You might have been told to get really good with one of your wedges and rely on it for most of your short-game shots. But let me ask you something: why do you have three or four wedges in your bag if you’re only going to pull out the same one every time?
Get to know all of your wedges. Focus on technique and tempo, and just switch out which wedge you’re using to regulate distance and trajectory (they go hand in hand). For technique, set up with more weight on your lead leg and keep it there while you make a swing that relies mostly on body rotation, leading your arms into impact [above]. Your arms and hands simply come along for the ride.
For tempo, I know it’s tempting to go all-out with these clubs or even throttle back just a little. I think it’s much easier to control these shots when you focus on 50-percent effort. Don’t worry so much about how far you’re taking the club back. You can’t really see that anyway. Just try to make the same-length swing at half your full-out effort and see how distance and trajectory change solely by which club you select. You won’t need a lot of practice to get consistently good results.
Jason Guss is one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Illinois. The Jason Guss Golf Academy is at Naperville Country Club.
