“Swing your swing. Not some idea of a swing. Not a swing you saw on TV. Not that swing you wish you had. No, swing your swing. Capable of greatness. Prized only by you. Perfect in it’s imperfection. Swing your swing. I know, I did.”
— Arnold Palmer
The next tour stop will be taking the greatest players in the world to TPC Sawgrass. Sight of the iconic “island’ green on the 17th hole for the annual The Players Championship. When admiring the greatest in the world the first thing that comes to mind is the length of their tee shots, but their accuracy with wedges should not be over looked. Just like the casual weekend golfers see their golf ball land in the water, so will the pros this week when taking aim at the 17th green.
The biggest mistake I see with players and their wedge play, is the attempt to hit the ball too hard with too fast of a swing. When trying to have maximum accuracy with iron wedges, the key is balance and control of tempo. When practicing, start from the bottom of the bag and work up. With each swing, players should finish with complete balance and build confidence with landing distances. Continue to build comfort with controlling your backswing and tempo speed to be as repeatable as possible. The greater you are able to repeat a consistent tempo, the easier it will be to create repeatable distances.
Not everyone hits the ball the same distance, and the scorecard does not ask what club was used. Just because you see on TV that Justin Thomas used a pitching wedge from 145 at TPC Sawgrass, does not force players to try the same during their next round. While practicing highlight landing distances for clubs not where they roll out, and build more confidence in shots under 125 yards. Every club in the bag should represent a different distance and comfort with a similar tempo.
