Of course, this is true, but sometimes, instead of explaining how to practice, we just tell golfers they should practice.

If you’re looking for a short game practice routine that actually helps you lower your scores, you’re in the right place.

We’ve broken this down into two different options for you to choose from: one is an hour-long practice, and the other is thirty minutes. Choose the one that works best for your schedule!

One-Hour Short Game Practice Plan

The goal of the short game practice plan is to work on all shots from 100 yards and in.

However, it’s not a putting practice plan. You’ll notice that we incorporate putting into the final piece, but you’ll need to schedule putting practice for another time.

Short Game Practice Plan Breakdown (60 Minutes)

• Warm-up (5 minutes)
• Shots from 80, 60, and 40 yards (15 minutes)
• High shots from the rough (10 minutes)
• Chipping – bump and run (10 minutes)
• Bunker shots (10 minutes)
• Scoring practice (10 minutes)

Warm-up (5 Minutes)

Before jumping into the practice, make sure you stretch and take a few practice swings. Some golfers find that their back starts to get stressed when they practice short games for an extended period.

You’ll also want to take some half-swing shots with your wedge. Pick a general alignment line, but don’t worry so much about distance control at this point.

Focus on just making solid contact and warming up your muscles.

Shots From 80, 60, and 40 Yards (15 Minutes)

This part of the practice plan focuses on distance control in the short game. Many players struggle with these abnormal yardages like 80, 60, or 40 yards and they don’t have the right shot in their bag.

Before you start this process, use a rangefinder to get some targets for you to work with. If you can find 90, 50, and 30 yards, that also works fine.

Next, you will start hitting shots, varying the club you use for each of these targets:

• 80 yards: Hit 10 shots with a gap wedge, focusing on smooth, controlled swings.
• 60 yards: Switch to a sand wedge and hit 10 shots, aiming for consistent contact and distance control.
• 40 yards: Use a lob wedge for 10 shots, practicing trajectory control and precision.

While you are practicing, pay close attention to the length of the swing you are taking and the club you are using. When finished, make a note on your phone or write down exactly the swing needed and the club used to achieve each of these distances.

The feel is important in the course, but incorporating some mechanics into this is a better way to be consistent.

High Shots From the Rough (10 Minutes)

To be great around the greens, you need to be able to hit shots out of the rough that still fly high.

Hitting a golf ball from the rough means you will lose some spin and control; therefore, height can help get you back in the game.

Find a spot with thick rough and focus on hitting about 15 shots with a high loft and soft landing.

Start by ensuring that the golf balls are landing on the practice green. As you improve, aim to get them within a 6-foot circle around the pin.

To hit great high shots from the rough, keep an open clubface and a steeper angle of attack. This is an excellent time to use your HackMotion device.

If you’re unsure whether your clubface is open or if your lead wrist is slightly extended, the HackMotion swing analyzer can provide the feedback you need.

Using HackMotion is like having a teaching professional with you on the practice tee.

Chipping – Bump and Run (10 Minutes)

Now that you have the high shots down, you’ll want to start working on the lower chip shots. For this, switch to something like your 8-iron or 9-iron. The goal is to keep the ball a little lower and allow it to roll up to the target.

In this 10-minute block, try to hit about 20 shots aiming for a lower trajectory. Practice to a pin in the middle of the green and one in the back of the green, and see which club works best for each.

Play these chip shots from the short grass and keep your lead wrist more flexed through impact. You’ll want these shots to be a very simple movement with no wrist cock or hinge.

Bunker Shots (10 Minutes)

The hardest part about bunker practice is that you often have to find a practice bunker to work with. Sometimes, this is tricky, and the sand in the practice bunker is less than ideal. However, bunker shot practice is a must if you want to play better on the course.

While practicing from the bunker, make sure to open your stance, keep the ball forward or centered, hit about an inch behind the ball, and follow through.

You’ll want to hit some shots with your sand wedge and lob wedge. If your course has a lot of bunkers that are 30 or 40 yards in front of the green, you may also want to consider a gap wedge.

Don’t make every lie that you hit out of perfect. Push a few down a bit so you learn how to hit from a plugged lie. Also, practice from sloped lies to see how you need to adjust your game.

Scoring practice (10 Minutes)

Finally, to pull your entire practice session together and make it meaningful, you need to include scoring practice.

