Wedges on muddy/boggy conditions

[turkish]

My bad shot is a fat shot. Been working on it a lot with various drills from my pro and also YouTube and have improved greatly... However now and again it creeps in.

With my wedges over the winter there have been times where my pitching with my wedges has went horribly wrong under these muddy wet biggy conditions- if you don't get it spot on with the grass being so soft the leading edge just cuts right into it and it's horrid. At the weekend I just opted to play my PW as the leading edge doesn't seem as sharp but on the last there was a perfect distance for my 56 so tried it and duffed it with a huge fat chunk.

Is there anything I should be practicing or just use PW as a safe option?

 

[CliveW]

In these conditions you need a wedge with a higher bounce, failing that try opening the face of the wedge slightly.

 

[duncan mackie]

Small ball first.....its that simple.

The ground shouldn't make any difference to normal shots - it's only when you get into the use of bounce for chipping and pitching that this becomes a factor.
To really get this into your head it can help to stretch a piece of string across the ground behind the ball when practicing - start with it at about 2" and when you aren't having to reset it every shot move it up to 1".
Fwiw when I watch many players on the range they are hitting the mat about 4" behind he ball on what they consider good shots!

 

[turkish]

Small ball first.....its that simple.

The ground shouldn't make any difference to normal shots - it's only when you get into the use of bounce for chipping and pitching that this becomes a factor.
To really get this into your head it can help to stretch a piece of string across the ground behind the ball when practicing - start with it at about 2" and when you aren't having to reset it every shot move it up to 1".
Fwiw when I watch many players on the range they are hitting the mat about 4" behind he ball on what they consider good shots!

Yeah this is the drill my coach has me doing although it's a plastic board so you hear a clank if you hit the board. He also has me using swingyde to practice as it's the early release that's causing it so I'm working on that.

Re the bounce- at the weekend it was my highest bounce(14) on 56 degree wedge. I think I just need to practice more as if it's not spot on just cuts up. From some videos i've watched I think my AoA is maybe too steep too in these shots

 

[garyinderry]

High bounce wedge is pretty much essential for lots of players in soft boggy conditions.

 

[CMAC]

sounds to me like you have separation issues with your upper body i.e the arms accelerate faster than the torso rotation leading to fats but thins as well?

try to keep the upper left arm (for a right handed player) connected to the chest area and rotate the upper torso without it separating until well after the strike. Rory posted a couple of months ago that he does this for 120yds to improve consistency and accuracy.

 

[turkish]

sounds to me like you have separation issues with your upper body i.e the arms accelerate faster than the torso rotation leading to fats but thins as well?

try to keep the upper left arm (for a right handed player) connected to the chest area and rotate the upper torso without it separating until well after the strike. Rory posted a couple of months ago that he does this for 120yds to improve consistency and accuracy.

Thanks CMAC that's an interesting thing I will try- I keep upper arm attached all the way in backswing but lose focus of it on downswing so it's something I can try concentrating on.

 

[the_coach]

good idea when any part of the game goes south to first off check your statics - grip/posture/alignments body & shaft/ball pos etc. maybes they all good & it's more to do with the motion.

firm or soft ground have to have weight on the lead leg & a connected motion (body turn/arms) with a steady head where the hands lead the clubhead into strike.

grip & posture & plane always crucial, but with a shorter shot so shorter swing kinda becomes even more crucial in 'time & space'. deviation from the get go of plane (horizontal or vertical) means at some point through transition there has to be a readjustment back to the ball. smaller swing less space & time to make those adjustments.

if grip or posture or both doesn't although the correct 'set' of the left hand through either position of handle in the left (too much in the palm) or the position in the right (to much under the handle) so the right dominates takeaway both plane horizontal & vertical will get compromised from the get go, 'time' of the shorter swing won't allow correction so good, so swing can then come in a ways steep.
if hands a ways too active at first move or weight allowed to get on the outside trail leg that too will give issues with steepness & where the low point is.

[video=youtube_share;5YKjUjHDKdc]http://youtu.be/5YKjUjHDKdc[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube_share;-N_yr6hKjPk]http://youtu.be/-N_yr6hKjPk[/video]

if you practice with a glove would fold the glove in half but don't put it tight up in the top of the armpit, more place it around an inch or so further down.

obviously you don't get to use the glove that ways in 'play' - but to that if you use part of the clothing you wear you can take a loose part from your chest covering to fold under in a similar ways. often times you'll see Tour players do this to 'remind' themselves of 'connection'.