On The Tee with Hank Johnson

Wedges
Controlling Distance and Trajectory
Segment Four in a Series.
Distance Control
Controlling distance with your wedges is a matter of controlling the size and speed of your motion or swing. Good wedge players don’t use much active wrist action because it tends to negatively affect your ability to get a consistent strike against the ball with your club face. Active use of the wrist in a wedge shot produces a wide variation in the spin on the ball from shot to shot making it difficult to predict the release or run out of the ball after it lands.
Good wedge players tend to use the rotation of their body and the swing of their arms to create their motion on wedge shots. Regardless of whether your swing concept is let the arm swing turn the body or let the body turn swing the arms, you control distance with your wedges by controlling the size and speed of your motion.
To be a good wedge player you need to touch and feel required to carry the ball the exact distance you plan for. If you have a 15 yard gap between full shots with you wedges that’s 45 feet. Unless you want to leave yourself a lot of long putts, you need to be able to produce “in between” distances. How do you get this touch and feel? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!
Trajectory Control
If you have good technique and a consistent “low point” for your swing, you can control trajectory on your wedge shots by adjusting your ball position before you swing. The general concept is as follows: The more up toward your front foot you position the ball, the higher the trajectory of the resulting shot. Conversely, the farther back toward your rear foot you position the ball , the lower the trajectory of the resulting shot.
The low point of your swing should occur as the club head passes your front foot. This means that a bit inside your front heel is as far forward as you should position the ball. You can move the ball back in your stance until it’s even with the inside of your back foot but that’s about the limit. As you move the ball back you may need to open your stance slightly as a rear ward ball position tends to cause the ball to start more to the right.
Now you have a great set of wedges and advice on how to use them. Go out and do the work required to be a Great Wedge Player!
Hank Johnson ,PGA

Segment Three of a Series.
Now that you have chosen the “perfect bunker club” it’s time to evaluate your wedge needs for shots from the turf.
You will probably want to include a “Lob Wedge”. These wedges are similar to a Sand Wedge but have more loft, traditionally around 60 degrees. They are designed primarily for high short shots from near the green. Choosing the correct bounce for this type of wedge is tricky. You want enough bounce to keep the leading edge from digging in but not so much that the club head skips into the ball. If you plan to use this wedge from the sand that will also influence the amount of bounce you choose.
Now it’s time to think about distance control on full wedge shots. Here’s the way I fit the rest of the wedge set. First determine how far you carry the ball with your 9 iron. Next determine the distance you carry the ball with a full wedge shot using your “perfect bunker club”. Now figure out the distance gap between these two clubs. If the gap is not too great you can probably add a Pitching Wedge with the correct loft to give you a full wedge distance in the middle of this gap. If you have a big gap you may need to add both a pitching wedge and a gap wedge to cover your full wedge distance requirements.
We use a TRACKMAN® SYSTEM to measure wedge distances. If you don’t have access to this type of system, then you can use a laser range finder but you may need help marking exactly where each shot lands. You also need to do this distance testing with the same type of ball that you play with.
Now that you have the perfect set of wedges it’s PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! Good wedge players have great ability to hit the ball the correct distance and that just comes through hours of practice. It’s really something you have to learn on your own.

Wedges
Their design, fitting and use.
Segment One of a series.
The Pitching Wedge
Years ago, players realized they needed an additional club in their set similar to their 9 iron but more lofted. Early on, companies who manufactured these clubs which were mainly for pitching into the green from short distances designated them as #10 irons. The name pitching wedge evolved because of the manner in which the club was used. Traditionally, these clubs are from 4 to 5 degrees weaker in loft than a 9 iron.
The Sand Wedge
In my opinion, proper wedge fitting begins with the selection of the perfect bunker club, a sand wedge with the perfect loft and bounce for a bunker shot by the individual player being fitted.
Anatomy of a wedge
Loft: What is it?
Loft is the difference between the shaft and face of the club. The more upward the face looks in relationship to the shaft, the more loft the club is deemed to have. Putters, because they are designed to roll the ball on the ground, have virtually no loft. (Note: The average loft in a putter is 4°) Since wedges are designed to hit the ball higher than any of your other clubs, they will have the most loft.
You must have the "perfect" bunker club.
Bounce: What is it?
An inverted angle on the sole of the club that reduces the club’s tendency to dig into the sand.
The Creation of the Sand Wedge
Sarazen story: Ducks landing on water
The story goes that Mr. Sarazen was looking out the window of a train and saw some ducks come in and land on a pond. He noticed that they put their feet down with their front of their webbed feet up. This prevented them from going under the surface. He took this idea and added metal to the bottom of a Niblick (9 iron) and shaped the bottom of the club so that the back edge of the sole was lower than the front edge. This new club was so effective because of its resistance to digging that he actually kept it upside down in his bag so that none of the other players could get a look at the bottom of the club. And that’s the legend of the development of the sand wedge.
When the club is in the playing position, the back edge of the sole is lower than the leading edge.
Opening the clubface increases the "bounce" by dropping the trailing edge of the sole lower and therefore raising the leading edge.
Application: More open in soft sand, less open in hard sand.
Wedges
Choosing the perfect bunker club for you.
Segment Two of a series
Selecting to correct bounce for your swing. Are you a "digger" or a "sweeper"?
"Diggers" usually need more bounce.
"Sweepers" usually need less bounce.
Loft: influence the trajectory of shots. More loft higher shots, less loft lower shots.
Original sand wedge had 55° of loft, pitching wedge had 50° of loft.
Modern pitching wedges have from 46° to 48° of loft.
Modern sand wedges have 57° to 58° of loft.
This gap created the need for a "gap wedge" with 52° to 53° of loft.
This club designed primarily for shots from the turf.
Elevated greens and lowered surrounds of current course design coupled with deep grass around the greens created the need for a "lob wedge". More often than a traditional sand wedge the specialty clubs have 60° of loft or more and since they are not sand wedges, they have less bounce.
Tom Kite had one of the first "lob" wedges. It was made from an old console sand wedge. It was shorter and more upright with extra loft. The bottom was reground to have less bounce.
Tom used this club for short shots where he had no green to work with. I remember the maximum distance he used to the club from being about 50 yards.
I don’t remember him playing many bunker shots with it.