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Getting more spin on partial wedge shots.

beeDoubleU

beeDoubleU

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Hey Guys,

Anyone have advice on how to add spin to partial wedge shots 10-30 yards off the green? I try to play two basic shots around the green: a low chip/bump and run shot, and a higher soft pitch. Sometimes I find I have a hard time holding the ball on really fast firm greens. My dream is to learn how to play that partial wedge shot that hits the green and bounces once or twice then checks up. I don't know if it's a matter of improved technique, or that some people just have great hand-eye coordination. Either way, I'd love to hear your take on how you add spin to your shots around the green. Thanks.

Bryan.
 
Great hand eye coordination. Spinny ball (typically urethane covered). Sharp wedge grooves. Clean contact. Accelerate through the ball.

It isn easy
 
I put the ball back in my stance a bit, start my turn, hinge and hold, turning back down and through the ball, the club head never passes my hands. Doing this with a urethane covered ball, the ball will often hop once or twice and stop, sometimes come back a little. Closer than about 20 yds I can't get the ball to check that much though. I mean I can get the ball to check, but not stop like that, it will roll out a little, unless I hit it short and catch the fringe.
 
Accelerate through the ball, absolutely must catch the ball clean and make sure the club head is accelerating through the ball!

I use a pop stroke when I'm close kinda like Sneds putting stroke-- short take away and then hard and fast through the ball with a short follow through
 
blugold said:
Great hand eye coordination. Spinny ball (typically urethane covered). Sharp wedge grooves. Clean contact. Accelerate through the ball.

It isn easy
Click to expand...

Essentially this. Spin is generated through technique and execution. You could also learn to open the club face and hit a higher pitch/flop shot to accomplish this as well.
 
blugold said:
Great hand eye coordination. Spinny ball (typically urethane covered). Sharp wedge grooves. Clean contact. Accelerate through the ball.

It isn easy
Click to expand...

This is so true! Hard for me to do consistently, but true.

JM
 
one of the keys to this shot is to not let your hands turn over.....hold the face open through impact....keep it pointing at the sky...remember cut spin checks....hook spin rolls out.
 
Put the ball forward in your stance. This is essential to creating spin.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
one of the keys to this shot is to not let your hands turn over.....hold the face open through impact....keep it pointing at the sky...remember cut spin checks....hook spin rolls out.
Click to expand...

Oh man, never heard it put like that Tim but makes all the sense in the world for that type of shot.

JM
 
I put the ball in the middle of the stance,hinge wrist early and accelerate though the shot. Helps with a high spinning ball and clean groves. I practiced that same thing today. Different lies and rough depth. All 4 feet or under.

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk
 
what others have said i find a good descending blow is also needed
 
JoeyJoeJo said:
I found this funny this morning!

No comment on any individual contribution obviously, but evident that different things work for different folks with more than one way to skin a cat as they say...
Click to expand...

Very true, i guess there are a lot of personal approaches to spinning the ball. One thought that i see recurring is accelerating through the ball. I know i don't do this with my wedges, so i'm going to work on this.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk
 
beeDoubleU said:
Very true, i guess there are a lot of personal approaches to spinning the ball. One thought that i see recurring is accelerating through the ball. I know i don't do this with my wedges, so i'm going to work on this.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


while where the ball is placed may differ you are absolutely correct the club must accelerate through the ball. I mainly hit a dead handed and lazy swing shot into the green which releases the ball to the hole but having the check ball in the bag of shots is important.
 
Thanks guys! I can't wait to get to the practice green to try this out. I may need to wait until noone is on the green to practice accelerating through the ball, so i don't hurt any innocent bystanders.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk
 
JoeyJoeJo said:
I found this funny this morning!

No comment on any individual contribution obviously, but evident that different things work for different folks with more than one way to skin a cat as they say...
Click to expand...

It is funny.

I was watching champions tour lessons on golf channel the other day and I can't remember who it was but they said to spin the ball green side the ball must be forward in the stance.

Putting it back in the stance makes the ball run out more.

I found this odd and went out to do some testing and found it to be 100% accurate.
 
JRod said:
It is funny.

I was watching champions tour lessons on golf channel the other day and I can't remember who it was but they said to spin the ball green side the ball must be forward in the stance.

Putting it back in the stance makes the ball run out more.

