Next, make some ¾ length back and through swings to track the average distance of these shots. Finally, move your hands about 1 ½ inches down the grip to make some full swings. Track this full swing distance and then do the same with a ¾ length swing as you did before. Go through this process with each wedge in your bag, and see how these adjustments allow you to change the yardage of each club.

Most amateurs have a difficult time with short yardages, when they can’t make a full swing. Charting the yardages for each of your wedges, and learning how “gripping down” affects distance, makes this much easier. It allows you to adjust and make a good swing through the ball without decelerating. By learning and documenting the different yardages, your accuracy from inside 100 yards should greatly improve.