This is another bit of wisdom from the Dave Pelz school of thought that I got to try first hand recently.

According to Pelz, the best way to control wedge distances within 100 yards is to groove a set of three pre-defined swing lengths: 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30, where you imagine swinging within the face of a giant imaginary clock and where the player’s left shoulder is at the center of the dial, and the position of the left arm at the end of the back swing gives the “time” reading (left arm parallel to the ground is 9:00).

Couple those three swings with four different wedges and you have 12 different shot lengths that are easily repeatable from around 100 yards down to about 30. This is the basis of his 3×4 system.

But what happens when you’re between wedges or within 30 yards?

One option is to “take a little off” of one of your standard distances by varying the back back swing length slightly. While this is doable, it’s a little more prone to error.

The other possibility is to choke down a little on the club to shorten the distance some. Because of the laws of physics, the same exact swing using a shorter club (the same club, gripped down) produces a shorter shot.

This is a much more consistent approach than trying to rely on feel to accomplish the shot. If you’re using the same swing you’ve practiced over and over and over, then your chance of success is much higher. The only thing you have to figure out is how much distance is affected by gripping down. You can easily find that out on the practice range.

Recently, I was faced with a 30 yard or so pitch from off a green, over a bunker, to a pin that was on the back tucked onto a tier. The ball was settled down in the rough some.

The swing required for a pitch shot from 30 yards and in is a little different than a swing for a 3×4 wedge shot, but the principle is the same. In this situation, I needed to fly the ball high and land it softly with no hope of getting any spin out of the rough. Unfortunately, it was a little shorter than my standard grooved pitch swing with my 60 degree wedge.

My solution was to grip down and take my normal swing. I knew that if I tried to take a little off by using feel, I was likely to have an inconsistent result because my confidence in that shot isn’t as high as I’d like it to be (yet). In that situation, the tendency is to either take too short a back swing and then compensate by getting handsy, or to take too long a back swing and compensate by not properly accelerating through the shot.

I gripped down almost to the end of the grip, took several preview swings to get the feel of bending over a little more. When it felt right, I stepped up and pulled the trigger. The result was a well-struck shot that flew the right distance, landed softly, and gave me a chance to make a putt. Because I used the same swing mechanics that I practice and only varied my setup, I was able to execute a swing that I was confident in.

Next time you practice your wedge game, get a feel for how gripping down can affect distance. I think you’ll find it to be a good way to make subtle changes to your standard distances that you can execute with confidence and reliability.

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