The title of this story says it all, and I’m going to raise my hand as someone who’s been doing it wrong for years.
Whenever I’ve had the chance to watch the great wedge players in person, it’s been clear to me that they have different wedges for different shots – unlike my way of making a 58 or 60 make literally everything from 80 yards and up.
This video with Vokey’s Aaron Dill is a master class (from him not me) on how to use your whole set around the greens. Keep in mind that it’s not really about mitigating the trouble (eg apologizing), but about giving yourself the opportunity to hit the best shot possible. There is a difference.
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These are my three biggest takeaways from my brief playtest with Mr. Dill.
More loft does not mean more spin
This was the hardest for me to wrap my head around. Although in theory more loft equals more spin, it’s not that simple around the greens. The amount of face (ie groove/surface) you can apply to the ball has a big impact on the spin of the wedge. I remember hearing Tiger Woods talk about this over the years, he always felt that using a 56 out of the bunker was a more efficient game because of the forgiveness factor AND the fact that he could always get more face on the ball.
Think of it this way: To hit the ball lower, the ball has to stay on the face longer, higher loft means more open face and less time on the face. More time on the face means more spin, which means more control. This is where terms like “Spin Loft” come into play. It’s easier to get a 56 in the loft roll happy zone (45-55 degrees) than it is to be a 60. Rabbit hole, I know, but now I understand why Rocco Mediate doesn’t carry a 60.
Get the ball on the rolling green as a putt as often as you can
This is something I heard Seve Ballesteros mention a bunch on YouTube. It’s much easier to spin it than it is to fly it in AND it’s much easier to use the ground than to rely on the perfect shot, carry number and spin to get it close. The fewer variables to manage, the better. That’s why Dill asked me to use the 50 and 54 off the green, not only is it more efficient and easier to play, but the results were better. Who knew?!
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Fully equipped
Your lob spot is a specialty club – not your only option
Again something I’ve heard but never adopted for my game. It’s so easy to keep it simple and make your lob wedge do 20 different things. I can attest to having done it at a high level for years … until kids, lack of practice and bills came into my life.
This lobber-or-die mentality only works consistently if you have hours a week to practice. Creating a solid wedged floor for yourself is essential. What this means in practice is building a deck and strategy for your short game that has built-in security for the days you just don’t have it. Dill makes it on Tour, so it would make sense for us all to adopt it.
Title Vokey SM11 Raw Custom Wedge
A grind for every player For every player, there is a set of grinds suitable for pure contact. The SM11 offers a premier combination of lofts, bounces and grinds to promote solid contact (between grooves 2-5), predictable performance and the confidence to handle whatever the shot demands. Grind Comparison Consistent CG Location For a given loft, the SM11 features the same CG location on all grills, resulting in a controlled and consistent launch angle. No matter which single model suits your swing or course conditions, your launch window is locked – leaving you free to choose the loft and grind that work for you. A Smarter Way to Spin The new Vokey Spin System combines an angled face structure, shot-specific groove shapes and deeper spin-grinding grooves to deliver just the right amount of spin from every lie, in all conditions
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Fairway ball movement and a great short game will ALWAYS ensure lower scores. Videos like this are meant to spark a thought in all of us. We all want to play better, score lower, etc. What Aaron and I have shown here is the way to do that. Your wedge placement should be something you not only take seriously, but something you must protect at all costs. I’m a big advocate of finding something that works and doing the old rinse and repeat for years. Although wedge technology has advanced over the years, it has a purpose really work after the basics are in place. One of these basics is knowing what to use, when to use it, and how.
The best players on the planet trust Aaron and his tools more than anyone else in the world, his messages have been the same for years and over the years, the tools may improve a bit as we go, but the messages and the strategy are the same.
Happy short games.
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