GOLF, WEDGES, SHORT GAME, SAND WEDGE, PITCHING WEDGE, GAP WEDGE, GET TO KNOW YOUR WEDGES, FINESSE SHOTS

 

what about it?

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED... Like most golfers I have owned at least, what seems like, a thousand wedges. I am always tinkering with the balance and shaft and head combinations. I even shaved the modern toe off a couple wedges because I was tired of looking at that ugly protrusion sticking out of the head of the modern sand wedge. Too much toe weight. The result was a more rounded oval shaped wedge with the center of gravity and balance point closer to the shaft, which I feel allows me to control the movements of the club head at impact with more alacrity. I have settled on the Nippon Super-Peening Blue shaft in all my clubs because it allows maximum control and release of the head on shots of all distances and feels. I have four or five wedges that I use in different combinations at any given time. During the summer, the only time I have to practice, because of long hours in the pro shop and running a golf course, is at night out in my back yard and adjoining vacant lot. I hit about 50 to 100 balls a night when I get home, mostly to keep some feel and to give our springer spaniel some exercise. Hitting balls under a spot light and in the dark is great for your intuition and ball striking skills. You have to learn to find the ball without the benefit of really seeing it. It is a great training exercise. I hit thousands and thousands of wedges over the course of a year; chips, pitches, lobs...in the snow, rain and under all types of conditions. I am finally getting to know these wedges and have become a pretty damn good wedge player most of the time. I am not great by any means, but I am getting to the point where I almost know what I am doing with a wedge in my hands, and it has only taken about 15 years or so of concentrated effort. To repeat myself, you really have to give yourself a chance to get to know your wedges and how they react under any given circumstances. It is not something that happens overnight, although for me it has happened mostly at night. I know what a 35 to 40 yard shot feels like because that is the diagonal of the longest point I can safely hit a shot within the confines of my practice area. Heaven forbid I should break a neighbor’s window. The rest is adding some swing or taking some swing away to get the distances. The most important thing I have learned however is how to make solid contact and control trajectory and distance off of whatever lie I am given. I refuse to set the ball up, and deal with the shot I was given. This is the greatest benefit of all my practice, focus, concentration, power, and skill. Entrance_Page.html