For this part of the session, you’ll need your putter and wedges. Place a golf ball in 10 or 15 different positions around the green. For each location, chip or pitch up, and then putt out.

See how many strokes it takes you.

Make a note of this, and the next time you work on your game, try to beat that total number. This type of practice is what really helps you understand the course and lower your scores.

Thirty-Minute Short Game Practice Plan

For the thirty-minute short game practice plan, all you need to do is spend a little less time in each section of practice.

It’s still best if you can run through all of these shots, as they will all have a profound impact on your game.

When you have thirty minutes to practice, make sure to write some notes about the areas of your game that were the strongest and weakest.

The next time you have a little extra practice time, you can focus on these areas.

Short Game Practice Plan Breakdown (30 Minutes)

• Warm-up (2 minutes)
• Shots from 80, 60, and 40 yards (8 minutes)
• High shots from the rough (5 minutes)
• Chipping – bump and run (5 minutes)
• Bunker shots (5 minutes)
• Scoring practice (5 minutes)

Drills to Incorporate into Your Short Game Practice

Not only do drills help you understand the concepts you are practicing, but they can also fix issues you may encounter.

Here are some of our favorite drills based on problems you may encounter in your short game practice.

If You Are Struggling with Distance Control…

This drill from US Golf TV will help you learn exactly how far your chip shots are traveling and how you will need to adjust them. This classic drill also becomes a great warm-up before a round of golf.

If You Keep Hitting Thin Shots…

Thin shots typically deal with a poor angle of descent into the ball. This drill from Me and My Golf uses an alignment stick to help you get the proper angle and never hit thin or bladed shots in your short game.

If You Chunk the Ball or Hit Behind It…

This drill from Mr. Short Game helps you stay under the alignment stick and ensures you don’t chunk or even shank your chip shots.

It’s a really easy drill to set up on the driving range, and all you need is a basic alignment stick.

If Your Bunker Shots Won’t Leave the Bunker…

To get a golf ball out of the bunker, you must take some sand.

This drill is very simple: practice striking a line in the sand instead of the ball to ensure you get out and onto the green in one swing.

Additional Tips to Help Improve Your Short Game Practice

Here are a few more things to add to your short game practice routine to make sure it’s effective and helpful:

• Don’t practice with the same wedge the entire time; mix things up between your short irons, sand wedge, lob wedge, etc.
• Purchase an alignment stick so that you have something to use for drills and when practicing alignment and aim.
• Use your HackMotion when practicing both chipping and pitching. Analyze these sessions separately and make sure that with chip shots, your lead wrist is slightly flexed, but with pitch shots, you see a little more extension at impact.
• Don’t be afraid to mix your chipping, pitching, sand, and putting practice. When you combine these shots and emulate what you experience on the course, it’s the most effective practice you will find.

Final Thoughts

Now, all that’s left to do is block out an hour of your day and get out to the range to work on your short game.

Get your plan together ahead of time, make sure you’re going to a place that has the facilities where you can work on this routine, and bring along your alignment stick and HackMotion.

This short game practice plan will help you lower your scores and improve your confidence with a wedge in your hand.

The post Complete Short Game Practice Plan & Routine (With Drills to Work On) appeared first on HackMotion.

When you have backspin, you can pick a landing spot, stop your golf ball almost immediately, and, as a result, leave yourself a short putt.

Many amateur players struggle to get backspin because of improper wrist position, poor setup, and a misunderstanding of what causes a golf ball to spin.

If you are ready to start getting backspin on your wedges and control what the ball does, we have you covered.

Getting Backspin on Wedges (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read our entire article on backspin with wedges, here are a few of the most important things to take away with you.

• The equipment – both ball and club – that you play with significantly impacts how your golf ball flies and whether or not it spins.
• Proper wrist action and avoiding flipping at impact will help maintain a stable clubface and create additional spin.
• Speed through impact is essential when trying to create backspin, being aggressive and making contact at the ball, not before it will help increase backspin on wedges.
• A steeper angle of attack provides extra time for the golf ball to run up the face of the club and have more backspin as it lands.

How to Get Backspin on Wedges

Each of these steps for getting backspin on wedges should be looked at if you are struggling with shots that run out or leave you with very little control.

