Are you struggling to get past the chipping "Yips" cycle of failures? Are you already or Have you ever thought about getting fit for a wedge all your own and based on your own strengths and weaknesses? Have you ever considered the importance of having a good wedge design as well as having several different wedges for different purposes?
This article hopes to give you some insight into these things and more. Below is the next phase in our 5 minute series.
The Power And Precision Of Wedge Fitting
Wedge fitting is the process of designing a wedge that will optimally give you the best game by playing into your strengths and helping to handicap your weaknesses. It’s like a golf filter that enhances your ability to make the shots you go for and to avoid failure based on circumstances on the green at any given day.
Did you know that any and all information you can track and record can be used to help you find your perfect fitting. By watching video of your game, close-ups of your processes, and even records of your game handicaps and more- you can utilize this to improve your game but at the same time you can create a perfectly designed wedge that literally fits you like a glove!
With 100% data correlation, our wedge fitting process is incredibly powerful and accurate. With the players "switching styles" during changes like chipping and pitching, it’s harder to maintain a perfect swing and to reach your goal effectively with the right focus. The problems come in when changing styles that become misaligned with the wedge your using.
You can get different wedges for each style you enjoy- the important thing to note that you will need to change wedges when you change styles to keep your game tight. THE problem is usually a switch in styles leading to a bad habit of "mis-match" styles and driving at the wrong goal, or rather the right goal with the wrong stance, positioning, and drive to make it work. Due to the nature of this error it causes emotions that can be game changers if you don’t get them in check. Fear and/or anxiety can create lost strokes. It’s vital to maintain your razor sharp focus and to use the tools that give you the best advantage on the green.
How Sliding And Digging Are Poised as The only 2 Effective ways to chip & pitch a golf ball effectively.
If your looking for a professional who scores well around the greens, Bob Vokey is your man. Bob has brought many great terms to the game and has been credited as the person who the coined terms originated from. Some terms such as "slider" and "digger" were bob’s babies. Bob has built and continues to build some amazing and effective golf wedges for the Titleist. Taking strokes off your game, bringing home the gold, and improving your overall confidence in the competition and function of the game are the main goals behind designing the perfect wedge and giving you the most power behind your ability.
Throughout Bob Vokey’s career he’s figured out that there are two basic styles of running your short game: Sliding and Digging
Sliding Fundamentals
What are the fundamentals of the slider style wedge play?
Bob’s impressive slider style concept follows some fundamental steps you take to bring you the superlative results your after. With a more shallow and thinner angle of attack you gain the short game advantage. Using a trajectory instead of a dependency on the spin raises your accuracy. The higher launch, neutral backward shaft lean, and maintaining a ball position that is as close to the middle of a square and utilizing a slightly open stance, you improve your swing and bring your body and wedge into the right optimal position to bring it home.
Some famous "sliders" are Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Tom Pernice, and Ben Crane Diggers. You can learn a lot from watching how they handle their own slider matrix.
Diggers Fundamentals
The digger style encompasses a different set of positioning steps but some of the steps play out the same with a different set of resources. The digger style includes a steeper angle of attack along with much deeper divots, a stronger grip and stronger pressure overall. Ball positioning will be near the back of your open stance. Diggers also use a spin instead of depending on a trajectory. Your launch is going to be lower to the ground and your shaft will lean in forward more.
Swing Traits
Characteristics of the swing style is bowing the lead wrist, lag on the shaft, and swing deep.
Some Professional Diggers
Paul Azinger, Ben Crenshaw, Rory Sabbatini…and just about every player you see at your local club.
Your "chipping" style will generally fall into one of the two categories, but not likely both in any given style. Your instructor may influence which one you decide on. You can learn both and figure out which one suits you best. It’s ok to have an instructor show you his or her best game positioning and style but keep in mind you may want to learn them both just to get your head around which one is more lucrative to your game. Different situations may call for one or the other or in a game you may use both depending on the circumstances!
