CHAPTER 6
FINESSE WEDGE SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ADAPTATIONS
Being able to see a shot, judge your lie, and apply the appropriate adjustments so you can pull it off is truly the “art of golf.”
Successfully applying the finesse wedge fundamentals presented thus far will certainly result in great contact, but there’s a lot more to being great than that. What happens when you have an odd lie or need to change the trajectory? What happens when your solid shots roll too far past the pin? Beyond having great technique, great wedge players know how to select the appropriate shot, visualize landing spots, manipulate shot trajectory, as well as effectively judge and adapt to different lie conditions. These are skills—the talented application of knowledge and advanced moves that build on the five fundamentals and allow you to handle anything the course throws at you. Here are the keys to developing them and transforming your finesse wedge swing into a legitimate scoring weapon.
HOW TO CONTROL FINESSE WEDGE TRAJECTORY
Change trajectories by switching to a higher- or lower-lofted club, or vary the shaft lean and face angle of the clubhead at address. Whatever adaptions you choose, there’s only one arm motion, and it always stays the same.
Within the structure of my Finesse Wedge System are two effective ways to control trajectory or hit the “trajectory window” you visualize in your pre-shot routine. The first and most obvious one is to vary your club selection. All things being equal, less-lofted clubs (your 9-iron, for example) produce lower trajectories and less spin than higher-lofted clubs (i.e., your sand wedge). In addition, you can create different trajectories with the same club by making changes to your setup. By moving the ball back in your stance and keeping your hands hanging over your zipper, the shaft will lean more toward the target. This reduces loft, which lowers trajectory. The opposite happens when you move the ball up in your stance while keeping your hands hanging in the same place, the shaft will move vertically, creating more loft and a higher trajectory. (For even higher shots, you can rotate the clubface open as well.) This will give you a minimum of three trajectories with each club. The good news is that the fundamental rules of the finesse wedge swing you’ve already learned still apply. Regardless of the club you use or the trajectory you choose, you always set up for finesse, swing on plane with a finesse sequence, and release the club with your energy flowing toward the target.
Notice in the photos on the preceding page how shaft lean decreases and effective loft increases as I move the ball from off my back foot (frame 1, lower than normal shot) to up between my toes (frame 3, higher than normal shot). An important key is that the more forward you play the ball in your stance, the more you need to open your chest to the target at address so that your sternum is always pointing to a spot on the ground a few inches in front of the ball. This helps get the low point of your swing in front of the ball, even with a forward ball position.
For an extremely high shot (preceding page, bottom right image), create maximum loft by setting up as though you’re hitting a bunker shot (this will be covered in Chapter 10). Stand farther away from the ball, widen your stance and lower your hands to almost knee height. As you drop your hands, allow the clubface to rotate open. Even though it’s a completely different stance than what you’ve seen so far, it requires the same finesse wedge motion as the others (and perhaps a longer, faster arm swing).
HOW TO DEVELOP FINESSE WEDGE TOUCH AND DISTANCE CONTROL
SWING LENGTH VS. ENERGY
Alter swing length—not its rhythm—to vary shot distance: Make a longer swing for more energy on longer wedge shots and a shorter swing for less energy on shorter wedge shots. Always match the length of your backswing with the length of your throughswing.
In the short game, it’s relatively easy to hit it straight (unlike the power game), so the most valuable skill is learning to control your distance. Distance control, or “touch,” is a function of the effective loft of the club at impact, the impact conditions, and the player’s ability to sense how much energy must be imparted to the ball to get it pin high. There’s a certain level of judgment involved, but in technical terms you control energy with swing length and rhythm. When you swing in rhythm, your backswing and the downswing match on both sides of impact, you appear flowing and graceful (the finesse sequence will help), and it will take the same amount of time to complete your swing regardless of its length. As such, your short wedge swings—for shorter finesse wedge shots—will feel “slower” than your big wedge swings (i.e., the ones you use for longer finesse wedge shots).
