Finesse Wedge Swings and Release Patterns
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Vincent Ulibarri
1 year, 3 months ago
Hi coaches,
I’ve been analyzing finesse wedge swings and have some questions regarding the release aspect. Specifically, I’ve noticed two distinct swing patterns:
1. Hinge and Hold:
• Features some shaft lean at impact.
• The lead arm remains relatively straight and doesn’t wrap around the body during the follow-through.
• The trail arm does not appear to be internally rotated in this method.
• This swing maintains a stable triangle through the finish.
2. Casting Pattern:
• May start with shaft lean at setup, but by impact, the shaft is nearly vertical.
• The lead arm wraps around the body during the follow-through, creating a “chicken wing” appearance.
• This method does feature an internally rotated trail arm, which seems to play a key role in the release.
These two patterns feel almost like polar opposites. From my perspective, the internally rotated trail arm seems very important for finesse shots, particularly in terms of efficiency and spin control.
I’ve attached two photos, one representing each style.
Tyler (or anyone with insight), what are your thoughts on which pattern is more ideal? Personally, I’ve modeled my swing and teaching around the hinge and hold method, emphasizing a consistent triangle through the follow-through. However, I’ve noticed some challenges with getting the ball to stick on the green as effectively as I’d like.
From what I’ve observed, the casting pattern seems to produce more efficient results, and 3D data appears to support its effectiveness. Do you agree? How important do you think the internally rotated trail arm is in finesse wedge swings?
Looking forward to the discussion!
1 Reply
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Tyler Ferrell
Coach
1 year, 3 months ago
Hi Vincent,
I think it's easy to get caught up in the different feelings of different shots and infer that the patterns are very different. In general, I thin the short game shots have more similarities than differences, but can have very different pieces that give you drastically different results in launch and spin. I've tried to summarize the similarities to my three big wedge keys I talk about in the finesse wedge course.
1. stacked centers
2. constant radius
3. smooth force.
I also think that it's natural to want to break things into distinct patterns rather than looking at a spectrum of pieces. I think that more wrist action has the potential for higher spin, but might be less consistent. But, Jason Day is known for having a high level of spin, even though he has the longer arc look.
When comparing the pictures, your impact and follow through pictures are at different points. The girl in pink, the impact frame is before contact and the follow through is shorter. If you take ben crane's picture before impact, the difference in shaft lean is less dramatic. I think both patterns will have a similar casting pattern show up on 3D.
I think the internally rotated trail arm can be really important for people who tend to struggle with keeping the trail arm straight and the club more in front of the chest. It can be really helpful for maintaining the constant radius and arc height consistency. Not everyone needs it to control those two variables, but I think it's one of the easier way to accomplish that component.
Happy to hear others thoughts as well,
Tyler
