Wedge Setup, What Is The Best Set Up For Wedge Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles
Wedge Setup, What Is The Best Set Up For Wedge Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles

A set up with a wedge is an interesting thing because it can look very, very different depending on the type of wedge shot we’re going to hit. If you got a seven iron your setup is going to be the same for a seven iron, because it’s the same shot every time. But a pitching wedge or wedge could go anywhere from 130 yards right down to – to one yard. So the setup needs to reflect the variety of different shots that you can hit.

So if I set up to a full wedge – I’ve got a gap wedge here, a 52 degree wedge. My gap wedge goes 115 yards from that setup. That’s a wide stance, a central ball position and a big, full grip. And if we were to look at it from down the line this way, everything would be aimed straight and square at the target. But if I’m going to change my shot a little bit, my setup can change. So if I was only going to hit a 50 yard pitch shot this time, this is a very powerful set up, but it’s got too much power for the shot I’m trying to hit. So I would stand with my feet a lot nearer. I would stand with my hands a lot lower down the grip. And therefore I would have to move a little bit closer to the golf ball. So straight away we go narrow and near and down and immediately I’ve got less power in my setup. Because I’ve got less power, I don’t want to move my body weight too much because that generates power. But I do want to be on my left side for the point of impact. So to be on my left side at the point of impact, I’m going to start my body weight over on my left side. So I’m actually setting up around about 60% to 70% ahead so my ball – my body weight stays on my left side. My ball stays back in the middle, leaning on my left side. That’s a good setup for about a 50 yard wedge shot. One other consideration with these shorter wedge shots is the fact that you don’t always have to stand open – sorry. You don’t have – always have to stand square with your feet. Quite often we would stand open with the feet and open with the hips. Standing here open with the feet, open with the hips provides a little bit more room for the club to come through the impact area and it means I don’t have to spin my hips out of the way quite so aggressively. So my setup can be very different depending on whether I’m hitting a full wedge, a half wedge, or a little bump around the side of the green. 2014-11-10

A set up with a wedge is an interesting thing because it can look very, very different depending on the type of wedge shot we’re going to hit. If you got a seven iron your setup is going to be the same for a seven iron, because it’s the same shot every time. But a pitching wedge or wedge could go anywhere from 130 yards right down to – to one yard. So the setup needs to reflect the variety of different shots that you can hit.

So if I set up to a full wedge – I’ve got a gap wedge here, a 52 degree wedge. My gap wedge goes 115 yards from that setup. That’s a wide stance, a central ball position and a big, full grip. And if we were to look at it from down the line this way, everything would be aimed straight and square at the target. But if I’m going to change my shot a little bit, my setup can change. So if I was only going to hit a 50 yard pitch shot this time, this is a very powerful set up, but it’s got too much power for the shot I’m trying to hit. So I would stand with my feet a lot nearer. I would stand with my hands a lot lower down the grip. And therefore I would have to move a little bit closer to the golf ball. So straight away we go narrow and near and down and immediately I’ve got less power in my setup.

Because I’ve got less power, I don’t want to move my body weight too much because that generates power. But I do want to be on my left side for the point of impact. So to be on my left side at the point of impact, I’m going to start my body weight over on my left side. So I’m actually setting up around about 60% to 70% ahead so my ball – my body weight stays on my left side. My ball stays back in the middle, leaning on my left side. That’s a good setup for about a 50 yard wedge shot.

One other consideration with these shorter wedge shots is the fact that you don’t always have to stand open – sorry. You don’t have – always have to stand square with your feet. Quite often we would stand open with the feet and open with the hips. Standing here open with the feet, open with the hips provides a little bit more room for the club to come through the impact area and it means I don’t have to spin my hips out of the way quite so aggressively. So my setup can be very different depending on whether I’m hitting a full wedge, a half wedge, or a little bump around the side of the green.