Every golfer has his or her innate rhythm. What’s good for me or for one of my Tour players may not be good for you. There isn’t one “perfect” pace. Some players are naturally brisk; Tom Watson and Brandt Snedeker come to mind. Others, like Steve Stricker, are more languid. Your rhythm is your own, and it should never change. To find it, repeat the One-and-Two Drill (here), saying “one-and-two” in a rhythmic manner while you swing. Having great rhythm allows you to swing past the ball and not “hit” at it. It’s the key to developing great touch.
Given the lie conditions, the effective loft of the club you’ve chosen, and your natural rhythm, there’s only one swing length that’ll impart the correct amount of energy to the ball to stop it pin high. To find it, get lost mentally in the shot as you set up. Look at the target while swinging rhythmically next to the ball, and establish a feel for the swing length that matches the energy your mind tells you is necessary for the shot at hand. Once you have it, step in and react to that picture.
HOW TO ASSESS LIES IN THE ROUGH
Even though every situation is different, there are essentially two types of lies in the rough: “clean” lies and “fluff” lies. As the descriptions indicate, a clean lie allows you to get the clubface on the back of the ball with no real grass interference—like a shot from the fairway. In this case, no adaptation is needed and you can play a normal shot.
Fluff lies are a different matter, and the trick is determining how much the grass behind the ball will influence the shot. USGA rules forbid you from testing the surface around your lie, so you can’t press your club into the ground or push grass away from the ball. You can, however, set your club lightly behind the ball and “measure the fluff.” This act will make it fairly easy to determine if you’ll be able to get the clubface cleanly on the back of the ball and, if not, the amount of grass that will come between the clubface and the ball at impact. Judging how much influence the fluff will have on an ensuing shot is critical to performance. Use the following criteria:
1. Check for Moisture
Seve Ballesteros taught my brother, Tom, to determine the moisture content of the grass around and underneath the ball. The wetter the grass, the more energy it will take out of your swing, mandating a longer, faster motion. The dryer the grass, the less it will affect the energy.
2. Check the Grain
If the grain (the direction in which the grass is growing) is lying in your favor (toward the target), then the ball should fly out normally, as if from a clean lie. If the grain direction is coming toward you, it will exert a dramatic effect and require a longer swing and more energy. When I’m out coaching on Tour and locate a spot around the short-game practice area with this kind of into-the-grain fluffy lie, I’ll bet the player $5 that they come up short. Ultimately, it’s a good lesson for them, and it never hurts to have a little extra gas money on my end.
3. Check the Density
Density deals with both the thickness of the grass blades and how close they’re growing together, which is species dependent. Thick grasses such as Kikuyu, fescue, Bermuda, and bent (which often seeps from the green and fairway into the rough) sap the most energy from your intended swing. Less dense grasses such as bluegrass and winter rye have less of an effect.
To extricate your ball from a clean lie in the rough, use your standard finesse wedge setup and swing. To hit it crisply from a fluff lie, you’ll need to adjust your setup to create a steeper angle of attack and add energy.
Once you determine that you have a fluff lie and consider the factors regarding the severity of its influence, you need to counteract it by steepening your angle of attack, which encourages the club to work up the plane more abruptly. How do you steepen the angle? Easy—create it with your address position by making the following adjustments: widen your stance, choke down on the club to the bottom of the grip, and lean a little extra weight into your lead thigh, which will allow your upper body and the handle of the club to slide toward the target. (The parameters for controlling trajectory remain the same.) Creating angle will make a huge difference in the quality of your contact, but you may also have to ramp up the energy depending on the severity of the lie by making a bigger swing. Remember, in the finesse game, you increase swing length, not rhythm, to add energy. Don’t confuse “bigger swing” with “hit it harder.”
HOW TO FINESSE FROM DEEP ROUGH
STEP 1: Choke down, widen out, and “lean” your weight into your lead thigh (all other finesse fundamentals apply).
STEP 2: These setup adjustments create a steeper, narrower backswing arc.