I found this odd and went out to do some testing and found it to be 100% accurate.
Click to expand...

I play mine way in the back and can certainly vouch for the increased "run" going that route
 
beeDoubleU said:
Thanks guys! I can't wait to get to the practice green to try this out. I may need to wait until noone is on the green to practice accelerating through the ball, so i don't hurt any innocent bystanders.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

make sure you have a tour ball and get good contact and lots of speed. you can also do the low spinner by coming right down on the back of the ball and pinching it against the turf. it feels like you are dropping the club on the back top of the ball from above.
 
mikedean441 said:
I play mine way in the back and can certainly vouch for the increased "run" going that route
Click to expand...

Yep I always played it back to ensure better contact but couldn't get spin and it was irritating. After I saw this it was like having an epiphany.

Just to clarify to the OP I am talking about 15-20 yards and in partial wedge shots, not 80 yard half sand wedges.
 
this is a pretty frustrating part of my game right now. I get a lot of spin on chips . I play the ball pretty neutral/slightly forward in my stance , weight shifted forward and wrists flat through impact. for many years my approach to chipping is to take the ball 2/3 to the hole. when I am on my game theres no doubt in my mind that this is the best way for me to play it. when im struggling its god awfully frustrating to come up 15 feet short. I play with a guy all the time that bumps and runs everything and he has tremendous success doing it and I would certainly have to say that he is more consistent than I am.
 
There are a few keys to playing this shot 1. Weight forward 2. Open stance (open to target) 3. Choke down the grip 4. Practice swings, pay attention to where your club first touches the grass, this is your ball position 5. Keep hands low through impact with even tempo 6. Hands forward, always kept in front of club head

These are the basics to hitting any good wedge shot from close range. The distance the ball travels is directly related to length of swing and tempo. This base line is used by all good wedge player but they make it their own. If you take these and mess with the openness of the club head, ball position, body height you will find various results.

If these baseline is present you can move the ball all over the place and get varied results. I love the 30 yd spinner and play it quite often, it will take practice to get your feel. Stay true to the fundamentals I listed and find your 'feel'
 
JRod said:
Yep I always played it back to ensure better contact but couldn't get spin and it was irritating. After I saw this it was like having an epiphany.

Just to clarify to the OP I am talking about 15-20 yards and in partial wedge shots, not 80 yard half sand wedges.
Click to expand...

Yeah, since my short game has been awful Ive just worked on making the good contact with it in the back of my stance. IN the next few weeks Im going to work with moving it up little by little and seeing if I see any big changes.
 
JoeyJoeJo said:
I found this funny this morning!

No comment on any individual contribution obviously, but evident that different things work for different folks with more than one way to skin a cat as they say...
Click to expand...

Well, one thing I see when people say they play the ball " Up, middle, or back" in their stance is that many times all 3 are really in or very close to the same place. Stance openness & width changes how the ball position actually appears. Basically, if I set up square or just slightly open with the ball in the middle of my stance then someone who sees that may think that ball is in the middle. But if I were to open up my stance, all of a sudden that ball looks more forward in the stance.
 
Tadashi70 said:
There are a few keys to playing this shot 1. Weight forward 2. Open stance (open to target) 3. Choke down the grip 4. Practice swings, pay attention to where your club first touches the grass, this is your ball position 5. Keep hands low through impact with even tempo 6. Hands forward, always kept in front of club head

These are the basics to hitting any good wedge shot from close range. The distance the ball travels is directly related to length of swing and tempo. This base line is used by all good wedge player but they make it their own. If you take these and mess with the openness of the club head, ball position, body height you will find various results.

If these baseline is present you can move the ball all over the place and get varied results. I love the 30 yd spinner and play it quite often, it will take practice to get your feel. Stay true to the fundamentals I listed and find your 'feel'
Click to expand...

Thanks Freddie! I just printed this checklist. I'm going to keep it in my golf bag, so I can remind myself when I'm on the practice green. Keeping the weight forward and using an open stance, are definitely things I need to work on.

One more question, would a closed club face on the back swing impede my ability to spin the ball? I'm wondering if I should try to fix my closed club face before I worry about spinning these wedges.
 
Yes it would effect the spin. Only because you'll make contact will a partial face. You will also see a lower left ball flight
 
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