Take a close look at these steps and find out where one may be missing in your game.

Choose the Right Equipment

Before we dive into the fundamentals of wedge shots that help you get backspin, you do have to check your equipment.

Although your technique needs to be good, you can make things much harder on yourself when you don’t have the right equipment in play.

Invest in wedges with sharp grooves. You’ll notice that many wedges have scoring on the face to help increase the traction and interaction of the clubface and the golf ball. This is a positive thing.

Proper Wrist Action with Forward Press

A forward press ensures the hands lead the clubhead through impact. This position creates a more descending blow and promotes better contact. When setting up this forward press, make sure you don’t exaggerate it at setup.

When you exaggerate the forward press at setup, you can de-loft the club.

Instead, wear your HackMotion and as you swing through impact, check the angles of your lead wrist. The lead wrist should be in a more flexed position.

Those who struggle with backspin often have too much extension and therefore miss out on backspin and overall centeredness of strike.

Correct Angle of Attack

A steeper attack angle helps compress the ball and create more spin.

If you tend to take your wedges away a little more around you instead of straight back down the line, you may be approaching the ball with a shallow angle of attack.

Instead, feel like you take the club just a little more straight back and think about striking the ball first when you make contact.

This slightly steeper angle of attack should maximize spin and help you stop the ball.

Optimal Ball Position

When you need backspin on a golf shot, you want to make sure you catch the golf ball first and then the turf.

If the club strikes the turf first, the ball likely won’t spin as much. To do this, place the ball correctly in your stance.

For most golfers, this is slightly back from the center.

Again, the ideal position will depend on your angle of attack. Start by placing a ball in the middle of the stance and seeing what your backspin results are like. Then, move the ball back about one ball length and see how the spin rate changes.

At some point, you can get the ball so far back that you’ll feel a bit awkward trying to make contact.

Swing Speed

Higher swing speeds generate more spin and increase the friction between the clubface and the golf ball.

You can work on this by building a smooth but accelerated swing. Try taking short backswings and really feeling that acceleration through impact.

Golfers who learn to be a bit more aggressive and attack the ball with more confidence and speed can get more spin on their wedges.

Open the Face, Then Grip the Club

Another great trick to get backspin that you will see the professionals do is to open the clubface.

Adding more loft like this will help you get the ball higher and add some additional spin.

However, many golfers grip the club and then turn the clubface open.

This is a mistake.

Instead, take the club in your hands, open the face, and then grip the club. This gripping of the club after the face is open makes all the difference in your ability to benefit from that open clubface.

This video shows how Billy Horschel does that to gain control around the greens.

Clean Clubface

Now that you have the right wedges in play and your setup and wrist position are correct, make sure your clubface is clean before you try to hit. Debris like sand and dirt on the face of the club makes it much harder to get clean contact.

You’ll notice professionals have perfectly clean wedges when they make contact with the golf ball.

Additional Drills to Add More Backspin

Getting more backspin takes some practice and some time spent working on the procedures above.

If you need a few more drills to practice, here are some you can try.

Match the Loft Drill

This video from Alex Elliott will help you understand how loft plays into getting backspin on your shots.

He will show you how to get that forward press and proper wrist action without delofting the club.

Speed Drill

As you have just learned, increasing speed in the clubhead through impact will help you increase the backspin on the wedge shots.

However, many golfers are afraid of speed because of the potential for a miss hit.

Try practicing on the range by taking some smaller swings that you swing through with noticeably more speed.

Feel that strong finish, and see if you can learn to be more aggressive with the wedges.

Tee Drill

Place a tee after the golf ball and try to make contact with the ball and the tee. Look back down at the ground and ensure you have not made contact with the ground before the golf ball.

The more interaction your clubface has with the ball, the easier it is to create a spin on the wedges.

Final Thoughts

At this point, you have all the tools you need to get backspin on wedges. The process does not need to be overcomplicated. Instead, work on getting the setup, wrist action, and swing speed down.

The more you practice with these wedge shots at the practice green or driving range, the easier it is to feel confident in getting backspin.

The post Backspin on Wedges: How to Get It and Maximize It for Better Shots appeared first on HackMotion.

We will show you some of the main causes for shanking wedges, how to fix the shank shot with your wedge, and some drills so you can work on this on the driving range.

