Golf Smart Academy Forum — Poor finesse wedge ball contact

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Poor finesse wedge ball contact ¶

By: David M on Jan. 23, 2023, 7:49 a.m.

Simply put, I experience around the green the frustrating contact issue all too frequently of the ball sliding up the face and going short. I'm assuming that even though I play these shots with a slightly open club face I'm adding loft and the ball goes nowhere. It's akin to knocking the "knees" from under the ball. I could ask a hundred questions about this but I'll ask just one: on a chip or short pitch should the face of the slightly open-faced wedge be closing?

Last edited by: David M on Jan. 23, 2023, 7:51 a.m., edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Poor finesse wedge ball contact ¶

By: Tyler F on Jan. 24, 2023, 8:14 a.m.

In my experience, the ball sliding up the face usually comes from too much axis tilt and the rib cage staying in flexion too long. This usually creates low point issues and shaft lean/trajectory issues.

The tricky thing with your question is handling feel vs real. In reality, the face closes to the target, and to the path during the finesse wedge. But, many pros who do close it describe the feeling of it staying open/square during the stroke. So knowing that it closes doesn't necessarily fix your issue. If you are prone to too much tilt, then tilting like that can be one of your sources of closing the face and trying to close the face that way may actually cause you to tilt more and have bigger contact issues and more cases of the ball sliding up the face.

With the ball sliding up the face, first thing I'd check is your impact line and body position at impact. If you want more help please post a swing so we can move from theory to a more detailed solution.

Happy Golfing,

Tyler

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Re: Poor finesse wedge ball contact ¶

By: David M on Jan. 24, 2023, 2:49 p.m.

Your thoughts on the spine axis and most notably staying in flexion too long with the rib cage are interesting. I'll play around with these and see what happens. Thanks for your time and input. Dave

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Re: Poor finesse wedge ball contact ¶

By: Bernard C on April 22, 2024, 6:17 p.m.

I am unsure about the proper setup for chipping. There appear to be two schools of thought. Weight is always forward for both. No 1 you move your hips forward but keep your upper body over the ball. No 2 is the entire body seems to lean towards the target at about 120 degrees. Which one is correct or best to use?
Thanks love your wealth of knowledge on golf.

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Re: Poor finesse wedge ball contact ¶

By: Tyler F on April 24, 2024, 7:15 a.m.

Hi Bernard,
With the short game, it's important to have a standard technique, but if you want to reach an elite level, you also have to be able to adjust it for a variety of situations. But as far as your stock baseline shot, I like the first picture better. The second picture looks like he will have low point issues, especially on longer shots and anything requiring height.