# Pulling the wedges



## andiritchie (Jan 13, 2009)

Over the last couple of months i been hitting my short clubs to the left,not by much but say the pin is in the centre and i hit left hand side of the green.

Which ends up with rounds from 75 turning into 80s as putting is my weakness.

Anyway does anyone have any suggestions,all i have tried is holding the face open after impact but that leaves me short.

Thanks!


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## HomerJSimpson (Jan 13, 2009)

It might be that your ball position has crept forward a little. Wedges need to be played from the middle of the stance and I'm wondering if you are a tad forward and putting a touch of right to left spin on the shot


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## MVP (Jan 13, 2009)

because of the strong loft on wedges, minor mistakes are magnified when it comes to pulling/pushing. 

Perhaps you could stand a little closer to the ball make sure your club face is square at address and you feel comfortable.

dont for get to make a good turn , as this is just as important with wedges as it is with irons etc. dont let the club head get in front of you!

good luck


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## birdieman (Jan 13, 2009)

Very familiar with this one.
Almost certainly the body is not rotating properly and the arms are leading the swing coming over the top a little. You must 'clear the body' out of the way at strike.
Sort this by making your body and arms work as one and make sure you pull that left hip back in the downswing so you end up facing the target.
Usually the body stops rotating and the arms keep going pulling the ball left. If you keep this up you could start shanking so get it sorted.
A bit of anxiety or fear of the shot is the likely cause making you not commit fully to the shot i.e trying to steer the ball.
Get that hip rotation going to get out of the way of the downswing. Be positive and aggressive with the wedge.


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## RGuk (Jan 13, 2009)

Can I reply on here? I'm not an expert...

I know the old pulled wedge thing....plagued me for years.

I cured it 95% by doing the following.

1) Stand a bit open for all full pw/gw/sw shots and
2) Neutralise my grip a tad (making it "weak") and
3) Feel as if I'm playing a "cut" shot.

For me, the problem has always been being too effective in getting the face square with short clubs, whereas I have the opposite with a driver, say.

If you are pretty much online with your path generally and your grip isn't too strong, chances are, if you accidentally pull it, the fact that the face is a degree or two open will "fade" it back on target.

Needless to say, if you adopt this approach (old-fashioned pro always used to recommend standing a little open with short clubs....John Jacobs was one i.i.r.c.) you have to get used to a higher flight and a few yards off.

Try it.....


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## Herbie (Jan 14, 2009)

Over the last couple of months i been hitting my short clubs to the left,not by much but say the pin is in the centre and i hit left hand side of the green.

Which ends up with rounds from 75 turning into 80s as putting is my weakness.

Anyway does anyone have any suggestions,all i have tried is holding the face open after impact but that leaves me short.

Thanks!
		
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Before you go into any dramatic alterations to what you do normally, first check that your address is as normal. All this error needs is for you to be lining up minutely off the norm without realising.

Does your shot (when the error happens) feel normal or does it feel slightly odd or uncomfortable? 

Check the ball position too as Homer said, a slighly misplaced ball more forward in your stance can create this error.

If they are not at fault, have you recently tried anything new with clubs/lessons or in practice that may have affected your normal swing?

After this then you can look at the many and varied possibilities that can result in your problem. Look at the very simple first, then get someone to look at you.

When I make this error(more often than I like) it is almost always down to my stance out of position bringing the ball closer to me, the ball too forward in my stance or simply swinging wrong and knowing it.


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## HogansAlley (Jan 14, 2009)

birdieman: Credit where credit is due. That's the finest articulation of the basic principles of wedge play I have read in a long time. Hats off to you, sir.


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## birdieman (Jan 14, 2009)

birdieman: Credit where credit is due. That's the finest articulation of the basic principles of wedge play I have read in a long time. Hats off to you, sir.
		
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Thank you HA, it's only because a PGA Pro took me through it last year trying to cure me!


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## andiritchie (Jan 14, 2009)

Thanks for the advice very heplfull.

I used to without knowing play most of my irons slightly back of centre so have been working getting it centre,the trouble is i dont have my alignment sticks on the course.

i do play my wedges with open hips,but like you say Birdieman iam probally swing more with my arms thinking i controlling it,iam quite a powerfull player so the arm swing seems to soften my shots but causes problems,ill try to keep everything rotating 

Thanks Guys


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## Herbie (Jan 14, 2009)

Very familiar with this one.
Almost certainly the body is not rotating properly and the arms are leading the swing coming over the top a little. You must 'clear the body' out of the way at strike.
Sort this by making your body and arms work as one and make sure you pull that left hip back in the downswing so you end up facing the target.
Usually the body stops rotating and the arms keep going pulling the ball left. If you keep this up you could start shanking so get it sorted.
A bit of anxiety or fear of the shot is the likely cause making you not commit fully to the shot i.e trying to steer the ball.
Get that hip rotation going to get out of the way of the downswing. Be positive and aggressive with the wedge.  

