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Why Not Hit Wedges With Full Swings?

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I see people post all the time that they do not take full swings with their wedges, presumably meaning anything above GW. Why not? If you are in this camp, what kind of shot do you hit from around 90 - 110 yards?

I am not in this camp and try to set up as many full swing 54 and 58 degree wedges as possible during a round. My results with those shots are typically infinitely better than are shot I hit with a partial swing. I personally find it more difficult to judge how much of a partial swing to use with a club with less loft than taking a normal full swing with a more lofted club.
 
i think control is a big reason. from the scoring distance, you want to be as accurate as possible with a tight margin of error. that is (often) more easily accomplished with a less than full speed/length swing.

i also think spin can be an issue. a full swing will spin more, and spin is hard to control. it's great watching the guys on tour knock spin off from shorter distances and get that one hop and stop shot, instead of the one that pulls the string.

for me, i have gone to the less-than-full-swing dark side camp, because my full swings were often coming up short and stressing my greenside game too much. with a less than full swing, i'm able to hit a more controlled, higher-percentage shot and find a gir.
 
I typically use my GW for as much as possible. Full swings with any wedge including the GW can get really spinny, really quick for me. I have to kind of dead hand anything near full otherwise I risk zipping it back way too much. Particularly if I hit into an upslope.

Earlier this summer I had a full GW into an uphill par 3. I landed it less than 10ft from the pin but hit into a little upslope. Next pitch was from 30 yards short of the green. This is an extreme example but if I'd have hit the same distance shot with my PW I'd have stayed on the lower shelf of the green.

I just put too much spin to hit full wedges. If I could land it within a yard of where I needed it to land it would be another story and I'd use that to my advantage. I'm not that good so I'd prefer the ball to not land a foot shy of clearing the ridge and have it spin back down into oblivion.
 
No right or wrong answer here, I believe. My "full" driver swing takes my left arm pretty much perpendicular to the ground (right handed) with the club right at or slightly beyond parallel. My "full" swing with irons and wedges is more compact and pretty much stops with my hands level with the top of my head. The former is for maximum speed and the latter is for maximum control and consistency. It's not as long, but I consider it a full swing. From there, I have incrementally smaller swings for partial shots. How far I hit my irons and wedges isn't important to me. Knowing exactly how far they go and being able to repeat that distance is the goal.

I should probably cut my driver swing down as well since that's my most inconsistent club. Jon Rahm and Tony Finau seem to do just fine with shorter swings!
 
Sox Fan said:
I see people post all the time that they do not take full swings with their wedges, presumably meaning anything above GW. Why not? If you are in this camp, what kind of shot do you hit from around 90 - 110 yards?

I am not in this camp and try to set up as many full swing 54 and 58 degree wedges as possible during a round. My results with those shots are typically infinitely better than are shot I hit with a partial swing. I personally find it more difficult to judge how much of a partial swing to use with a club with less loft than taking a normal full swing with a more lofted club.
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I avoid taking full swings with my wedges (and these days my gap wedge as well) because several years ago it was explained to me that when you start using that much loft (both static and dynamic) the harder you swing, the higher the ball travels up the face while it's in contact with the club, which makes distance and spin control much more difficult. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I want the ball to slide up the face, but not when I'm trying to hit around the hypothetical max distance for that club.
 
I use my GW (or PW) for the 90-100 yard shot. Usually choke down an inch and not quite a full swing which is perfect for me for that distance.
 
I rarely use full swings with my wedges. The main reason is control and I am rarely at the distance of a full shot. If you practice these shots you can actually get pretty close this way. The last 3 rounds I have stuck wedges from 85-100 to less than 3 feet several times. But I also practice these shots a lot since I tend to be less than 100 out often. Both from good drives and punching out of the trees when it’s a not so good drive.
 
Several have mentioned spin control which makes sense. I do not put much spin on the ball so that aspect is not a concern for me. Balls I hit with full swing 54 or 58 wedges generally come to rest within a couple foot radius of the ball mark. Even with higher swing speed players at my course, I don't see a lot of back up on many shots so it could have to do with the greens as well.
 
I do, all the time. I seem to be developing quite a "feel" for my wedges - admittedly they are 45* and 55* so not the crazy degress most of ya'all play. Most of the time my 45* is used to approach the green and I am pretty good with a full and a half swing with it. My 55* rarely gets the full distance shot but I hit it a few more times tonight with great results!
 
Hitting full shots with my 54* and 58* are very reliable for me. I typically get drop and stop action with both.


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Sox Fan said:
I see people post all the time that they do not take full swings with their wedges, presumably meaning anything above GW. Why not? If you are in this camp, what kind of shot do you hit from around 90 - 110 yards?

