Over the wedge...

Got it. It's taken a while but all that practice time has finally paid off. Went over to the heath yesterday with my sand wedge and got into a great groove. Now please note that my delight here is from the perspective of a 28 handicapper. I am sure a low single digit player would hit wedge shots like mine with a degree of disdain and a commitment to practice harder to get better. One thing golf has taught me is that performance is and always should be relative. So with the caveat that the opinions below are based on my current handicap level I will get back to the point of today's post...

Pitches seemed effortless and right on the money for distance. Though the crosswind affected my dispersion a little, I was consistently hitting a similar yardage. It's also difficult to judge dispersion on the heath because they can and do bounce all over the place. I generallyt look for landing patterns around my target and yesterday it was good. My chipping was also very natural. I must control that urge to peek early and allow my swing to bring my head up as those little looks lower the trajectory and lead to more roll than I want. But all the same very solid.

But then came the pièce de résistance. Though I'd have a little go at a 20 yard flop. My word. My gob was well and truly smacked like the bottom of an insolent child in a Victorian classroom! Easy peasy as shot after shot landed within a couple of yards of my target. 

Luke Donald: my short game hero

Having these weapons in my short game arsenal is great. I can now lay up confidently to my favourite and most practiced wedge distances (anything between 105 - 90 yards) and I should hit the green or at worst the fringe. When I am trying to hit the dancefloor from further away and miss my confidence to get on the short stuff is growing on a daily basis. The long term ambition is to be sticking those shots to gimme distance or holing out but for now getting them safely on the green is a good start. It's all about getting rid of those unnecessary wasted shots that you have during a round by making my short game tighter. 

The funny thing is that it is breeding confidence in my longer game. I am less affected by an errant stroke because I feel confident in my ability to recover. I've invested a LOT of time in my wedge play. Over the past 15 months I've spent a little over 3 solid days (76 hours) practicing my short game shots but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.