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30-60 yard shot

Oregon Golfer

Oregon Golfer

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Assuming you have plenty of green to work with, how do you play this shot? I used to think of <100 yards to be the strongest part of my game but recently I CANNOT hit less that a 3/4 wedge shot without squirting it out to the right at ~ 70*. I hesitate to call this a "shank" because I don't think it's hitting the hosel but instead I think I'm coming in with the face open and adding loft and as a result hitting it of the toe with an open face. For anything less that 20yds I have become comfortable with "putting with loft" as Raymond Floyd calls it but between 30-60 yards I am terrified and would rather chip a 7 iron that attmpet to hit a wedge. I asked my local club pro and he said I am too armsy and need to think of "hitting it with my chest", (in other words; turning through the shot), and that works if keep my weight on my let side but my accuracy is horrible with that technique. HELP!!!!

In 6 days we go to Chambers Bay for the THP NW Get Together and I anticipate so many opportunities to embarass myself from 30-60 yards out.
 
I usually put the ball way back in my stance and hit an elongated bump and run. Land it short of the green and let in bounce and roll on. I use my 50*.
 
I usually really like hitting these shots. I'm pretty good at them. I take out my 58* Vokey. Then take a nice easy swing using as much power as I think I need depending on the length of the shot. I usually take a shorter back swing also. These shots don't scare me at all!
 
bullfrog said:
I usually really like hitting these shots. I'm pretty good at them. I take out my 58* Vokey. Then take a nice easy swing using as much power as I think I need depending on the length of the shot. I usually take a shorter back swing also. These shots don't scare me at all!
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I know that feeling and I wish I could get back there. I feel so lost...
 
Oregon Golfer said:
In 6 days we go to Chambers Bay for the THP NW Get Together and I anticipate so many opportunities to embarass myself from 30-60 yards out.
Click to expand...

What I've found it to work for me if the ball isn't sitting way up is to load up all my weight to the front, take a shorter back swing and give it a good crack though without much of a follow through. I generally just alter the loft of the club depending on how far I need it to either carry or run.

If it makes you feel any better if I play Chambers anything like today it's going to be diabolical. Chipping and putting were the only thing saving me today since I think I hit like 2 fairways.
 
I think it really depends on the type of shot needed. High vs let it run and such, Plus the lie matters too but normally I grab my 60* wedge
 
I take my 56*, open up my stance, but the ball in the back of my stance, and fire away. It sounds like you may be having a setup issue morethan swing issue.
 
Super Tuna said:
What I've found it to work for me if the ball isn't sitting way up is to load up all my weight to the front, take a shorter back swing and give it a good crack though without much of a follow through. I generally just alter the loft of the club depending on how far I need it to either carry or run.

If it makes you feel any better if I play Chambers anything like today it's going to be diabolical. Chipping and putting were the only thing saving me today since I think I hit like 2 fairways.
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Thanks, that makes me feel so much better. :)
 
I really struggle here as well, so you are for sure not the only one. Since I dropped the 58*, I have been playing shots with my 54* I really never had to hit before, and I am struggling, to say the least. I just can't get comfortable over these shots, and that was part of the reason I dropped the 58*, so I wouldn't be second guessing club choice and could instead just focus on the shot, instead of worrying over clubs. Admittedly, I struggle, so don't take my word for the gospel, but I prefer hitting lower shots, accounting for the run out. If I have a good lie where I can slide under the ball, I like hitting high floppers as well.

I am going to read through some of the advise given here, because I could sure used it. Bottom line, keep your head up (not actual swing advise) and just keep at it. It will click and you will kick some arse. Make Chambers Bay your beotch!
 
This is one of my favorite shots. Depending on distance, lie, landing area etc dictates how & with what club I play it. My general approach is to use my 56°, AW, PW or 9i set it back in the stance and play a chip and run with a semi flat swing. Basically it comes out low and with lots of spin.

It sounds like you are over manipulating the club face and adding too many variables to a tough shot. When it comes to a precise and touchy shot like this I try and make it as simple as possible. Also make sure that no matter the distance you are accelerating through the ball so use your backswing as your power meter.
 
I usually take my 60 and play it similar to a bunker shot...weight more on my forward foot, club open and try not to shut the face down all the way on my follow through. It's also a yardage I try and avoid...
 
I play it with my 60* and do 1/4 to 1/2 swings.

If none of these suggestions work, then might I suggest you play to where you have 100 yds left to the green/flag? If it's a par 4 where driver will get you in that 30-60 yd range, don't use driver, and instead tee off with your 5w or 2i etc. etc.
 
I try to play the low check and stop but It always pops up high and I have a mental lapse with these shots. I have the same problem you do.
 
I open my stance slightly...my feet only about a club head width apart...ball all the way back to front of my back foot....weight 65% on my left side.....move my hands foward till they are even with my left thigh...that way I preset the club....then I vary the distance with how far I take the club back but never more than halfway....rotate hips though the shot....ball will come out mid height with alot of spin.

Depending on distance and situation I will use anything from a 50* to a 58* wedge.
 
