My 3 Keys to Great Wedge Play

If you dread any form of pitch or chip shot then this article is expressly for you. If you feel like you could save a few more strokes around the greens then this article is for you. Utilizing better technique will literally make these shots easier. Here are a few straightforward improvements that will get the job done. Watch...

Key #1: Set Up

• Feet should be close together. The most common mistake I see is a stance that's too wide.
• Alignment should be square. Yes, square.
• Ball position is centered to slightly forward.
• Weight distribution is slightly favoring the front foot.

The Proper Set Up...

Key #2: Wrist Action

• Wrists should be relatively quiet in the backswing.
• Avoid excessive cupping in the lead wrist. The left wrist for you righties out there.

Key #3: Body Pivot

• Keep the chest rotating through the strike in order to shallow the attack angle.
• Extend the lead side through impact.
• Avoid thoughts of "stay down", "hit down" or "pinch the ball".

As you work towards better technique be aware that your results are not going to transition from bad to good instantaneously. Taking ownership of the upgrades will take time and patience. Get the set up correct, use the wrists properly and shallow the angle of attack with good chest rotation. Now we're talking!

If you'd like to learn more about improving your wedge play check out the Wedge Project.

Golf Grip: Strong, Neutral or Weak?

The Vardon grip?  The interlock grip?  The ten-finger or baseball grip?  What is a strong grip? Does that mean I must hold the club tighter?  There seems to be so much confusion about what constitutes a good, functional grip that I thought I would address a few issues pertaining to our one and only connection with the club. I must first state that the grip is part of the "fundamentals' of golf.  Well, not really! While the grip and aim and set-up are important to your ability to hit a golf ball, the manner in which you grip the club is by no means fundamental - the grip is not integral.  I have seen far too many golfers with great grips hit poor golf shots and vice versa....

The club should be held primarily in the fingers with the hands kept close together.   I have no preference for the overlap, interlock or baseball type grips.   Success has been had with all of them!

A strong grip is one where both hands are rotated away from the target; a weak grip is one where both hands are rotated toward the target and a neutral grip falls somewhere in between.

I am a big fan of a strong grip. It encourages the ball to go further and the hands to lead the club head in to impact. When that happens there is less of a tendency to flip the club face closed.  If you are a hooker of the ball, believe it or not, but a stronger grip might just help you alleviate those dreaded left shots.  It is imperative for a golfer with a strong grip to have quiet hands through impact. Quiet hands are ultimately more consistent than active hands. The vast majority of the greatest golfers of all time employed a strong grip including  Patty Berg, the greatest woman golfer of all time, who had an exceedingly strong grip.

 

 

  The grip pictured above is non functional grip.  In this example the golfer is forced to flip their hands through impact in an effort to square the face - everything is based on timing.  This grip essentially promotes active hands through impact - just what we should be trying not to do. There was only one truly great golfer who used a weak grip (and certainly not to the extent illustrated in this photo) - Ben Hogan. It is important to remember that Hogan struggled in the early part of his career with hooking the ball and a weak grip was one of the factors he implemented to overcome that tendency.

Try to get your grip to fit into a range of acceptability; a range within which it can function.  And in my experience a strong grip is far more functional than a weak one.