the Y set up
8 o'clock wrist hinge
with arms at top of swing
up and after
The short simple wedge shot.The gods were certainly smiling on our clubgolf night on a perfect evening sandwiched between two pouring wet days. Numbers of both adults and learners were a little down as it was a holiday weekend, but it meant our smaller numbers could let us let the smallest ones move on from putting and chipping on to trying 'bigger shots' for the last half hour. the 11 pluses hit the new Junior Course and my group of 9 year olds could move up to pitching and bunker level. Real glamour at last! Fast track to the flop shot!We kept it very simple; checked the grip - and choked down the shaft a little for control as we were not aiming to drive 250 yards down the bottom of the range. [OK? It is a wedge.] Aim sorted, ball centred, clubface to target, arms hanging in the Y position and we were off. Nothing fancy with the weight yet - just a relaxed bend from the hips and this time we were trying to swing to about 8 o'clock and let the weight of the club 'cock the wrists' and swing a little further back - smoothly. then still thinking smooth and 'throw underhand' we swung the club, brushing under the ball and up, up, up towards our targets.As the parents there saw, if there was a problem with elbows 'flying' in this new longer backswing, it was corrected by bringing the club to about 4 o'clock and swinging back from there. The [arms and] wrists will do what [arms and] wrists have gotta do! Without trying! Their delight in hitting the ball right up in the air was amazing. Straight might be great but straight and up high is better!Taking a chance on losing all these grins we headed to the bunker behind the 18th and again went through the little drills, but this time we drew little 'fried eggs' in the sand and with the club [grounded] aiming at the back edge of the circle - and with karate style cries of 'no wimps here' hit the sand hard behind the ball and again - kept going on up and out towards the green . In 2, by now very competitive groups of 3 at a time, the success rate was tremendous and soon the pin not the green was the target, everyone desperate to get it closest. Here is a little picture sequence of what we are trying to do; swing back and forwards letting the deep face of the club do the work - after all, that is what it was made for. All we do is swing, swish and feel a throw action. I did not tell some of them they were using a 9 iron in the bunker, they just trusted their swing. It worked! Simples!
the Y set up
8 o'clock wrist hinge
with arms at top of swing
up and after
