Many golfers think that hitting a wedge shot high is a great benefit. However, there are problems with getting too much ball flight on your shots.
I have been paying close attention to professionals and their equipment, and you can see that they are now working on keeping the ball a bit lower but still including plenty of spin in their shots. For instance, the new Titleist SM9 wedges have a lower launch than previous models to help with this added control.
Here are 5 reasons why you’re hitting your wedges too high and how to fix it.
1. Bigger Swing Than Necessary
One of the first things that golfers should look at when trying to get their ball flight down is the size of the golf swing they are taking. If you are taking a big swing instead of a shorter, more compact motion, you may notice the ball getting up a little higher than necessary.
It’s easier to get a higher trajectory on the golf ball when you have more speed and a larger swing. To fix this issue, you can simply choose a different club and make a more compact motion.
How To Fix This Issue
Take a look at the distance you have to the hole.
Do you need to be using a 60 degree lob wedge to get you to the pin? Could you use something like a pitching wedge, take a more compact motion and keep the ball down just a bit?
The smaller swing is going to help make it easier on you when it comes to controlling the flight of the ball and the angle of your clubface.
2. Opening The Face
When you set up to take your backswing, ensure you are not opening the face of your club too much. For pitch shots and most chip shots, you can let the club sit as it lies and then uses this angle when you make contact with the ball.
Opening the face is really only necessary on full wedge shots where you are trying to go over a bunker or something. You will see some players do this with a sand wedge in the bunkers, but it’s not necessary around the greens.
How To Fix This Issue
Learn what a square club face looks like. Setup with the clubface at a square angle, and then work on maintaining that in your takeaway.
If you have a tendency to open the clubface on the backswing, make sure you have a swing thought of keeping the club square.
3. Ball Too Far Forward
The ball position could be the reason you are hitting your wedges too high.
When you want to hit approach shots to the green from a shorter distance, you will probably want the ball back in your stance. This, of course, does not mean behind your right foot (for right-handed players). Instead, it will just be back of the middle.
Some golfers have a hard time with ball flight being too high when they have the ball in the middle of the stance. Pushing it back just a little allows you to hit the ball on the way down and create a more penetrating ball flight.
How To Fix This Issue
When you are practicing on the driving range, use a golf alignment stick to see where your ball position is. Adjust accordingly and play around with different angles to find something that works for your needs.
Be careful not to get the ball too far back in your stance – this will result in poor shots.
4. Stance Too Wide
Keeping your stance too wide is not just a problem for ball flight, but it is a significant reason that golfers struggle with wedge shots as a whole. Regardless of your skill level, it is much easier to control a golf ball when your stance is more narrow. In addition, keeping that clubhead speed constant and accelerating is also much easier with a narrower stance.
The narrow stance can help players that are struggling with backspin on their golf chip and pitch shots as well. Again, that larger stance opens up the door to inconsistent turf interaction and more movement in the body and the hands.
I have always chipped with a narrow stance that is also slightly open. The open stance encourages a bit more rotation towards the target and a softer overall feel to the golf shot.
How To Fix This Issue
Learning how to get your feet closer together when you chip is one of the easiest adjustments you can make to your game. The average distance your feet are apart is about equal shoulder width. However, on these types of shots, I like to get my feet even more narrow than shoulder width.
It’s important to remember that the further you get away from the hole, the further your feet may need to come apart. Sometimes when you need that extra distance, your feet will have to go back to shoulder width.
5. Incorrect Angle of Attack
An incorrect angle of attack can cause a golfer to hit the ball too high. Many players try to hit the ball up in the air by lifting it.
These golfers often lean back on their right side and try to lift the ball up in the air. It’s so important for golfers to remember that this is not how the ball gets up in the air, and it certainly won’t help you get the spin and ball flight you need to approach a shot in this way.
The proper angle of attack for a chip or pitch shot is to hit down and through the ball. Golfers should hit the ball first and then take a divot after the ball. When you approach from this angle, the ball stays lower, but no spin is lost.
How To Fix This Issue
There are plenty of drills to help you learn to hit down on the golf ball. However, one of my favorites is the line drill. All you need for this is a bit of spray paint, where you can draw a line to use for practice on the driving range.
Spray the line and then set your golf ball up at the beginning of the line. As you hit shots, you are going to want to hit the ball and then take a piece of the line with you. You can keep practicing along this line with the concept of hitting down and through the ball.
The shot will have a cleaner feel, and it will actually even sound crisper. This drill will not only help you from hitting your wedges too high, but you will also have a better time making solid contact with other clubs in your bag. If you can’t spray a line on your green, you can always put a loose tee in front of the ball and focus on hitting this as well.
6. Wrong Equipment
Although playing with the wrong equipment may seem like an excuse for poor golf, sometimes it really does apply. If you have a wedge that is high lofted but also tries to increase loft because of a low center of gravity, you may notice that the combination creates a launch angle that you can no longer control.
As I mentioned, this year, golf manufacturers are starting to put out options to the market that actually help players control the ball flight and keep it down a bit on their wedges. We saw this with the new Vokey line and the Milled Grind options from TaylorMade.
If you watch the pros in person, you can see that their wedges have a much more penetrating ball flight, and the shots have quite a bit of spin as well. The shaft and clubhead combination you choose could encourage you to hit your wedges too high.
How To Fix This Issue
The best way to fix an issue where you are playing with the wrong equipment is to go for a golf club fitting. Launch angle, spin, direction, and total distance are just a few key parameters that a club fitting can teach you about the clubs you have in play.
If you don’t want to pay for a fitting just yet, try a friend’s wedge and see if you hit the ball the same height. If you do, then the equipment may not be the issue.
Brittany Olizarowicz
Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.