Tips to turn your lob wedge into a weapon, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Tips to turn your lob wedge into a weapon, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now here I’ve taken the lob wedge out to my back. It’s a funny club the lob wedge. People tend to either love them or hate them. I must admit, I love my wedge. I think I can use this for an awful lot of shots in the golf course. It gets me out when in an awful lot of trouble.

Other people get really scared of their lob wedge. I think it’s one of those clubs that if you hit it well, it looks great. Hit badly, it’ll go knifing off through the green and go straight to the other side of the bunker, or it’ll go way up in the air, land short, not even clear the bunker and get onto the green.

The lob wedge, we need to use this a bit more efficiently to make sure we get good contact on it every time. Here, as I set up the golf ball, I’m going to work hard on just making sure my ball stays nicely in the center of my stance. I keep my hands level with it or very slightly ahead.

I want to avoid scooping the ball and leaning back behind it. That won’t work for me at all. Yes the ball needs to go high but trust that the golf club can do that for you. You don’t need to get caught behind, trying to help it up in the air. It doesn’t need that help. Ball in the center is good, of a slightly narrower stance. Handle is very slightly ahead of center. I’m gripping a little bit down just to get a bit more control.

Now if that’s going to go to normal height, that’s fine. If I need an extra high lob wedge, I could even just consider opening the face slightly. So I’ve just tilted the face slightly to the right there, bring it down. I was going to hit the ball high but slightly right. If that’s the case, I can aim slightly left. So the club aims right and I aim left.

Then as I hit this, I want to keep my left wrist really nice and firm through impact. I’m not going to let that left wrist break down. Any feeling of flicking, hinging, or scooping, trying to hit the ball up in the air is the wrong feeling here. My left wrist won’t work for me if I do that.

So when I hit this ball, this’ll pop up nicely. You can see my follow through there. My left wrist has stayed nice and firm. It hasn’t scooped over this way or rotated like it would do on a full swing. So it’s a nice solid set up with the lob wedge. Hit underneath the golf ball. The ball pops up nicely.

The one last feeling here is to always confidently hit down. Don’t get scared of this. If you approach this like you’re worried about it knifing through the green or doffing into the front bunker, chances are those are the shots that’ll happen. If you approach this shot with the confidence that I hit down nice and hard, the ball pops up nicely, that’ll actually work better for you. You’ll get more consistent results, better results with a bit more confidence and a bit more aggression in the down part of your stroke.

So, good set up. Be confident with it to make your lob wedge your best friend again.

 2013-01-18

Now here I’ve taken the lob wedge out to my back. It’s a funny club the lob wedge. People tend to either love them or hate them. I must admit, I love my wedge. I think I can use this for an awful lot of shots in the golf course. It gets me out when in an awful lot of trouble.

Other people get really scared of their lob wedge. I think it’s one of those clubs that if you hit it well, it looks great. Hit badly, it’ll go knifing off through the green and go straight to the other side of the bunker, or it’ll go way up in the air, land short, not even clear the bunker and get onto the green.

The lob wedge, we need to use this a bit more efficiently to make sure we get good contact on it every time. Here, as I set up the golf ball, I’m going to work hard on just making sure my ball stays nicely in the center of my stance. I keep my hands level with it or very slightly ahead.

I want to avoid scooping the ball and leaning back behind it. That won’t work for me at all. Yes the ball needs to go high but trust that the golf club can do that for you. You don’t need to get caught behind, trying to help it up in the air. It doesn’t need that help. Ball in the center is good, of a slightly narrower stance. Handle is very slightly ahead of center. I’m gripping a little bit down just to get a bit more control.

Now if that’s going to go to normal height, that’s fine. If I need an extra high lob wedge, I could even just consider opening the face slightly. So I’ve just tilted the face slightly to the right there, bring it down. I was going to hit the ball high but slightly right. If that’s the case, I can aim slightly left. So the club aims right and I aim left.

Then as I hit this, I want to keep my left wrist really nice and firm through impact. I’m not going to let that left wrist break down. Any feeling of flicking, hinging, or scooping, trying to hit the ball up in the air is the wrong feeling here. My left wrist won’t work for me if I do that.

So when I hit this ball, this’ll pop up nicely. You can see my follow through there. My left wrist has stayed nice and firm. It hasn’t scooped over this way or rotated like it would do on a full swing. So it’s a nice solid set up with the lob wedge. Hit underneath the golf ball. The ball pops up nicely.

The one last feeling here is to always confidently hit down. Don’t get scared of this. If you approach this like you’re worried about it knifing through the green or doffing into the front bunker, chances are those are the shots that’ll happen. If you approach this shot with the confidence that I hit down nice and hard, the ball pops up nicely, that’ll actually work better for you. You’ll get more consistent results, better results with a bit more confidence and a bit more aggression in the down part of your stroke.

So, good set up. Be confident with it to make your lob wedge your best friend again.