STEP 3: Maintain the pressure in your lead leg as you deliver the club with a steeper angle of attack. This will minimize grass interference and produce crisp ball/club contact.
HOW TO ADJUST FOR SLOPES
Creating angle at address isn’t the only way to alter your angle of attack. You can also do it by changing your swing plane, an asset that comes in handy when you’re faced with the challenge of hitting finesse wedges off upslopes and downslopes and with the ball either above or below your feet. Delivering the club from inside the target line shallows your angle of attack, while swinging outside-in (more “across the ball”) steepens it. Depending on the slope on which the ball is resting, adjusting the plane one way or the other will make a big difference in the quality of your contact.
1. Downslopes
The perfect clubhead angle of attack into the ball is 6 degrees for a standard lie. If your ball is resting on a downslope with, say, a 4-degree grade, you’ll need 10 degrees of attack angle to hit the shot crisply (4 degrees for the grade plus the standard 6-degree attack). If you fail to make any adjustments to your setup or swing in this situation, you’ll come in too shallow, either striking the ground behind the ball or skulling the shot across the green. How do you add 4 degrees of attack angle to maintain the effective angle of 6? You create it at address by widening your stance, choking down to the bottom of the grip, and leaning down the hill as shown in the photos on the next page. In addition, shift your plane a little more out-to-in. On downslopes, think “fade” not “draw.”
HOW TO FINESSE FROM A DOWNSLOPE:
STEP 1: Widen your stance, lean into your lead leg, and choke down on the handle.
STEP 2: Let the club work up more abruptly in your backswing. A swing that’s too shallow will lead to dumpy little chunks or skulled shots across the green.
STEP 3: Shift your swing plane a tad out-to-in by thinking “fade.”
STEP 4: Maintain pressure into your lead thigh the whole way.
2. Upslopes
Uphill lies naturally increase your effective angle of attack, so if you have a fluff lie you don’t have to do anything more than add energy to your swing to hit a successful shot. On a clean lie, however, you need to execute with a bit of a “draw” mentality. I call this my “Raymond Floyd Shot,” because it mimics his distinct setup and swing. Open your stance more than normal at address and make a backswing that feels a little inside, or “laid off.” Even though this swing is inside-out relative to your body, it’s still delivering the clubhead in line with the target, which will help the ball fly straight. The Raymond Floyd specialty shot also works well for a ball that happens to be teed up in the rough (sitting on top of the grass like a snow cone). In addition to swinging with a draw feel, select a less-lofted club. If executed properly, it’ll feel like you’re picking the ball off the grass.
HOW TO FINESSE FROM AN UPSLOPE (HIT THE “RAYMOND FLOYD”):
STEP 1: Open your stance more than normal.
STEP 2: Take the club back a little to the inside.
STEP 3: Think “draw” to create a shallower, inside-out swing that will allow you to maintain the ideal angle of attack and catch the ball solidly.
You’ll also get lies in which the ball is below or above your feet. Balls below your feet require a fade mentality in your setup and swing. Fades go short, so remember to add a little energy to your motion. In addition, widen your stance and get as close to the ball as possible. The shaft will sit a little more vertical than normal. That’s OK—it’ll stop the heel of the club from catching the turf first.
For a ball above your feet, face alignment is critical. When you sole on the ground with the scoring lines square to the target, the loft of the club actually closes the face, despite its appearance. The first adjustment is to “aim the face, not the lines on it” at the landing area. The face will appear to open and increase in loft as you do this, but the ball will fly toward the target. Remember to add energy to your swing and shallow your angle of attack by taking the club back a little to the inside.