Having confidence in your short game will make all the difference in your scores and help you lower your handicap.

How to Stop Shanking Wedges (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read the entire article on how to stop shanking wedges, here are some of the key points you can take:

• To stop shanking wedges, you should first check and make sure you are not standing too close to the ball. This position makes it difficult to swing the club on the intended path without hitting the hosel.
• Too much wrist action in the early part of the golf swing can create a shank, instead wear the HackMotion when practicing and check to see that you are not creating too much wrist hinge in the swing.
• Put an object on the outside of the golf ball as you practice; this will help ensure that you come from the inside and then take the club left (right-handed player). The outside in swing path makes it easy to hit a shank shot.

Why do I Shank My Wedges

Luckily, there are really only a few main causes of a shanked wedge shot. Regardless of why you shank the wedges, you’ll need to fix it.

If it helps to know the cause, look out for these three things:

• Improper Weight Distribution: Weight moves too far towards the toes during the downswing because weight is too far back on the heels.
• Clubhead Moving Outside the Path: When the clubhead moves outside the intended swing path, it can cause heel or hosel contact.
• Poor Hand and Wrist Movement: Moving the hands and wrists too far to the inside on the takeaway or creating too much wrist hinge can cause the player to strike the ball with the hosel.

5 Effective Ways to Stop Shanking Your Wedges

The first thing you want to do when you start shanking wedges is to check your setup and your ball position to make sure that nothing is out of place.

Once you have that figured out you can move through each one of these fixes to see if it helps you cure your shanked wedges.

These fixes work for both pitch and chip shots and with everything from a pitching wedge to a lob wedge.

Get the Weight Centered on Your Feet

When you set up, ensure the weight is centered on your feet. If it starts too close to the toes, you may move further on the toes, pushing the club out and hitting the wedge on the hosel.

Instead, center the weight, put a little more on the lead foot instead of the trail foot and then only allow for it to shift side to side not back to front.

Correct the Swing Path

There are a few different swing path issues that can cause you to shank. One of the easiest ways to fix this is to place a range bucket, a box, or even just another golf ball on the outside of the ball you are trying to hit.

As you swing through, the goal is to miss this obstacle.

You’ll have to keep the clubface square and ensure the club strikes the ball on the intended path and returns to the ball square.

Inside to Inside Path

The idea of inside to outside swing path can get a little confusing on these wedge shots. Instead of being so stuck on this concept try to consider the inside to inside swing motion to get rid of the shank.

You’ll feel the club approach from the inside (see drill above) and then move to the left.

You can visualize and practice the hands reaching their lowest point when they get to the right thigh and then move up and left from there. This path is entirely different and will help you feel the proper movement through the ball.

Avoid Excessive Wrist Movement

When the wrists move too much with a wedge in the hand, the possibility of a shank comes into play. Mostly what you see here is an issue with too much wrist hinge and extension in the lead wrist.

Instead of swinging the club back, it comes up and, therefore, off of the proper plane. In addition, the lower body is never engaged, and therefore, this movement is inconsistent.

Wear your HackMotion and keep the wrists firm and stable, avoiding unnecessary wrist action.

You’ll want to have a slight flexion in the lead wrist as you move through impact instead of too much extension.

Watch Your Distance to the Ball

Your distance to the golf ball can cause you to shank your shot. When you stand too close there is not enough room to swing and therefore you hit the hosel of the club.

When you stand too close, the club can move outside the intended path and create the shank. Play around with a few different positions and see what feels the most comfortable.

Drills to Help You Stop Shanking Wedges

If your wedges are still shanking, here are a few other drills to consider.

Headcover Drill

The headcover drill is almost identical to the range basket drill we mentioned earlier. You’ll want this just on the outside of the golf ball as you swing through.

If you hit the headcover at any time, it’s a sign that you are setting yourself up for some shanked-type wedge shots.

One Handed Drill

This drill from Michael Breed helps you feel the path the club should be on. One of his best mindset thoughts here is to keep the thought that you must hit down and through the ground to compress the ball.

Two Tee Drill

For this drill, all you need are two tees and your golf ball. Set up to hit the ball and put one tee an inch in front of the ball and one behind it.

You create almost a gate-like opening to swing the club through. This two-tee drill gets your club started on the right path but also allows you to swing through with a smooth face.