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Im not trying to be funny but how do you know this is his problem. have you seen him do it? 
The reason I ask is when advice is offered to a golfer, this advice should be very general clear and simple language and should be minimal,unless you have the benefit of seeing the golfers normal play and are able to compare to their errrant shots that you also witness.

Some golfers dont know why they make some errors and specific advice should be refrained from on a web page unless you can see for yourself what that problem is.
There are many things that can cause this problem, far more than you have covered and mostly it is a very very simple alignment or ball positioning in my experience and nothing to do with rotation/leading the swing/lifting the hip back etc etc. To give someone advice with language like 'ALMOST CERTAINLY' can have an effect on a naive golfers entire game if you are in fact wrong, how can you be so sure you are right unless you know the player and his or her problem.

Advice is great tips are too, but anyone offering it should be a little careful what they say and how.

If this offends it is not intended but Im sure someones bound to be, Im just not too keen on certainties of this nature, its a bit like being certain a bus is comming when you overlook the fact your stood at a taxi rank.


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## HTL (Jan 14, 2009)

Spot on in my opinion birdieman, great advice. You really have gotta get stuck in with wedges and get that spin on the ball. 

Getting your hips clear is a hard thing, combining that with coming down on the correct plane is almost impossible, but when / if you do scratch handicap awaits..........


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## birdieman (Jan 14, 2009)

*Re: Pulling the wedges *DELETED**

Post deleted by birdieman


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## HomerJSimpson (Jan 14, 2009)

I have the problem of trying to let the arms do all the work thinking I'm controlling the shot when I'm actually pulling the club off plane and getting the arms and body way out of sync. At best a pull or a push but I also get the odd fat one or horror of horrors a nice thin through the green


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## Herbie (Jan 14, 2009)

All this time Ive been looking for experts in golf and all the time here they were with all the defining knowledge and specific advice without even seeing a player, how I must have wasted my time elsewhere, the matey matey school of golf must be where its been at all the time. I think I need a break from here,a long one I think, I cant be doing with this.


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## HomerJSimpson (Jan 14, 2009)

A tad cynical. No-one is purporting to be an expert of professional but if someone asks for some advice then forummers have the right to give their best opinion. If the OP wants to adopt that or not is up to them.


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## birdieman (Jan 14, 2009)

Post pulled Herb, didn't mean to be a smart ar%$!


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## andiritchie (Jan 15, 2009)

I asked you all for advice on a shot problem and got great replys from all 

Granted no one here knows how i swing and i wont change anything on tips alone,but pulling the wedges is a little flaw.

Peoples experiences on why they did it/how they fixed it is what i was after so i can narrow it down myself

Thanks guys


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## madandra (Jan 17, 2009)

Tell me if I am missing something here.


A guy asked for help with a problem he has with his wedges, a few people took time to reply with THEIR opinions and then a third party has a pop at the advice given. I think this is a cheap shot. If you openly ask for advice then you have to accept their will be a variant of opinions.


If I make a post asking for advice or read others comments giving advice then I have the ability to identify the ones that I think are relevant and irrelevant.

So why was Birdiemans advice slaughtered???


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## andiritchie (Jan 17, 2009)

No idea i got some sound advice for many people i aint solved the problem though haha one pulled wedge today which is better than normal,its a bugger when that happens


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## ademac (Jan 18, 2009)

Tell me if I am missing something here.


A guy asked for help with a problem he has with his wedges, a few people took time to reply with THEIR opinions and then a third party has a pop at the advice given. I think this is a cheap shot. If you openly ask for advice then you have to accept their will be a variant of opinions.


If I make a post asking for advice or read others comments giving advice then I have the ability to identify the ones that I think are relevant and irrelevant.

So why was Birdiemans advice slaughtered???
		
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I did say to myself that I wouldn't post in this section but I'd have to say that I agree with the quote above. If a third party hasn't got anything good or constuctive to say then they should just shut up and say nothing! Not slaughter someone else's views and opinions.


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