Oregon Golfer said:
Assuming you have plenty of green to work with, how do you play this shot? I used to think of <100 yards to be the strongest part of my game but recently I CANNOT hit less that a 3/4 wedge shot without squirting it out to the right at ~ 70*. I hesitate to call this a "shank" because I don't think it's hitting the hosel but instead I think I'm coming in with the face open and adding loft and as a result hitting it of the toe with an open face. For anything less that 20yds I have become comfortable with "putting with loft" as Raymond Floyd calls it but between 30-60 yards I am terrified and would rather chip a 7 iron that attmpet to hit a wedge. I asked my local club pro and he said I am too armsy and need to think of "hitting it with my chest", (in other words; turning through the shot), and that works if keep my weight on my let side but my accuracy is horrible with that technique. HELP!!!!

In 6 days we go to Chambers Bay for the THP NW Get Together and I anticipate so many opportunities to embarass myself from 30-60 yards out.
Click to expand...

If you're hitting it off the hosel, you might want to video yourself and see if you stop turning your body through the shot. It's pretty easy to stop turning your hips and shoulders through the shot and leaving you no choice but to throw your hands at the ball in order to just hit it. Bad timing in doing that on top of it and voila, the low right fade.
 
dtak84 said:
I play it with my 60* and do 1/4 to 1/2 swings.

If none of these suggestions work, then might I suggest you play to where you have 100 yds left to the green/flag? If it's a par 4 where driver will get you in that 30-60 yd range, don't use driver, and instead tee off with your 5w or 2i etc. etc.
Click to expand...

Course management FTW! I struggle with that...even today playing a par 5 on my home course I ened up 270 out....I hit my 3W 230-240 at best....but I do it anyways and leave myself 30 yards over a bunker to a tucked pin...I should have hit a 6iron and left myself a full GW shot....something I really need to work on.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
Course management FTW! I struggle with that...even today playing a par 5 on my home course I ened up 270 out....I hit my 3W 230-240 at best....but I do it anyways and leave myself 30 yards over a bunker to a tucked pin...I should have hit a 6iron and left myself a full GW shot....something I really need to work on.
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I believe it is something a lot of us need to work on and it is one of the factors that keep a lot of us, myself included, from shooting lower scores.
 
80 yards and in is where I gain the most shots, double and triple bogeys are created in this range for me.
 
I am faced with that distance frequently. I use a half pitch technique for that type of distance. I put the ball back in my stance, more weight on my left foot and take a half swing with my 52 wedge which results about a 50 yard shot. Same with my 56 wedge, half swing gives me a 40 yd. shot. I can alter the distance taking the club back less / more as well as the follow through distance.
 
30 yards im putting LOL

I struggle with this big time as well. Ive tried working on the bump and run, but need to practice more as they are coming in HOT and always past the pin with no spin at all. Usually hit my 58* though and seem to be all over the place with it, allthough I am at least making better contact than the blading across the green that im so famous for.
 
60 yards is a full sw for me with my current swing so that distance is easy. I'm probably part of the minority here that feels very comfortable playing a flop shot as my pitching and chipping is not great so I prefer to use trajectory to get the ball to stop where I want it so from almost the edge of the green to about 35-40 yards ill play a flop shot with my sw or 62* wedge. 40-60 yards I struggle to choose between my 62* and my sw and will almost always choose the wrong club. It's a distance I hate and will avoid like the plague.
 
A 30 yard shot is a slightly strong pitch shot with my 56*. I don't open my stance. In fact, my feet are nearly pressed against each other. Its just a shot I spent about 3 buckets a week working on last year, since the range you speak of was one of my weakest points. Now it's one of strongest. 60 yards is slightly more than 3/4 56* wedge for me.

I don't remember where I read it, probably golf digest, and I'm pretty sure it was Butch Harmon, but he suggested once that people just go out, pick a yardage, and learn about 3 different shots from there to get to the green. That way, you'd have an array of shots, depending on the wind, lie, and amount of green to work with. I'm not nearly that good I guess. As an amateur, I figured that if I just make it on the green every time, I'm shaving strokes off. So I just have one type for the 20-50 yard range, the standard pitch, and I just change what club I use to change the distance. Takes a lot of guess work out.

~Rock
 
mward2002 said:
If you're hitting it off the hosel, you might want to video yourself and see if you stop turning your body through the shot. It's pretty easy to stop turning your hips and shoulders through the shot and leaving you no choice but to throw your hands at the ball in order to just hit it. Bad timing in doing that on top of it and voila, the low right fade.
Click to expand...


This was and (and can still be at times) my problem. Using my hands instead of my shoulder and hips. I've found that coming outside-in, staying down, and really feeling my shoulders turn though helps me take the hosel out of play.
 
What complicates the 30-60 yard shot to me is the variety of lies & turf usually faced on those shots. Let alone elevation changes or short-sided hole locations.
All of it adds up to rarely having the same shot in any given round... Guess this is why golf is so hard.

Lately the complicating factor I'm struggling with is roll-out to the hole. I can usually get the ball up in the air and land it somewhere near I want, but the greens are very incosistent and mostly soft. I've been playing mostly with urethane cover balls and hit with the zip grooves of my CG14 54* the ball stops pretty quickly. One of my regular playing partners uses the Titleist DT balls and almost always gets a nice release towards the hole. I feel like I have to aim for the stick and this early in the season my distance control isn't quite there yet...
 
When I have problems with this distance, it's almost always because I pick up my head to look at the ball flight before finishing the shot. If I concentrate on seeing the club sweep through the grass, finishing with my hands high (for most shots), and THEN look where the ball is going, I get pretty good results.
 
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