In July, I wrote a post concerning my move to four wedges to create better yardage gaps from within scoring range (100 yards).

You might recall that I dropped my 4-iron and got a few new wedges, replacing my existing pitching wedge in the process. You may further recall that replacing the pitching wedge from my Callaway X-16 set with a Cleveland 588 left me with 3 additional degrees of loft on my pitching wedge.

At the time, I had intended to get a degree or two added to my 9-iron (by having it bent to add loft), but I never did because I plan on getting new irons for next season.

I thought I could make do, but it caused some problems.

I went from 46 degrees to 49 degrees with my pitching wedge. Between that and the different model clubs, for a full finesse wedge swing, I went from about 130 yards with my old wedge to about 115 yards with the new one. My 9-iron carries close to 140 yards. That leaves me with a 20+ yard gap between the two.

I have a huge gap of coverage on the outer edges of scoring distance, meaning that for something within that, I either have to really go after a pitching wedge, or ease up (possibly a lot) on my 9-iron.

Now to the mental game aspect of all this.

I’ve noticed something a handful of times on the course relating to all this that came to a head last week when I got out to play on Sunday.

I was teeing off on a short par-3 that was playing around 125 yards. As I stood there trying to make my decision, I weighed both possibilities: ease up on a 9-iron, or blast my pitching wedge.

I finally decided on taking something off the 9-iron, but while I technically made a decision, I wasn’t mentally decisive. By that, I mean that I wasn’t completely and utterly committed to the shot I wanted to hit.

The result: as I stood over the ball, that indecisiveness hung around, led to unintended swing “corrections” to be able to take enough off the 9-iron and I flat out smother duffed it about 10 yards ahead of where I stood.

That stung a little.

Incidentally, that put me in the rough, but in perfect pitching wedge distance. I managed to put that one on the green about 10 feet from the flag because I was absolutely committed to the shot.

There are three things to take from my experience:

• First, on the technical equipment side of things, pay attention to the lofts on your wedges and short irons to make sure that you have the most even finesse wedge yardage coverage.
• Second, you must have confidence in your equipment. If you pull a club out of your bag that doesn’t give you complete confidence in the shot you’re about to hit, then put it right back. My 9-iron is my most reliable club right now. But in that scenario, I wasn’t confident in taking 15 yards off on a shot where there’s big trouble behind the green. In that case, I might as well have been swinging a tree branch.
• Third, you must fully commit to every shot. That’s a key component of Dr. Bob Rotella’s philosophies. It is imperative to be completely committed to every shot, with no doubt in your mind. Check out his books for more on that. I just finished The Golfer’s Mind which has given me even more insight into the mental game. Having that topic so fresh in my mind told me what went wrong even before I got into my follow through.

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Further Reading

Dr. Bob Rotella’s Books (Amazon.com)

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