Finesse Wedge Overview
Nothing strikes more fear in the eyes of my students when I ask the question, "is that the same for all the clubs?". The simple, honest, answer is no. Since you are trying to do something slightly different with each club, there will be slight variations. But it works on the perspective of a spectrum. At one end is the driver, where you want to hit slightly up on the ball and be as powerful as possible. On the other end is the putter, where you want to start the ball as close to online as you can and only need to hit it a short distance, so you do things to make yourself "weaker". Wedges are closer to the putter. We want to be weak, because if you make a small change to a weak swing, the net effect will be minimal. So you have to make bigger changes, which gives you a comfortable buffer. Simply put, with the wedges, we are giving up power for the sake of control.
Nothing strikes more fear in the eyes of my students when I ask the question, "is that the same for all the clubs?". The simple, honest, answer is no. Since you are trying to do something slightly different with each club, there will be slight variations. But it works on the perspective of a spectrum. At one end is the driver, where you want to hit slightly up on the ball and be as powerful as possible. On the other end is the putter, where you want to start the ball as close to online as you can and only need to hit it a short distance, so you do things to make yourself "weaker". Wedges are closer to the putter. We want to be weak, because if you make a small change to a weak swing, the net effect will be minimal. So you have to make bigger changes, which gives you a comfortable buffer. Simply put, with the wedges, we are giving up power for the sake of control.
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.920
In this concept video we're going to talk about the overview of the finesse
2
00:00:04.920 --> 00:00:09.040
swing. Now the finesse swing is essentially going to be your chip and
3
00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:14.280
your pitch around the green and I'm going to differentiate what we're doing
4
00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:17.640
with kind of either the stock full swing which is we're trying to create power
5
00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:23.800
or the distance wedge which is kind of in the middle or the finesse wedge which
6
00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.040
is what we're talking about in this section where I am intentionally trying
7
00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:32.920
to be weak in order to be accurate. So the analogy that I like to give just to
8
00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:35.760
kind of create the big picture of what we're trying to do is if we look at
9
00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:40.160
throwing. There's a variety of different ways that I could throw a ball, right?
10
00:00:40.160 --> 00:00:44.600
Well the stock full swing would be like if I'm trying to throw this thing as
11
00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:50.330
far as I can and I'm basically you know loading up, unloading, sequencing,
12
00:00:50.330 --> 00:00:50.520
trying
13
00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.400
to create power, all that fun stuff. The finesse wedge would basically be if I
14
00:00:55.400 --> 00:01:01.640
were trying to toss a bean bag or toss a ball for control just like so and it's
15
00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:06.120
it's often been described as hey my short game just feels kind of like I'm
16
00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:11.240
doing an underhand toss. Well there's a lot of truth in that. So what I want to
17
00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:15.040
do in this video is just break down some of these key differences between a
18
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:22.360
powerful throw and a soft underhand toss throw. So in the powerful throw you
19
00:01:22.360 --> 00:01:26.000
will see that there is a counter shift, right? I shift my weight back in order
20
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:26.200
to
21
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:31.280
load up some muscles in my hips and my core as well as to create somewhere for
22
00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:37.080
my weight to go during transition. So then during transition I'm going to step
23
00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:41.920
towards the target. I'm going to sequence my body from the ground to my arm
24
00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:46.920
creating leg all the way and then at the last second I'm gonna release my arm
25
00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:53.010
in hand in the direction of my target. Well in the underhand toss, right, kind
26
00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:53.080
of
27
00:01:53.080 --> 00:01:57.520
like this, I'm not really gonna have a weight shift because I've or at least I
28
00:01:57.520 --> 00:01:57.560
'm
29
00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.240
not gonna have a counter shift. I'm not gonna shift away from the target. I'm
30
00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:05.000
pretty much as far away from it as I'm going to get and then even during the
31
00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.880
backswing I'm going to be moving towards the target and then I'm gonna have a
32
00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:13.800
gentle release from my hands. I'm not really creating very much lag because
33
00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.840
what'll happen is my biggest stretch will basically be at the top of the swing
34
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:21.800
and then I'll close that stretch the entire time that I'm going into that
35
00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:27.760
throwing motion. Here's how that applies to golf. So if I were to take a stock
36
00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:32.520
full swing you would see a slight little counter movement into the backswing
37
00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:38.640
followed by lag created from the lower body through the upper body. During that
38
00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:43.590
transition my arms get in narrow and then I release everything during my
39
00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:44.040
powerful
40
00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:48.120
release which you've studied in the stock full swing. In this short game area
41
00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:53.440
or in this finesse wedge swing section basically what you'll see is during the
42
00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:59.170
backswing my body is going to be moving towards the target just slightly and I
43
00:02:59.170 --> 00:02:59.360
'm
44
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:03.720
gonna have a little bit of set for my wrist. Now I'm not gonna have a big down
45
00:03:03.720 --> 00:03:07.800
cock movement but from the top of the swing I'm just going to release those
46
00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:12.880
arms and hands while I continue to move in the direction of the target. So we
47
00:03:12.880 --> 00:03:12.960
'll
48
00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.400
go through my favorite drills and some of the key details in the drills section
49
00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:22.760
but that's kind of a big overhand or the big overview. Instead of trying to
50
00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:26.440
create power and throw in a wall we're gonna try and create control like
51
00:03:26.440 --> 00:03:26.800
tossing
52
00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.080
a wall. If you can do that you can probably be pretty accurate at getting up
53
00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:34.240
and down around the greens.