At first, however you want to stick to one and "let it play out" all the way. Newer more amateur players tend to switch styles like changing socks, but what happens is neither one is fully learned, practiced, or utilized completely correct. This causes problems in bad pitches and chips leading to unsuccessful execution of either style. It’s better to fully learn one then another, but stick to the one that feels best at the moment. By fully integrating the skill sets of both types you are more prepared to compete aggressively in the same way you change clubs depending on the shot you want to make- switching styles help give you an advantage over your competition.
When short game players struggle they tend to try to blend both styles at once and this only leads to errors, and problems attaining either style effectively. Blending both styles is not a good way to go. Learning to do both styles and choosing one or the other at any given time is optimal. When you try to do both what happens is the sliders end up hitting shots too thin, and the diggers end up taking shots too fat. Bottom line- you can’t have it both ways, it just doesn’t mesh cohesively
Fulfilling The Necessary Design permutations of Sliders And Diggers (difference in the styles)
There are two basic styles utilized and evolved into each player with wedge play, to be aware of:
For Sliders:
Have less of a need for bounce since they don’t use a forward pressOne reason it’s called a "Slider" is due to it’s relatively neutral leading edge to the ground sliding across the turfFor Diggers:
Bounce Definition: The angle that is centered between the front and end edge of the wedge
- Diggers require more bounce for neutralizing forward pressing
Pressing the shaft forward to about 9-10 degrees of bounce angle should keep the front edge from digging (into the green) too muchYou may think because you feel like you maintain the prevalent characteristics of a slider that you belong to the slider style. You may think because you fill the bill of a digger more dominantly that you’re a digger but usually it’s nowhere near that simple, and often sliders and diggers are not that easy to size up.
It takes time, experience, and trial and error to determine which style you truly are. You also should realize that styles can change depending on the shot your taking. These styles are just more clubs in your bag of skill sets you can use to take back the advantage in a friendly game of golf!
You should take the time to learn both to see where you stand. If you end up with mismatched fundamentals, your short game will surely fail. Taking the time to assess your skill set and to tune it up to your personal style will give you a better end game and will raise your potential and optimal play.
Common Mistakes Of A Slider Using Digger setups:
One thing we notice happening a lot is when a slider sets their game up like a digger. A case of mistaken style identity? Possibly. What happens in this scenario is the open stance, the ball in the rear of the stance, and the forward press of the shaft at the address.
This causes the shaft to fully release at the moment of impact which messes up the shot and defies your goal for the shot. You can’t play golf with basketball in mind any more than you can dig with a slider stance and positioning. The two are mutually exclusive and can’t be married without disastrous results, unplanned effects, and all around handicapping your shot.
The 5-Minute Wonder Wedge Fitting
From the aforementioned information we derive the basic foundation for learning to fit yourself for the Wonder Wedge. (as well as all the other wedges you possess in your bag) now let's put that information into practice. Learning. One thing you want to do is cure your "Yips" problem.
Here’s what you do:
The steps are easy and include optimizing where you’re shooting, range you need, and actual execution and practice of the aforementioned tips.
- For optimal testing and trial/error, you will need to get to an area where you can shoot downhill in a short-sided, tight lie scenario with no more space than about 15 yards.
- What you’re going to do here is chip off 10 balls with your left hand and 10 with your right. Make sure you record and track your results- success or failure doesn’t matter, tracking results helps you to evolve into the move effectively over several practice runs.
- What's important is to track where your weaknesses are and figure out how to improve that determine which of your hands are dominant. Even if your right handed your golfing dominance may be in your left hand- you will need to determine the optimal dominance for your game to take the next step.
- Why is hand dominance important? Because it will determine if you’re a slider or a digger.
- Right handed trail hand players are considered sliders while lead hand (lefties) is diggers.
- Take care to use the right slider/digger fundamentals and take care not to accidentally mix the two in your head which can lead to a bad shot
Once you get out there and figure out where you stand, how you stand, what style you are (digger or slider) then it’s in your best interests to take your particular style and fuse it to your own overall style and practice, practice, practice. Having the right equipment is vital but more so is having the right skills, moves, stances, and of course style of swinging
One of the best wedges to use in building your style and tuning up your game is the Titleist Vokey Wedge. This professional and powerful wedge has an almost universal use where by the player themselves brings out the power and potential of the wedge. This wedge is built like all Titleist golf equipment professional player in mind.