I am not in this camp and try to set up as many full swing 54 and 58 degree wedges as possible during a round. My results with those shots are typically infinitely better than are shot I hit with a partial swing. I personally find it more difficult to judge how much of a partial swing to use with a club with less loft than taking a normal full swing with a more lofted club.
Click to expand...

I think most all players do strike full shots with their lofted wedges, whether it be because of hole location, wind conditions, or that they are accustomed to making full swings with every club in their bag.
I think the common comments on internet forums about people playing 3/4 and half shots with wedges is mostly because players are often left with 40 to 90 yard shots and they have no choice but to make a less than full swing.
 
I have no problem hitting full wedge shots. I have tried to learn to hit those 3/4 wedge shots depending on the situation, do I need to flight it lower, do I need to flop over a bunker.
 
Typically I’m hitting half or 3/4 wedge shots because that gives me the best controlled ball flight and accuracy. If I make a full swing, I’m essentially looking to max out that club...when i max out any club, my arms can get away from my body, everything can get out of sync, and the shot can end up way off target.

The higher percentage shot is to take a bigger club and hit something at 75%.


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I rarely find myself in the range to use them for full swings. I'm not a long hitter so I go driver, iron to try to get to the green on a par 4. If I then miss with my iron, I'm somewhere inside 30 yards to pitch or chip to get on the green.
 
Better accuracy for me and less spin with a 3/4 wedge.

Up to 100 or so yards I'll typically hit somewhat of a trapped 58°. A bit back in stance, steeper attack into the ball.

Sometimes I'll opt for my 52° GW as, strangely enough, I prefer to hit it over my 55° SW for approach shots.
 
I think most amatuers struggle to hit high lofted wedges. namely lw with full swings. Once im inside sw distance I no longer use lw for full swings. I will now use anything from a sw to a pw or gw or even 9 or 8iron scenario dependent. Sometimes even at full sw distance I now look to other clubs instead as well. Ive only recently began doing this and it has helped me. Im still getting use to it since it is kind of new to me but it just seems Im in more control over my shots.
 
For me it is all about control. I never swing all out, ever. With shot's inside of 100 yards, I'd rather club up and swing easy for accuracy.
 
I love full swing wedges, all the way to my 60*. Any of the 4 wedges in my bag will be used for anything from a chip shot to a full swing shot depending on what outcome is needed.

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Paladin said:
I avoid taking full swings with my wedges (and these days my gap wedge as well) because several years ago it was explained to me that when you start using that much loft (both static and dynamic) the harder you swing, the higher the ball travels up the face while it's in contact with the club, which makes distance and spin control much more difficult. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I want the ball to slide up the face, but not when I'm trying to hit around the hypothetical max distance for that club.
Click to expand...

Bingo!! This is my problem with a normal full iron swing with all my clubs below my PW. They go really high and short. If I take a full swing with my 54* SW from 90 out I will often hit a 70-80 yard pop up. I can take my PW which normally goes about 115 and hit a 3/4 swing from this distance and get a much more consistent shot that still stops on a dime and never pops up. I also can use that same 3/4 swing with much better results with the 54 from 65-70 yards.
 
DG_1234 said:
I think most all players do strike full shots with their lofted wedges, whether it be because of hole location, wind conditions, or that they are accustomed to making full swings with every club in their bag.
I think the common comments on internet forums about people playing 3/4 and half shots with wedges is mostly because players are often left with 40 to 90 yard shots and they have no choice but to make a less than full swing.
Click to expand...

It's not just because of the distance left with. I will hit a pw from 115 instead of a full gap wedge. I may hit a knock down 8 instead do a full 9. It's also about pin location, environmental conditions and flight control. The better players and especially tour players don't always go 100% on clubs and play the shot shaped that is needed.
 
I take full swings with my wedges sometimes and sometimes not. It really has a lot to do with confidence in the shot, the lie, and whether the greens are likely to spin back too far.


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I have always played the game to get as close to the green as possible. This means I have played 90% of my shots at partial yardage. Consequently inside 130 I am not swinging full.
The amount of spin one puts on a full wedges can be counter productive. And most don’t have the skill to control the spin on full shots. So I play a lot of partial swings with my 4 wedges.
 
I do both. My 58 full swing is my 100 yard club, but also my 54 only to 9:00 is also a 100 yard shot. If I have to roll out a bit I'll use the 54, but if I need it to stick at 100 I generally use the 58 full swing.
I'll use the 54, and 50(full swing 130) the same way to get to 115.
In between yardages are generally partial swings, or an extra hard one depending on roll out, and if uphill or downhill.
And then knockdown shots are all partial, and all deal with those distances.
 
My wedges are an integral part of my game. When I'm on, my game is driver/wedge/putt/putt. So I hit a LOT of full and partial shots with my Cleveland 50/54/58. I've been leaning pretty heavy on my SW around the green, but full shots, my 58* is 110yd, 54* is 120yd, 50* is 130yd and so on..
 
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