The Foundations of Effective Wedge Practice

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Wedge game is one of the more unique areas of golf compared to approach shots and tee shots. Your practice should reflect those differences.

This is a golf area that can quickly lower the scores for players of all levels. It can help you save more pars, but more importantly, it helps reduce double bogeys (or worse). Think of wedge games as a security blanket or insurance for your golf game.

In addition, anyone can acquire competence, regardless of their skill level or physical capabilities. You will never hit a 330-yard drive like Rory McIlroy, but you can occasionally hit wedge shots like him.

Remote control is of the utmost importance with your wedges. Because you are closer to the hole, your spread (from left to right) becomes less of a problem compared to your full swing recordings. The most important challenge is to match the feeling and technology with specific distances. It is not the same skill as switching to a 7-iron and taking a full swing.

Many golfers ignore wedges to their disadvantage. Most players miss more than 50% of regulation greens during their round. That means more often than not, you have a wedge shot that requires some precision and feel.

Although blocked (repetitive) exercise might make more sense in other parts of the game, with wedges, I think it makes sense to divide your time between blocked and randomized exercise. You want to improve your technique and remote control through repetition, but at the same time be able to "dial in" a certain distance at will. Combining these two practice methods will help.

I start every practice session with wedge shots that are less than full swings and I urge you to add them to your training if you have not already done so. In this article I will give you a basic framework for more effective practice with wedges.

Setting your technology and remote control

For the sake of clarity: when I am talking about wedge shots, I am talking about slightly less than a full course. These are the recordings that require more feeling and a change in technology (compared to a full swing).

Feeling is something that cannot necessarily be learned or learned by reading an article, book or YouTube video. You have to earn it through repetition.

So whether you are trying to land a wedge 35 meters or 80 meters, your body must be athletic and feel that distance. It is no different than a quarterback who tries to throw a ball to a place where his broad receiver can catch it, or a baseball player who throws a ball to the home plate from a specific location in the outfield. Through training your body begins to learn how all those distances feel.

You also need a repeatable technique that makes you feel comfortable, whether it's a short chip shot around the green or a 3/4 swing with your lobwig. I don't care what it looks like. What I do care about is when you feel comfortable with it. Are you confident that you can usually land the ball on the green using that technique? If you can answer both questions, I would say that you give yourself the best chance of success.

Sometimes golfers get too caught up in what things look like with wedge play, or the ability to play multiple shots. Get well in one shot instead of being mediocre in four different ones. Your goal is to usually land the ball on the green. The consistent arrival of a 5-foot window is unrealistic.

To satisfy both requirements of feeling and technology, you must perform some work in a blocked (repetitive) format. Since I do not discuss technical advice, you must find that information elsewhere. The basis for my betting game was learned by Dave Pelz & # 39; s Short Game Bible

and his clock system. More recent books such as Your Short Game Solution by James Sieckmann or The Art of the Short Game by Stan Utley can also help you. In my opinion, your best chance to get help with the technique would be by taking classes.

To sharpen at different distances and improve your technique, you have to shoot at the same target all the time. When I practice, I often start with a distance between 40 – 50 meters. If I can hold the feeling of that distance, I go to another one, such as 75 meters. Your goal is for your brain to store that information. If you do not practice these distances, you are not prepared for it on the course.

In the beginning, perhaps more blocked exercise was needed to acquire skills with different distances. You can then get to a place where you need small (re) fresheners, but I still believe that these are "fundamental" shots for every golfer who requires continuous effort.

Testing yourself through randomization

Once you have done the work through blocked exercises at different wedge distances, you can start testing yourself. Randomly touching wedge distances has become one of my favorite practice techniques.

For those of you who are interested in buying personal start monitors, this is my best recommendation for their effective use. Some of them, such as the Swing Caddy SC200, have built-in practice games that challenge your remote control.

The Swing Caddy SC200 Plus

In addition, most products that I have tested under $ 500 are very accurate at distances within 100 meters.

If you are at a distance or hit a net at home, you can choose different goals for each shot. Keep cycling through gardens between 20-80 meters. See how competent you can become when landing the ball within a reasonable window of those distances.

If you have access to a facility for short games, I would also encourage you to practice from different lies. As you know, many wedge shots will take place from the rugged or bunker. Testing how the club reacts from different lies is also another element of randomness that you should add to your practice if you can.

As a side note, I believe that improving these "clumsy" wedge yardages will also help your full shots. I consider it another form of practice that golfers of all levels must do. That does not mean that it should take up most of your practice time. For many of you, it makes sense to spend somewhere between 10-20% of your practice time, depending on your current skill level.

Wrapping It

I know how nice it is to practice how far you can hit your driver. I also like that. But if you want to become a better-rounded (and better) golfer, don't ignore wedge play.

To summarize my two practice methods:

Determine your feeling and technique through repetition
Test yourself through randomization

Rinse and repeat.

My recommendation is to start your practice sessions with these recordings for two reasons. First, they are a great way to warm up your entire swing. Secondly, if you are there first, don't ignore them later!