Practice From Tight Lies

Not necessarily a drill, more of a reminder to make sure you practice hitting from tight lies.

Many golfers get in their heads about hitting a shot from a very tight lie. When that happens they tend to make strange wrist motions and it ends up causing a shank. Throw a few balls down on a tight lie at the range and let it be something you are comfortable with.

Final Thoughts

There is a good chance you are making some unnecessary movements in your wedge stroke that is causing you to shank your wedge shots.

To avoid this from happening make sure you wear your HackMotion when you practice. You’ll see how much movement you have and how that could be causing your issues with both the path and the angle of the clubface.

The post How to Stop Shanking Wedges – Actionable Tips & Drills to Improve Your Short Game appeared first on HackMotion.

That’s a big problem and one that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Amateur players are lucky to hit even 9 out of 18 greens in regulation. Therefore chip shots will occur quite often.

We will go through how to stop shanking chip shots, why it happens to you and some great tips for how to say goodbye to the shanks for good.

Stop Shanking Chip Shots (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read our entire article on how to stop shanking chip shots, here are the most important takeaways:

• Getting your setup correct is a key piece of the puzzle; when your ball position, stance, or hand position is off, the shank possibility increases.
• Proper wrist position of the lead wrist will help you fix your shanks and hit a straight chip directly on line.
• Adding too much tension in your grip will increase pressure and make it harder for the hands and arms to rotate as they should through the shot.
• Always accelerate through the golf ball; slowing the clubhead down can make it harder to square it properly and hit a great chip.

Why Do I Shank My Chips?

You may be shaking your chips for a few reasons, although the most common is standing too close to the golf ball. If you take a step away and still shank, here are a few potential other causes:

• Too much pressure in the grip.
• Using only the hands and wrists in the chipping stroke.
• Too much extension in the lead wrist.
• Improper ball position.
• Backswing is coming too far inside.
• Too much lower body movement.

How to Stop Shanking Chip Shots

Even if you are still unsure what is causing you to shank the chip shots, you can follow this step-by-step guide to stop shanking your chips.

1. Get Yourself in the Proper Position

Setup could be the most important part of stopping these shanked chip shots. If you are standing too close to the ball you may hit it with the hosel of the club causing a shank.

Instead, make sure you let your arms hang naturally down and place the ball in a comfortable position.

There is no exact distance, and it will change if you change clubs. The key is to ensure that you have room to swing it.

In addition, you’ll want to make sure the ball position is just middle to the back of your stance. Many golfers place it too far back and this gets them into trouble.

2. Minimize Wrist Action

Many amateur golfers struggle with the concept of getting the golf ball in the air. They believe that to do this, they have to flip their wrists.

This won’t help!

What you want in chipping is a slight forward press and a flexed lead wrist as you come through impact. If you flip the wrist and move towards extension there is no telling what the golf ball is going to do.

You can wear your HackMotion device to measure the flexion or extension of your lead wrist during impact.

Your chipping will be much more consistent when the clubface is slightly closed and this lead wrist is in a great position. Keep wrist action to a minimum and maintain that forward press through impact.

This one handed drill from Butch Harmon may help.

3. Perfect the Takeaway

The perfect takeaway requires the club to come a little more straight back. If you are shanking your chips, chances are the club will go too far inside as soon as you take it back.

Try doing a few practice motions before you swing the club, where you push it back just a bit instead of wrapping it around the inside of you. The slight push back will make a big difference when trying to square the clubface.

You can also use alignment sticks on the ground to make sure you aren’t taking the club back too far inside.

4. Stabilize the Lower Body

The lower body moves a little when you chip. However, if you make a big weight transfer or have a lot of twisting and turning it causes inconsistencies in the impact position.

These could lead to an open clubface or striking the ball on the hosel.

Stabilize the lower body, learn to take a little pivot, and make sure your feet are very close together for this shot. When you have them too far apart, you tend to use the lower body too much.

5. Follow Through

Finally, make sure you are not stopping the golf club at impact. To stop the club at impact, you will have to slow the club down as you make your way through the golf ball.

This deceleration is not good, and it can even cause a shank.

Instead always thinking about following through and getting the club to a position that is well after the ball.

