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Test your wedge game with Radius

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Wedge play is one of the most under-practiced part of the game, yet it is vital to good scoring. If you struggle with any sort of consistent contact or distance control, then make it a point this week to set an appointment to see a quality coach in your area to find out why you suffer with these shots. THEN, get to work on that technique and dialing in your distance control with this game.

Game: Radius

  • Gear needed: Wedges
  • Time needed: Depends on your dedication

Rules: Hit one shot from each of these five distances — 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 yards — or from the distances you need to improve. Striving to hit the shot as close as possible to the hole, score those five shots in the following manner:

  • If you happen to hole the shot, you earn 10 points.
  • If it resides within 6 feet, you gain 4 points.
  • If the ball ends up 6-12 feet away, you receive 2 points.
  • If you find the ball outside of 12 feet, but still on the green, you get 0 points.
  • If you miss the green, you must subtract 2 points from your score.

Total the points from those five shots, then gather the balls and do it again striving to better your score. You’ll notice that from the longer distances points may be hard to come by, so go through your routine and make your practice focused and deliberate.

Score Recap

  • Holed shot: 10 points
  • <6 feet: 4 points
  • 6-12 feet: 2 points
  • 12 feet: 0 points
  • Missed the green: -2 points

Don’t forget to check out my 230-page book, Golf Scrimmages: Realistic Practice Games Under Pressure, as well as my interactive practice website www.golfscrimmages.com.

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Trent Wearner is the No. 1-rated teacher in Colorado by Golf Digest Magazine, as well as a two-time Colorado PGA Teacher of the Year (2004, 2014). Along the way, he has been recognized as a Top 20 Teacher Under Age 40 by Golf Digest, a Top 50 Kids Teacher in America by U.S. Kids Golf and a Top Teacher in the Southwestern U.S. by GOLF Magazine. Trent is also the author of the book Golf Scrimmages and creator of the website GolfScrimmages.com

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Stefan

    Oct 17, 2016 at 11:12 am

    I go to forest preserves, walk off distances, hit tons of balls, leave em behind if I can’t find them all. After about 15 shots, I’m hitting from a reasonable lie, helps with rough shots too. Occasionally, I’m told that’s not allowed, but less than annually and the coyotes and or deer generally outnumber the people…

  2. Anthony

    Oct 16, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    I agree with the other posters here. Sounds like great fun, but where could anyone actually do this?

    Very few courses here in the northeast have anything other than a practice range with long grass (shortest flag 90-100 yards) and a putting green. You’re lucky if there is a sand trap to practice from.

    Sounds like a nice luxury to have an empty green and some fairway grass to practice wedge play from 100 yards and in but almost no courses or practice facilities offer this.

    I believe that is the reason it is seldom practiced …

    • Tom

      Oct 17, 2016 at 12:21 am

      interesting didn’t know that. Here on the west coast practice ranges have 100 yard greens and some have water trough’s @ 75 and 50.

  3. Philip

    Oct 15, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    Not a bad idea, but I have never seen a practice green set up to do anything remotely similar to this.

    • Mat

      Oct 16, 2016 at 6:54 am

      These all seem like great yet impractical ideas. It’s not like I can go down to a TopGolf and insist on grass… The reality is that wedge practice is either very expensive per bucket, or very time consuming shagging your own. Maybe GK’s should mark out a few circles, but I just don’t see that happening.

    • Brian

      Oct 16, 2016 at 9:41 am

      Just use some sidewalk chalk.

      • Philip

        Oct 16, 2016 at 10:37 am

        I’m not talking about the circle, but having access to a practice green to be able to get as far as 100 yards or as close as 30 yards without people putting on it or chipping around it just isn’t available. I can hit to a 50 yard or 100 yard flag in high grass on our range, which I do, but walking onto a range is usually frowned upon and dangerous with balls coming from any direction.

        • James

          Oct 17, 2016 at 7:40 am

          This sort of practice is for out on the course. When you’re playing a quick nine, or six, or whatever loop at your home course, do this test over a few holes. It’s only one extra shot per hole if you’re playing nine holes.

          Of course, if your home course is under snow/water right now…best of luck :p

  4. Tom

    Oct 15, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    This will make practice fun. Maybe some friendly competition to.

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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