The Common Wedge Game Error You Can’t See

A big killer of the short game that I encounter and fix, is overuse of the wrists in the backswing and at impact.  Many of you hinge your wrists too much in your short game swing.  This makes your downswing too steep (choppy). Or, it makes you use too much hands at impact, which looks like a scooping action.

Yes, your wrists do hinge in the backswing and they should hinge, but many people simply have too much hinge, which leads to a variety of compensations, and that means inconsistency. You can hit the ground before the ball, hit the ball thin, and will struggle with distance control. Yuck!

If you think you have too much wrist hinge in the backswing, good pitching and wedge swings to watch are Steve Stricker and Jason Dufner. Both use slightly less wrist hinge than average but have razor sharp greenside pitching and wedge games.

Jason Dufner: Simplify your wedge shots (Oct. 2013)

Any time you’re inside your full-swing yardage with a wedge, you probably tend to add a lot of wrist action to try to control the distance and trajectory. Duf’s advice? Don’t.

Providing you have this problem, practice hinging your wrists only slightly. On a scale of 1 to 10, practice hinging your wrists the level of 2 on that scale. It will feel like you’re doing nothing at all. That’s good! In order to get it correct, it needs to feel different. This is what you need to feel in the short term and should practice every day. It’s best to make 20 repetitions without a ball, focusing only on hinging like a 2 out of 10.

When you play on the course, make a practice swing that is a 2 out of 10, then step into the ball and swing while only thinking of your target or landing spot. Only think about your swing mechanics during daily practice and practice swings, not while hitting the shot.

(Cover Photo Credit)