Let your body rotate through the chip shot; don’t feel so stuck in your position.

Drills to Help Eliminate Shanked Chip Shots Better

If you need a few additional drills to make sure you stop shanking, you can try these.

The best advice with these types of drills and with shanking, in general, is to keep things as simple as possible to eliminate the chance of more issues developing.

Square Stance Swing Out to Target Drill

With this drill, you will use an alignment stick to set your feet up correctly.

Next, you can make sure that you are swinging out towards the target, and your club won’t move further away from you, setting you up for a shank.

Close the Clubface Drill

In this video, you will learn why shankers don’t hit the ground when they make contact with the golf ball.

You’ll find some quick fixes to strike the ground and hit more square chip shots.

Keep the Golf Club in Front of You

It is important to keep the golf club in front of you during a chip shot. If the club starts to lead the way or gets stuck behind, you’ll experience some inconsistency.

Use this drill to get cleaner chip shots.

Final Thoughts

Luckily, the shanked chip shot comes up and goes away rather quickly.

Making sure you get your wrist angles and setup correct is the easiest way to stop shanking and start putting yourself in the right position on the green.

Don’t let this shank around the greens cost you any more strokes. Use these fixes and your HackMotion to take control of the greens again.

The post Stop Shanking Chip Shots: Proven Techniques & Drills to Improve Your Short Game appeared first on HackMotion.

If you hit your wedges better, your entire game from 100 yards and it will be more accurate and lead you to lower scores.

These tips to improve your wedge game deal with everything from wrist action to weight distribution, but they all combine to ensure you end up closer to the hole with a tap in putt.

How to Hit Wedges Better (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read through all of our tips on how to hit wedges better, here are a few that you can walk away with right now. Bookmark this so you can come back and try these tips the next time you head to the driving range.

• Keep your weight positioned more on your lead foot; you’ll get more accuracy and control.
• Learn the wrist position for pitches and chips. It’s not exactly the same, and you’ll need to understand it if you want consistency.
• Maintain a forward press with your hands through impact to create that proper angle of attack and improved acceleration through the ball.
• Remember visualization in the wedge game; it’s just as important as it is with any other club in the bag.

12 Tips to Improve Your Wedge Game

1. Get Your Weight On the Lead Foot

To hit your wedges better, position your weight more on the lead foot. This slight change of weight will ensure you strike the ball as the club is traveling down.

This can apply to full swing shots with the wedge and greenside shots.

Most golfers aim for a 70/30 weight distribution, but you can experiment with different amounts that work for you.

2. Narrow Down the Ball Position

Golfers love to say things like “put the ball in the back for the wedges”.

However, this is not always the smartest thing to do.

When the ball is positioned too far back the strike is typically not as clean, some players also hit these shots out to the right.

Placing the ball too far forward can result in thin and fat shots. It’s best to take a more narrow stance and leave the ball mostly in the middle of your feet.

Wrist Action: Your Key to Mastering Short Game

Improve your game in two weeks, even if 'wrist mechanics' sounds like rocket science.

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3. Wedge Bounce is Your Friend

Wedge bounce helps ensure the wedge slides through the golf ball and does not dig too deeply into the turf. You’ll be able to make contact with the ball without feeling like you are going to chunk it.

In addition, wedge bounce helps you glide through bunker shots with each. This is not to say that more wedge bounce is best.

In fact, having a variety of bounce options throughout your wedge set is often the smartest option.

Here’s a look at some wedge bounce options and how to customize them based on course conditions.

4. Accelerate Through Impact

The club head needs to be accelerating through impact if you want to have success with your wedges.

With the acceleration, you’ll notice a cleaner strike, a more square clubface, and better spin and control.

The mistake most golfers make is to slow the club down through impact to try and control the ball. If your wrist action, swing length, and setup are correct throughout the wedge shot, there is no need to try to manufacture control through the ball.

Thinking about a one third backswing and two third follow-through is a great way to get this done.

5. Work On Wrist Extension and Flexion

The wrists work differently in chipping and pitching.

For a great chip shot, the lead wrist should be flexed through impact with a good amount of shaft lean. This creates a stable, slightly lower, and straight ball flight where the ball can roll out to the hole.

You’ll notice more of a flat wrist position through impact for pitch shots. This helps add additional loft through the impact zone.

