Start to Get Close with your Golf Wedges (Video) - by Rick Shiels
Start to Get Close with your Golf Wedges (Video) - by Rick Shiels

You’re out on the golf course, you want to get it close to the flag, but you don't know what wedge to use. You’ve got all these new wedges, you’ve got all these new golf clubs in your bag, but you don't know which one to use. You’ve got your pitching wedge; your gap wedge, your sand wedge, your lob wedge. Which one do we use, which one is the most consistent? My advice to you is let the golf course determine that shot.

Now sounds like a silly thing but a lot of the time players go, “well I like my 60 I'm going to use my 60 because I like it I can do everything with that.” But it's not necessary the correct shot. So let the golf course determine the shot. If you’ve got to get a shot where it’s – doesn't have to stop super quick, then don’t use most lofty club. Use more of the middle of the range. So if let's say the pin is at the back, so say the pin is at the back of the green is 90 100 yards, use your least lofted wedge, because the ball then won’t spin as much. You’ll be able to – if it lands into the middle of the green, it may release a little bit and get closer to the flag. If the pin is more on the middle, use your gap wedge or your sand wedge. If the pin is at the front, get your lob wedge out. So you’re not just relying on one club for every shot.

You’re thinking about the course and the conditions and how you can play the shot to its fullest potential. Don’t be just going all out lob wedge when you can easily have a smoother shot. That’s another bit of advice, smoother tempo and smoother shots. So let’s say I've got a pin, I've got a flag here about 90 yards away, so the back of the pin so the back of the green, sorry. So I could potentially get my sand wedge there, I could give it a full hit and get my 54o sand wedge there, but there’s no real point because when it lands like we've talked about, the acceleration will get that ball spinning more, it will get it going higher, we don't need that. So I'm going to hit the 5th stick on back of the pin sorry back of the green where the pin is, I'm going to hit it smoother, play it from the middle of the stance, narrow stance and just play this much smoother.

Now when that lands on the green, it jumps, it hops, it skips then it stops, because I've not hit it too hard. So I'm getting closer to the back pin positions, if it's a front pin position, absolutely get the lob wedge out. Get a shot that’s going to be flying higher. So if I hit this, I’m using my lob wedge now, so let’s say I'm going to go for – I've got a flag there that’s about 60 yards away but the pin is at the front now, so now it takes out my gap wedge on my pitching wedge, I can’t play that shot. My lob wedge smoother shot again and that’s going sky high when it comes at the pin, it stops it stop there. So I'm making sure that the golf course is choosing what club I hit rather than me just going I like my favorite club. I'm going to hit this all the time, no. Use different wedges, use different options and you will get much closer to the hole when you pitch.

2013-06-26

You’re out on the golf course, you want to get it close to the flag, but you don't know what wedge to use. You’ve got all these new wedges, you’ve got all these new golf clubs in your bag, but you don't know which one to use. You’ve got your pitching wedge; your gap wedge, your sand wedge, your lob wedge. Which one do we use, which one is the most consistent? My advice to you is let the golf course determine that shot.

Now sounds like a silly thing but a lot of the time players go, “well I like my 60 I'm going to use my 60 because I like it I can do everything with that.” But it's not necessary the correct shot. So let the golf course determine the shot. If you’ve got to get a shot where it’s – doesn't have to stop super quick, then don’t use most lofty club. Use more of the middle of the range. So if let's say the pin is at the back, so say the pin is at the back of the green is 90 100 yards, use your least lofted wedge, because the ball then won’t spin as much. You’ll be able to – if it lands into the middle of the green, it may release a little bit and get closer to the flag. If the pin is more on the middle, use your gap wedge or your sand wedge. If the pin is at the front, get your lob wedge out. So you’re not just relying on one club for every shot.

You’re thinking about the course and the conditions and how you can play the shot to its fullest potential. Don’t be just going all out lob wedge when you can easily have a smoother shot. That’s another bit of advice, smoother tempo and smoother shots. So let’s say I've got a pin, I've got a flag here about 90 yards away, so the back of the pin so the back of the green, sorry. So I could potentially get my sand wedge there, I could give it a full hit and get my 54o sand wedge there, but there’s no real point because when it lands like we've talked about, the acceleration will get that ball spinning more, it will get it going higher, we don't need that. So I'm going to hit the 5th stick on back of the pin sorry back of the green where the pin is, I'm going to hit it smoother, play it from the middle of the stance, narrow stance and just play this much smoother.

Now when that lands on the green, it jumps, it hops, it skips then it stops, because I've not hit it too hard. So I'm getting closer to the back pin positions, if it's a front pin position, absolutely get the lob wedge out. Get a shot that’s going to be flying higher. So if I hit this, I’m using my lob wedge now, so let’s say I'm going to go for – I've got a flag there that’s about 60 yards away but the pin is at the front now, so now it takes out my gap wedge on my pitching wedge, I can’t play that shot. My lob wedge smoother shot again and that’s going sky high when it comes at the pin, it stops it stop there. So I'm making sure that the golf course is choosing what club I hit rather than me just going I like my favorite club. I'm going to hit this all the time, no. Use different wedges, use different options and you will get much closer to the hole when you pitch.