Written by Brendon Elliott
Your wedges, or as I like to call them, “scoring clubs,” are of vital importance to try and master. All golfers have their own unique ability level as well as strengths and weaknesses, which is to be expected, but really working on dialing in your wedges to the best of your ability is extremely important in terms of scoring.
Students of PGA Professional Brendon Elliott working on his academy wedge range
Of all the shots you will take during the course of a round, shots with a wedge in your hand make up a good chunk of the total shots you will hit. With that being said, your wedges are pretty important.
The following four tips will help you become a better wedge player. As is the case with all aspects of golf, how much time you are able to devote to practicing will ultimately determine how good you can get in any one area.
Clean Starts In Set Up
No matter what type of shot I am helping a golfer with, the first place you should always start is with the pre-swing fundamentals. Your posture, grip, and alignment are always important, and, as I often say, these are areas that even the pros on tour go back to when they are working on their game.
To hit good, clean wedge shots, you will generally need to address the P.G.A. (Posture, Grip, Alignment) as follows for a standard shot:
Posture: With posture for wedge shots, you want to start from the ground up as you look at this fundamental. You will want your width of stance to be narrower than it would be with any other club. For a standard full swing with any of your wedges, your feet will be roughly an inch inside of shoulder width apart. As you get into shorter and more controlled three-quarter-and-half wedges, you will want to get even narrower.
Your actual posture will be pretty standard, with the following being your key checkpoints:
The weight in your feet should be in the balls of the feet or centered
Your knees will be very slightly flexed
Your center mass, or sternum, should be stable and over the ball
Your weight, or pressure distribution, will be about 60/40, favoring your lead side
Your ball position should be just back of center for standard shots and even further back for your more flighted, controlled three-quarter-and-half wedge shots
Grip: Your grip should be fairly neutral for wedge shots of all kinds. A great standard checkpoint for this is making sure the V’s that you create with your thumb and pointer finger on both hands are pointing towards your trail shoulder. Your grip pressure should be between a 5-6 on a scale of 1-10.
Alignment: Your target line should, as always, be in line with where you want your shot to start. For wedge shots, there is usually not much need for left-to-right or right-to-left-shaped shots, so you will generally be fairly straightforward with your target line. Your body lines will be ever so slightly open to your target line. This is a slight diversion from other full-swing shots where you would be looking to be pretty much parallel left (for righties) of your target line.
Clean Depends on Speed Through Impact & Good Low Point Control
Hitting good, clean, and crisp wedges requires you to have speed coming through the ball at impact. Additionally, you must have great control of your low point as you come into the ball at impact.
A great drill that I often use with my students is the following simple low-point exercise:
Step 1: When on the range, choose a target and use alignment sticks for your target line & body lines (toe line).
Step 2: Make a line of baby powder running horizontally from where you will be hitting toward your target.
Step 3: Place the golf balls that you will be hitting the distance of one ball width behind the powder line.
Step 4: Hit wedge shots with your objective being to hit the ball first, then make your divot on the powder line.
Speed and Wedges
It is important to make note of the fact that well-struck wedges, like is the case with all clubs in the bag, require you to apply speed in your swing at the correct point. The “stepping on the gas,” as I often call it, needs to be at the halfway point in the downswing, where the club is starting to release. By the time you get to impact, your hands should be slightly ahead of the ball, and your full release is at about 30 to 40 degrees after impact.
Many golfers both “step on the gas” and start to release the club far too soon in the downswing. For some, this happens almost immediately on the way down from the top. This results in a loss of speed through impact and a club that is already swinging up on the ball rather than seeing the hands leading slightly at impact. And that is just one of the issues that this will result in. With wedges, you will see both those dreaded thinned rocketed shots or those chunky monkey massive divot ones we all love to hate.
Learn Your Full Distances and Your Control, Flighted Distances
Wedge shots should be all about control and how close you can get the ball to the target. Despite the incredible distances some professionals can carry their various wedges; it is not about distance whatsoever, but rather, it’s about knowing how far you carry each wedge with a controlled swing. Yes, the pros on the PGA TOUR can carry relatively long distances with their wedges as compared to many amateurs; however, they are always swinging within themselves and not at all forcing a wedge shot to carry a particular distance.