Desired Angle of Attack on Common Short-Game Lies
|
LIE CONDITION |
||||
|
Tight |
Clean Rough |
Fluff Rough |
||
|
SLOPE |
Level |
Neutral |
Neutral |
Steep |
|
Down |
Steep |
Steep |
Steepest |
|
|
Up |
Shallow |
Shallow |
Neutral |
|
|
Ball Above Feet |
Shallow |
Shallow |
Shallow |
|
|
Ball Below Feet |
Steep |
Steep |
Steepest |
|
HOW TO FINESSE YOUR WAY OUT OF TROUBLE
When it comes to hitting finesse wedges around the green, I want you to feel like you have a shot for every conceivable lie and situation, adopt an offensive mindset, and then try to hole everything. In addition to your stock finesse wedge swing and the adjustments needed to alter trajectory and produce great contact from poor lies, it’s helpful to add two additional specialty shots to your arsenal.
1. The Putt-Chip
As the name suggests, this swing is dominated by your big muscles and features little hand and wrist action. As a result, it produces a very shallow angle of attack and minimal energy, limiting the putt-chip to situations that require short carries (less than 7 yards) and clean lies. It’s ideal when the fairway is too sticky to putt through or when you’re hitting from a lie that’s muddy, sandy, or tight and into the grain.
Use a flatter-faced club such as your 7- or 9-iron (some of my students have gotten really good at putt-chipping with a fairway wood) and grip it like it’s your putter. You want as much arm hang as possible, so grip the club down near where the handle meets the steel. Play the ball a tad back of center and lean the shaft two to three degrees toward the target, with the heel section of the club raised slightly off the turf. (The slight camber of the toe area on the sole will help prevent digging through impact). Keep your grip pressure light, but lock in your arms and shoulders. To hit the shot, stay level and swing as though you’re stroking a long lag putt.
Your touch on putt-chips (every short-game shot, really) depends on your ability to make the proper length swing in rhythm. Experiment with different clubs to discover your favorite(s), but refrain from using anything with more than 56 degrees of loft. High lofts and extremely shallow swings don’t mix.
The Putt-Chip:
STEP 1: Choke all the way down to the steel on a less-lofted iron with the ball a tad back of center. Raise the heel section of the club off the ground.
STEP 2: Using your big muscles, take the club back as though you’re hitting a long lag putt.
STEP 3: On your throughswing, stay level, use your big muscles, and maintain a nice rhythm.
STEP 4: Feel as though your arms are “locked in” from start to finish.
This one is a real “get-out-of-jail-free” shot and is used by all the Tour players I coach. The perfect situation for a cock-and-pop shot is when the ball is buried in thick rough and you have to carry the ball less than 5 yards to a close pin on a firm, fast green, or one that slopes away from you. If the first thing that pops into your head when assessing a lie is “I’m screwed,” you should opt for the cock-and-pop.
The cock-and-pop produces an extreme angle of attack, maximum loft, and little power—perfect for the situation described above. It’s an odd combination that necessitates extreme adaptations to both your setup and swing. Start by widening your stance and turning both feet out. It should feel as though you’re “sitting” a bit. Setting your feet like this aids lower-body stability because it makes it difficult to turn your hips. Lean into your lead thigh and choke down to the bottom of the grip, as you do on other shots that require a steep angle of attack. (Choking down narrows your swing arc, creating a steeper angle as well as reducing the energy of the swing. As Seve used to say, “short shot, short club.”) Lastly, create maximum loft by laying the face wide open so that the back of the club lays flat against the turf.
To hit the shot, simply hinge the clubhead straight up using only your wrists—no arm movement, no shoulder movement, and no hip turn. This is the “cock.” On your downswing, unhinge or “pop” the clubhead back under the ball using your wrists, with zero hip and chest movement and little or no arm swing. Stay down and hold your weight in your lead thigh all the way to the finish. It’ll take some practice to get it right, but it’s a lot easier to do than to describe.
The Cock-and-Pop:
STEP 1: Take an extra-wide stance and sit, holding extra weight in your lead thigh. Lower your hands to near knee-height and lay the face open.
STEP 2: Hinge the club up using only your wrists. This is the “cock.”
STEP 3: Throw the clubhead under the ball by unhinging your wrists. This is the “pop.”
