Golf wedges assume lots of significance in the game and can affect your score quite dramatically. When we talk about the different kinds of wedges, it comprises pitching wedge, gap wedge, sand wedge, and lob wedge.

If you are a beginner, then you need not concern too much about the wedges except the pitching wedge. Lob and gap wedges are more common with better players while the sand wedges are common to all kinds of players. However, the sand wedges are specialized clubs, which have special uses. So the beginners must not feel obliged to pick-up the sand wedge exactly off the bat. Players must first learn as to how to use the basic clubs with ease.

Wedges characterize the highest lofts and shortest shafts of all golf clubs. Wedges have their identity more by the loft than by their name.

The full swing of the Wedge shot is the most potent of the short game weapon. Players with low golf handicaps give a hit with the full swing from the fairway while with high golf handicaps hit the wedge shots from a trap, rough or may be just behind the cart path owing to their practice of positioning themselves.

Below are some of the keys in hitting golf wedge swing-shots.

1. Open up

To hit a wedge you do not need a lot of power and eventually a less of lower body action. A good wedge player keeps the lower body quiet. But a sound wedge shot can’t be hit without opening the hips. The best way is to open up your stance and using the arms and shoulders to give the best wedge shot.

2. Hinge the Wrists

Poor players try scooping, sweeping, or lifting the ball in the air while hitting the wedge shot. As against that, good players, creating a big nice pivot, hit down–and-through. Wrist hinge is one of the secrets to hitting down. The ball will sweep off the floor if you do not hinge your wrist early. Do not wait for the backswing midpoint. You should start with your wrist-bend as take-away.

3. Adjust Your Backswing

What is constant in golf is tempo and not backswing length. Do not put the brakes to get control of the shot distance. The backswing length will dictate the distance with wedges and not the speed. The full swing wedge shot could be 36, 42 or 53 yards away nevertheless you should first learn to hit the wedge with 25, 50, 75 or 100 % lengths of backswing maintaining the position of front shoulder.

5. Keep It Low

You have to keep your hands low after the effect on the full swing wedge shot. The reason being one of the sign of a solid wedge shot is low hands after the impact, which is the indication of hitting down-and-through. If you finish high, it will tend to negate the weight shift and will obstruct your ability to hit down and through the ball.

6. Pose For The Camera

A good finish follows a good swing. You should take some swings for practice and finish by posing for camera before you hit a wedge shot. It will enable you to get a smoother swing and consequently better result.

9. Proper Knee-Flex – The Key To Reduce The Moving Parts Of Golf Swing

When we talk to work with golfers of all kinds of abilities, it is very significant to develop a swing, which is repeatable and dependable. The golf instructors are involved in lots of talks about the gravity of achieving more hip turns incase of back swing and full shoulder turns in order to generate more power. Though full shoulder turn is inevitable for a more powerful golf swing, nevertheless always make sure so as to not compromising on one key fundamental i.e.; The Right Knee Flex for the right handed golfers.

The importance of the right knee in playing the back swing is quite simple yet very important. The significance if the flex in right knee cannot be underscored more. The function of the flex in the right knee is to keep the hips at a level in backswing. Incase of straightening of the right knee, the right hip is pushed up and eventually the left hip comes down which results in too much of tilting in the left hip in the backswing.

If you want to visualize this , just stand in front of the mirror and attempt a backswing with the right knee keeping it flexed after which u need to perform a backswing keeping your right leg locked, you will be able to see clearly the change as to the extent of tilt in the hips in the backswing.

If there is a lot of tilting in the hip in the backswing, it becomes quite difficult to transfer your weight to the right side in the backswing. Thus, the player unknowingly creates a Reverse Pilot, or Reverse Weight Shift with much of the weight onto the left foot at the swing top.

One more significant reason for keeping the right knee flexed is how it is used in the transition in the downswing; the vital source of driving the power of your lower body in case of the downswing is your right knee. It is quite arduous to fend off a straightened right side leg in transition. Thus, the upper part of the body will tend to prevail over the downswing, culminating into the power loss and bad swing plane.

You can try a drill to keep your right side knee flexed in the backswing, what you need to do is to put a basket sized ball in between your knees holding it stable while you rotate in the backswing , this will make you feel as to how the knee should stay flexed throughout your backswing.

Reverse Pivot

It is the spine wrenching posture at the top of the swing, wherein you tilt your head towards the target, and then your right side hip peeks out off from the target leading to almost all your weight onto the left side.

How to know if you are doing it:

Players hit a haphazard assortment of thin and fat shots.

The correct way is to take the normal address position with the mid- iron as shown in the picture. You have to play the ball in the middle of the stance.

Use your left fingers to lift up the club butt to bring it under the chin and resting onto your sternum. The club must be hanging straight downwards from there to make the toe of the club to pointing at the ball. In the said position, the club shaft represents the spine angle at the address. While you still hold the club, make a normal backswing and take the right sided hand back until the fingers point at the sky.

If you are correctly pivoting i.e. if the spine angle remains consistent during your backswing, then the club that is hanging form the left fingers would continue to point downwards at the ball. However if you are Reverse Pivoting, the incorrect tilt would force your club head to swing past to the right knee.