How do you practice your wedge distances? Say from full pw down to 40 yards? And how precise do you practice to? The range is not great for this, thinking maybe a sim.
Wedge practice?
I wish I had a good way to practice that. Best I get to practice is green side stuff so I work on hitting different shots (one hop stop, pitch and run, high flops, etc) it’s more a way to practice spin I guess and then adjusting distances when I get on the course.
I’m lucky to have a pretty good practice area with a spot for 20-50 yard wedge shots. I’d probably use my Rapsodo more on the range for wedge practice if I didn’t have that area
This is the way, and I need to do more of it.
This is a huge question of mine. I too wonder is a sim is a better way to practice this. But I’m such a feel player that may be hard at first.
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I spend some time monthly on my wedge. Both full, and partial swings. Im fortunate to have a really nice short game practice area just few minutes from my home. I can hit balls at 10 yard diameter practice greens, and record my carry yardages as needed.
A side from knowing my carry yardages with each club, I could go into all the types of practices I do with my wedges, but Im lazy right now.
What I can say is that most of my wedge practice deals with knowing what I can, and can't do with each wedge.
- Thread starter
- #10
Just the ranges around here don’t have many markers to laser. I would like to practice say 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 one day and 45, 55, 65, 75, 85 another . I really want to dial distances this year.
I play a par 3 course on TrackMan from the junior tees, 45-100 yard par 3’s. I’ll play it all with my 60° and then with my 56°, this way I hit different shots rather than just hitting the same distance over and over again.
Sneak onto ASU practice facility….
I take 1/4,1/2,3/4 swings on the range and laser the distances they travel. Have a good grasp of what I’m feeling for and have done really well this year in doing so.
I have gone to the local high school football field before. Otherwise I do have a range with good markers from 50 to 300
For me my set GW/AW is my last full swing club. My range has targets starting at 35 and go all the way to 120 which is the absolute max I can get out of this one. My 54 handles a lot of 75 and in distances and I can practice that on the range also. Anything inside of say 25 yds I usually have my GW/AW unless I need to elevate and then I will pull the 54*.
I try to use one wedge for the majority of my needs to keep it as simple as possible.
I try to use one wedge for the majority of my needs to keep it as simple as possible.
JonD8293
Owner of teeboxtalks.com
I'm lucky at my range we have flags at all close distances to use various wedges, full and half shots etc,
I just finished an article on my site for using a 60 degree wedge,
Also at our range we have a bunker area etc so can practice all different parts of the game
teeboxtalks.com
I just finished an article on my site for using a 60 degree wedge,
Also at our range we have a bunker area etc so can practice all different parts of the game
60 Degree Wedge: Know Who To And When To Use It - Tee Box Talks
As you stand there, assessing the contours of the green and feeling the grip of your 60 degree wedge, knowing you're ready to take on any challenge.
teeboxtalks.com
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- #18
I don't think it has to be. You're just learning. I don't think you change the swing to hit numbers, but rather observe the numbers you're getting from certain swings. My instructor likes to talk more about 50% swing and 75% swing instead of "1/2" swing. The thought being it's more about intent than hitting a position.
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- #19
I think the wedge matrix from SkyTrak+ is one of the best ways to practice partial shots there is.
You get real distances and are told what shots to hit, by percentage
You get real distances and are told what shots to hit, by percentage
I mark out various distances in my backyard, and shoot to those targets. I'm not too concerned about roll out, just hitting a target. If you backyard can't support this, I imagine a local soccer or football field would do the trick.
At my home course in addition to a regular grass driving range, we also have a grass pitching range that goes up to 100 yards, and includes a couple of bunkers. I place the pins at various yardages and hit different wedges to those yardages, and from a variety of lies.
I do it a couple of different ways. We have a very good short game practice area where I can pace out up to 40 yards and hit balls to a green that you can see where it winds up. I spend a lot of time hitting shots from 15 and 30 yards having swing lengths that I know how far it goes. For me a 15 yard shot is basically knee height take away to knee height finish. The 30 yard shot is waist high to waist high. From there I can get a feel for say 25 yards which is between the two. For 40 yards I am going a bit farther than the 30 yard swing. Basically I can calibrate off of those two swings I am very comfortable with.
For 60-120 yard swings I use the Trackman Combine. This has you do two rounds of 3 shots each from 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and drives. This gets me really comfortable on those distances. I feel I am a pretty good wedge player inside 120 yards. I am working on a change to wedge strategy from 80 and 90 yards. Those are close to full swings for my 58 and 54* wedges. I am experimenting with 3/4 swing moves on those. I am quite good from 70 yards with my 58 which is less than a full swing which is why I am working on that.
It is a repetition thing. When people say they have poor feel I think they just don't have experience with those shots. I don't think there is a magic bullet you need to find a way to practice them.
There is a lot of talk about hitting full shots. Having listened to some stats podcasts I agree that closer to the hole is better. On average a poor shot for me from 60 yards is better than an average shot or even a good shot from 90 yards. Obviously if you really struggle with the less than full shots you should change. For me last year I was terrible out of greenside bunkers so I would lay back at times if I felt I couldn't reach the green but a greenside bunker was reachable.
You need to find a way to practice them. There is no substitute for practice.
For 60-120 yard swings I use the Trackman Combine. This has you do two rounds of 3 shots each from 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and drives. This gets me really comfortable on those distances. I feel I am a pretty good wedge player inside 120 yards. I am working on a change to wedge strategy from 80 and 90 yards. Those are close to full swings for my 58 and 54* wedges. I am experimenting with 3/4 swing moves on those. I am quite good from 70 yards with my 58 which is less than a full swing which is why I am working on that.
It is a repetition thing. When people say they have poor feel I think they just don't have experience with those shots. I don't think there is a magic bullet you need to find a way to practice them.
There is a lot of talk about hitting full shots. Having listened to some stats podcasts I agree that closer to the hole is better. On average a poor shot for me from 60 yards is better than an average shot or even a good shot from 90 yards. Obviously if you really struggle with the less than full shots you should change. For me last year I was terrible out of greenside bunkers so I would lay back at times if I felt I couldn't reach the green but a greenside bunker was reachable.
You need to find a way to practice them. There is no substitute for practice.
I have done this a lot with owning my Skytrak and has helped with getting comfortable with distances under 50 yards. Visually things can be be deceiving on the course and you have 35 yards to the front of the green. I then know that my minimum swing is 35 yards carry and go from there. For me im not a huge feel player so this has allowed me to find tune the clock system.
I think the mental switch to learn partial swings would be a big benefit in the long run.
There is a chipping green with a practice bunker near my range that I use when there is no one around. I can max it out to 50 yards for chipping practice. It can be tough to use in the summer when more people are out using it.