STEP 4: Everything else stays very quiet. This shot gives you maximum loft and minimal carry.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE SHOT
One of the most common questions students ask me is, “How do I know what shot to play?” Being able to see a shot is largely influenced by how you practice, which we’ll talk about in the next chapter. One thing that you’ll never hear me say is, “Choose the shot that gets the ball rolling on the ground as soon as possible, because this provides a greater margin for error.” That’s tradition speaking, and it’s pure rot! As if it’s impossible to skull or chunk a low shot! What if there’s a slope in the green you want to avoid, or you’re simply better at hitting higher shots than low ones? Shouldn’t you play to your strengths? There are simply too many variables that affect shot choice for anyone to try to lobby a universal recommendation. You have to trust your instincts and feel your way through each situation. As far as I’m concerned, the correct shot is the one you see as you walk up to the ball and assess your lie. It’s far easier to commit to a shot you see than to one you’ve been told you should play, and it’s better to be committed than correct.
Consider the Bounce
Another common question I get is, “How do I play from a tight lie that’s into the grain?” The key is in understanding the bounce angle of the club and how you want the club to interact with the turf. Picture a tight lie into the grain that requires a short amount of carry (say, 5 yards) and a waist-high trajectory. You can meet the demands of this shot in three ways: 1) playing a lower-than-normal-trajectory shot with a lob wedge; 2) playing a normal-trajectory shot with a sand wedge; or 3) playing a higher-than-normal-trajectory shot with a pitching wedge (see illustration, here). While the effective loft of all three shots may be the same and produce similar ball flights, the effective bounce angles of the three clubs are completely different. When you adjust your setup to play the lower than normal shot with a lob wedge, you’re in essence sharpening the leading edge of the club and reducing the bounce, practically ensuring that the club will stick into the grain. This is uncomfortable, and anything but perfect contact will result in a chunk. Taking your pitching wedge and adjusting your setup by removing shaft lean and rotating the clubface open to pull off the higher-trajectory shot lifts the leading edge off the ground and adds bounce. Even if you hit a millimeter behind the ball, the club won’t dig at all and you’ll still enjoy a pretty good outcome.
The lesson: On tight lies into the grain, select a less-lofted club and then adapt your setup to produce a higher-than-normal-trajectory shot.
Shot Selection Effect on Bounce
Situation: Tight Lie into the Grain
LOB WEDGE Lower than Normal Trajectory
10 degrees of shaft lean
NO! Sharp leading edge with little effective bounce
SAND WEDGE
Normal Trajectory
3 degrees of shaft lean
OK! Significantly softer leading edge and more effective bounce
Higher than Normal Trajectory
0 degrees of shaft lean
YES! Leading edge lifted off the ground, exposing maximum amount of effective bounce.
Obviously, there are a lot of possible situations and setup/swing adaptations to handle them, which is what makes discovering the nuances of the short game so challenging and fun. But how do you get a feel for it all? What you’ll find is that experience is the best teacher. I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to learning and coaching the short game, and I’ve enjoyed the good fortune of consistently being around the best players in the world. Over time, I’ve just figured it out. When I work on Tour with someone as talented as Charley Hoffman or Ben Crane, we usually invest only about ten minutes of a two-hour session on technique, because once you understand the finesse wedge principle, the basic shots are easy. What do we do the rest of the time? We scatter balls in every conceivable lie condition and we talk through the shots and adaptations. Being able to see a shot, judge your lie, and know how to adjust is the “art of golf.” Use the tricks presented in this chapter to shorten the learning process. Beyond that, however, there are no shortcuts. You have to get out to the practice facility and do a lot of “art.”
The good news is that once you learn something about a certain lie, it’ll help you the rest of your career, but only if you remember what to do the next time. Write what you learn in your journal. Again, keep it simple and use words and phrases that make sense to you, such as “on downhill lies, think ‘fade’ swing.” Every one of my Tour players makes it a habit to keep notes on the little things they learn. They build into big successes.