Use Your Wedge the Way It Was Designed to be Used

This setup utilizes the full loft and bounce angle of the club. As a result, shots fly higher, land softer. By using the full bounce of the wedge, you will hit more solid pitches and have fewer miss-hits.

Too many amateurs miss-hit pitch shots because they do not set up properly. Sure, everyone knows to put your hands in front of the ball, the ball back in your stance and keep your weight on the forward foot, but how far should your hands be in front? What percentage of weight should you place on that forward foot? Where exactly should the ball be in your stance?

Most amateurs tend to overly exaggerate what's good for them and put too much weight on their forward foot, have their hands too far in front of the ball as well as the ball to far in back of their stance. Why is this a problem? When you set up this way, you decrease the effective loft of the club, turning, for example, a 56 degree sand wedge into a 48 degree pitching wedge. This makes your shots fly too low and run too far. You have also lost the effective bounce that you need to utilize to help avoid miss-hits around the green.

This setup has the ball too far back, the hands too far forward and too much weight on the left side. The combination of these factors results in a shot that flies too low and runs too far. Effective loft and bounce are lost which rusults in more miss-hits.

Bounce is built into a sand wedge to keep the club from digging into the turf. Bounce works similarly to a boat hull. The front of a boat hull is angled to displace water and keep the boat from nose-diving as you move about. When used properly, bounce helps eliminate fat shots. When you set up with the ball too far back, your hands too far forward and too much weight on your forward foot, you lose the bounce angle and the leading edge of the club digs into the turf resulting in fat shots. The natural instinct is to subsequently catch the ball thin rather than fat (for some reason people think it's better to skull the ball 30' past the pin than chili-dip it 6 inches) and your short game soon goes out the window.

To set up properly on a pitch shot, play the ball in the middle of your stance, with 60% of your weight on your forward foot, your hands just slightly in front of the ball and the clubface a little open. The open clubface adds a little loft and increases the bounce angle. From here, just swing the club an even length and tempo back and through and try to slide the clubface underneath the ball. Contact wise, it's better to err too far behind the ball rather than too far in front. A little behind the ball, and the bounce angle will keep you from digging into the turf and hitting the ball heavy. You'll still catch the ball solidly and have a god opportunity to save your up and down. Too far forward and you'll catch the ball thin and send it well past your target.