Stop trying to hit your wedges further! Pay attention to making good contact and knowing exactly what your carry distances are.
I advise you to know your carry distances, inside and out, with all of your clubs, but your wedges most importantly. It is well worth your time to “calibrate” your carry distances once a month. To do this, follow these steps:
Option A
Go to your local range or indoor facility that has radar capabilities, such as TopTracer or TrackMan.
Step 1: Get warmed up. Hit at least a dozen shots to get nice and loose.
Step 2: You will now go through each of your wedges, starting with the least lofted, such as your pitching wedge. Hit 12 shots with each wedge and record your CARRY distances for each shot. Throw out your one high and one low on decently struck shots. Don’t count the ones you hit poorly, such as a topped or heavy shot.
Step 3: Continue on repeating step 2 with all your wedges as you work your way down to your highest lofted wedge.
Step 4: Calculate your average carry distance from the 10 shots you keep for each wedge.
Option B
You can also DIY on getting your wedge carry distances. Repeat the steps above at your own range or even into a net if you have a reliable personal launch monitor.
Option C
You can also go to your local retail golf store if they offer fittings, like PGA TOUR Superstore.In these circ*mstances, you would be requesting an actual wedge fitting. This would be a two-for in that you can get your carry distances as well as get recommendations on the types of wedge gapping you should have, as well as the bounce and grinds you would need.
It is important to note that while you are getting your carry distances, you should be swinging within yourself and not at all going after wedges like you would a driver.
Coach Elliott took a student for a full bag fitting recently at the PGA TOUR Superstore
Controlled, Flighted Wedges
After you get a good feel on what your carry distances are with each of your wedges, coming off of a controlled full swing, you will next want to work on some flighted and controlled shots. These are the bread-and-butter shots that all good wedge players have. A PGA TOUR or LPGA Tour professional very rarely hits a full wedge. They are more predominantly hitting some level of a flighted and controlled wedge shot, all based on their full wedge carry distance.
When I say “flighted, controlled wedge shot,” I am referring to some variation of the standard full-swing shot, such as a three-quarter to half wedge shot. Good wedge players know what they carry the ball with these types of partial shots. Additionally, good wedge players also know how to use all of their wedges to hit different trajectories on their approaches to the flag. This is another thing that makes a great wedge player just that; a great wedge player.
So, what does this all have to do with hitting cleaner wedge shots? Well, what I have found, especially in the heat of playing for a score with your buddies or competing in tournaments, is that indecision and doubt can kill your wedge play.
You want to get to the point that you intimately know your wedge game and have full confidence in it. That is what will ultimately help you master your wedges.
Get to Know Wedge Bounce
Lastly, I think it is important to have a solid understanding of what bounce is on a wedge and how it affects shots based on your tendencies. Having an improper bounce on your wedges can potentially wreak havoc on your wedge play and ability to hit good shots.
What is Bounce? According to Vokey.com:
“Wedge bounce is the angle created between the leading edge and the lowest point of the sole or trailing edge. This is the area of the club that hits through the ground as it contacts the ball. The greater the wedge bounce degree, the higher the leading edge is off the surface at address.”
Depending on your tendencies as your wedge club head approaches the ball at impact, for example, if you are more of a “digger” and come in a little steeper, you will need a bounce that jives with that. Check out this video for more information about bounce.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is a multiple award-winning Golf Professional based in Central Florida.He is the 2017 PGA of America’s National Youth Player Development Award Winner and is the recipientof more than 25 other industry awards with a 
focus on Coaching & Education. He is considered by hispeers as an industry expert on topics ranging from Jr. Golf Development to Operations to IndustrySustainability. He is the founder of the Little Linksters Golf Academies and the Little Linksters Associationfor Junior Golf Development, a 501c3 nonprofit also based out of Central Florida. Brendon is also afreelance golf writer for PGA.com, Golf Range Magazine and several other golf websites and blogs. He isa member of the Golf Writers Association of America. You can learn more about Brendon atBrendonElliott.com and Little Linksters at littlelinksters.com.