HackMotion can help you narrow down the exact wrist positions for chipping and pitching. You can compare your wrist action with that of the professionals.

Many amateur golfers struggle with ensuring they don’t add too much hinge and wrist movement throughout their wedge shots.

Wrist movements can be exaggerated at times, and when this happens, you’ll notice inconsistency and poor strikes.

6. Grip Down on the Club for Control

If you are having trouble controlling the distance you get with your wedge shots, you may want to grip down on the club.

Gripping down can give you a little extra control and make you feel as though you can stop your golf ball where it needs to stop on the greens.

Standing too far from the ball and gripping at the top of the club often cause issues with distance control.

7. You Can’t Forget Tempo with Wedges

Tempo with wedges is just as important as it is with a full swing iron shot to the green or a driver off the tee box.

Make sure your tempo is smooth on the way back and through the golf ball.

Not only is it easier to ensure a consistent strike, but you will also notice better distance control and accuracy in your shots.

8. Practice Different Length Swings

Do you have difficulty dialing in shots that are not full swings? Maybe it’s a 50, 60, or 70-yard shot and you just can’t get the yardage down.

One of the best ways to deal with this is to work on different length swings. Take out each of the wedges in your bag and learn to hit a full, ¾, half, and quarter swing shot with each.

Record these distances so you have a general idea of how far they go.

Now, you can use these different numbers the next time you are on the course without having to worry about those “in between” or awkward yardages.

9. Choose the Right Loft for The Job

Stop using the 56 degree wedge for all of your short game shots. It’s not built to handle everything.

Golfers who are more particular about which wedge to use and when have a much better wedge game. Golf wedges with higher bounce and more loft are great for soft lies, sand, and rough.

Wedges with less bounce and less loft are better from clean or hard lies on the course. If you keep trying to use the wrong loft and the wrong wedge for the job, you’ll have poor results.

10. Visualize the Shot

To hit your wedges better, start visualizing the shots you are trying to hit. Picture where you are going to have the ball land, how it will continue to roll towards the target, and even how you expect the putt to break.

Proper visualization helps you make the correct movements in your swing. The mind is a powerful thing.

Try adding visualization to your pre-shot routine when hitting wedge shots. Before you even set up to hit, make sure you visualize exactly how this shot will play.

11. Practice from Different Lies

Most amateur golfers put golf balls down around the green in a perfect position and start practicing their chip shots.

How often during your round is your golf ball left in a perfect position? Probably not too often!

Practice from a variety of lies, including:

• Sand
• Slopes
• Thick rough
• Short grass
• Plugged lies

12. Maintain Lower Body Stability

The lower body is active when hitting wedges. There is a slight turn, and this turn and stability in the lower legs will help ensure the club strikes the ground and the ball goes up in the air.

The mistake many wedge players make is making too big of a turn or not turning with the lower body. When you do this, the strike has a lot of inconsistency.

Hitting some shots while standing on just the lead leg can help you get this feeling and determine how much movement is necessary.

Drills to Help Hit Your Wedges Better

Here are a few additional drills to help you hit your wedges better. Practicing with the wedges can be fun because there is some versatility and variety here.

Pelvic Punch Drill

If you tend to slow down through your wedge shots and slow the club down, this pelvic punch drill could help you clean up that impact position.

With the Pelvic Punch drill, you take the club back just so it’s about knee high and then really work on that acceleration through the ball.

Experience the Brush Drill

We know that concept of brushing the grass with your wedges before you strike them.

However, in this video you can get a more in depth understanding of how that should look and how you can make sure it works to get you proper distance and accuracy.

Alignment Stick Short Game Drill

This video from Chris Ryan Golf will help you get the path of your wedges perfect.

Many golfers have a hard time getting the club on the proper path and tend to take it too far inside; this drill should get it right back on the plane.

Final Thoughts

At this point you have a variety of strategies to finally hit your wedges better.

You’ll notice that most of these focus on using the proper setup, getting the wrist action correct, and creating some consistency in the strike.

Use the HackMotion to help you with setup in hand and wrist position and your tempo in your short game. Proper short game technique will lead to lower scores on the course.

The post How to Hit Your Wedges Better: 12 Actionable Tips to Improve Your Wedge Game appeared first on HackMotion.