Okay, so today I messed around with my pitching wedge and tried to really dial in my distances. I’ve been feeling a little inconsistent lately, so I wanted to get a better handle on how far I’m actually hitting the ball.
First, I grabbed a bucket of balls and headed out to the range. I started by just loosening up, hitting some easy shots, not really focusing on distance, just trying to get a feel for the club.
Getting Down to Business
After I felt warmed up, I set up a few alignment sticks. One to make sure my feet were pointed where I wanted them, and another a few feet in front of the ball to help me visualize my target line. Then, I picked out a spot on the range that looked like a good 50-yard marker. It’s not exact science, of course, but it gave me something to aim at.
- I started with some half-swings, really trying to feel the clubhead and make solid contact.
- I gradually worked my way up to three-quarter swings, paying close attention to how the ball was flying.
- Finally, I started hitting full shots, trying to maintain a consistent tempo and rhythm.
I hit about 20 balls with each type of swing, trying to get a good average. I noticed that my half-swings were going around 40-50 yards, my three-quarter swings were landing around 60-70 yards, and my full shots were pretty consistently in the 80-90 yard range.
It wasn’t perfect, of course. I had a few shanks, a couple of thin shots, and the occasional chunk. But overall, I felt like I got a much better sense of my distances with the pitching wedge. I finished and I felt happy to complete my today’s pratice record.
The key takeaway for me was to really focus on consistent tempo and solid contact. When I tried to swing too hard, things went haywire. But when I focused on a smooth, controlled swing, the ball went pretty much where I wanted it to go, and the distances were much more predictable.
I’ll definitely keep working on this. Maybe next time, I’ll bring some markers and try to get even more precise measurements. But for now, I feel like I’ve got a much better handle on my pitching wedge distances.
