If you regularly shoot over 90 our wedges are used more than any other club except the putter. The reason for this is that we miss the green more than we hit it on approach shots. Not to worry, this errand shot allows for more use of our scoring clubs….our wedges. The ability to hit the perfect wedge shot is a fundamental must for any player seeking lower golf scores. Of course there are many different theories about how to hit the perfect wedge for players to try, however I am a supporter of the fundamentals when hitting our wedges. Keeping that in mind, many players overlook ball position prior to contact because they think that moving the ball around in their stance helps make better wedge shots. This theory, in my opinion, is folly and should be revisited my most amateurs.
Ball position in our stance is very important. I notice many years back that I had the tendency to play the ball too far forward near my lead foot. This ball positioning led to many poor shots and forced me to reevaluate the mechanics of my set up. Having the ball out of position affect my posture, contact and ball control. Once I understood my fundamental error I started working on a fix. As it turned out, it was easier than expected. My ball striking improved dramatically especially with my wedges.
Dave Pelz describes where the ball should be played when using our wedges. His view fits perfectly with mine. Ball position is a fundamental step to hitting a perfect wedge shot.
Everything Pelz said hits home for me. The technique he described is what I use when I am playing my best golf. The ball is in the center of my stance when hitting my wedges. Of course I am an amateur prone to mistakes and when I do make errors with my wedges, it usually because of my ball position. But, alas it is fleeting because I receive immediate feedback from any shot and can make the proper adjustments as required.
Hitting the perfect wedge shot is not as difficult as we think. The key is to have the ball int he proper position in order to make the contact we envision during our pre-shot routine. It does take some practice to master this skill, but what skill doesn’t need a little effort to master.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 
He doesn’t mention it but the face should be slightly open. You can see he has his open a bit for that last chip. (I paused the video at 3:47 and it shows very well there that the face is open to the target line) The reason for that is it allows the bounce to help out. He get’s ball first contact more than we will even with his technique. Having the face slightly open will allow the club to glide to the ball and bring a decent result even when we don’t get that stellar ball first contact we want. It’s a critical point. A closed face will always dig in when it comes in contact with the ground. We want to brush the ground when we chip most of the time at least. And to do that, we need the bounce so we need the face open at least a little. Besides, thanks to the loft on our wedges, a slightly open face IS aligned to target.
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Kevin,
You are absolutely correct! Opening the club face is very important to the success of shot. Many players forget this one movement and as a result struggle with chopping.
Cheers Jim
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