We all know the short game is where scores are made or lost. Watching the pros on TV, it's easy to be in awe of their skill around the greens — particularly how effortlessly they flight their wedges. A low skipper that hops once and stops on a sixpence. A high lob that lands like a feather and sits. Same club. Same player. Different shot.
Most amateurs only have one wedge shot — the one their swing produces by default. Here's how to add the other two.
The set-up changes (and they're tiny)
The first thing to understand is that flighting a wedge is mostly an address adjustment, not a swing change. Three things move:
- Ball position. Back of centre for low, middle for stock, slightly forward for high.
- Hand position at address. Forward shaft lean for low, neutral for stock, slightly behind for high.
- Club face.Square for low and stock; opened a few degrees for high (don't over-do this).
The swing thought
Once the address is set, all you're trying to do is keep the relationship the same through impact. The temptation is to add hand action — flicking up for the high shot, holding off for the low one. Don't. Trust the set-up; let the club deliver itself.
How to practise this in a Toptracer bay
This is one of the genuinely best uses of the bays. Pick a target carry distance. Hit ten balls trying to land within a five-yard window — first low, then stock, then high. Use the ball-flight numbers on the screen as your scorecard. Apex height is the metric you're moving; carry stays roughly constant.
Half an hour a week of this and your scores around the green will fall meaningfully — more than any club purchase will deliver.