Have questions?
Ask Mulligan for helpFinesse Wedge Overview
Nothing strikes more fear in the eyes of my students when I ask the question, "is that the same for all the clubs?". The simple, honest, answer is no. Since you are trying to do something slightly different with each club, there will be slight variations. But it works on the perspective of a spectrum. At one end is the driver, where you want to hit slightly up on the ball and be as powerful as possible. On the other end is the putter, where you want to start the ball as close to online as you can and only need to hit it a short distance, so you do things to make yourself "weaker". Wedges are closer to the putter. We want to be weak, because if you make a small change to a weak swing, the net effect will be minimal. So you have to make bigger changes, which gives you a comfortable buffer. Simply put, with the wedges, we are giving up power for the sake of control.
Nothing strikes more fear in the eyes of my students when I ask the question, "is that the same for all the clubs?". The simple, honest, answer is no. Since you are trying to do something slightly different with each club, there will be slight variations. But it works on the perspective of a spectrum. At one end is the driver, where you want to hit slightly up on the ball and be as powerful as possible. On the other end is the putter, where you want to start the ball as close to online as you can and only need to hit it a short distance, so you do things to make yourself "weaker". Wedges are closer to the putter. We want to be weak, because if you make a small change to a weak swing, the net effect will be minimal. So you have to make bigger changes, which gives you a comfortable buffer. Simply put, with the wedges, we are giving up power for the sake of control.
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.920
In this concept video we're going to talk about the overview of the finesse
2
00:00:04.920 --> 00:00:09.040
swing. Now the finesse swing is essentially going to be your chip and
3
00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:14.280
your pitch around the green and I'm going to differentiate what we're doing
4
00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:17.640
with kind of either the stock full swing which is we're trying to create power
5
00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:23.800
or the distance wedge which is kind of in the middle or the finesse wedge which
6
00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.040
is what we're talking about in this section where I am intentionally trying
7
00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:32.920
to be weak in order to be accurate. So the analogy that I like to give just to
8
00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:35.760
kind of create the big picture of what we're trying to do is if we look at
9
00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:40.160
throwing. There's a variety of different ways that I could throw a ball, right?
10
00:00:40.160 --> 00:00:44.600
Well the stock full swing would be like if I'm trying to throw this thing as
11
00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:50.330
far as I can and I'm basically you know loading up, unloading, sequencing,
12
00:00:50.330 --> 00:00:50.520
trying
13
00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.400
to create power, all that fun stuff. The finesse wedge would basically be if I
14
00:00:55.400 --> 00:01:01.640
were trying to toss a bean bag or toss a ball for control just like so and it's
15
00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:06.120
it's often been described as hey my short game just feels kind of like I'm
16
00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:11.240
doing an underhand toss. Well there's a lot of truth in that. So what I want to
17
00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:15.040
do in this video is just break down some of these key differences between a
18
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:22.360
powerful throw and a soft underhand toss throw. So in the powerful throw you
19
00:01:22.360 --> 00:01:26.000
will see that there is a counter shift, right? I shift my weight back in order
20
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:26.200
to
21
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:31.280
load up some muscles in my hips and my core as well as to create somewhere for
22
00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:37.080
my weight to go during transition. So then during transition I'm going to step
23
00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:41.920
towards the target. I'm going to sequence my body from the ground to my arm
24
00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:46.920
creating leg all the way and then at the last second I'm gonna release my arm
25
00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:53.010
in hand in the direction of my target. Well in the underhand toss, right, kind
26
00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:53.080
of
27
00:01:53.080 --> 00:01:57.520
like this, I'm not really gonna have a weight shift because I've or at least I
28
00:01:57.520 --> 00:01:57.560
'm
29
00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.240
not gonna have a counter shift. I'm not gonna shift away from the target. I'm
30
00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:05.000
pretty much as far away from it as I'm going to get and then even during the
31
00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.880
backswing I'm going to be moving towards the target and then I'm gonna have a
32
00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:13.800
gentle release from my hands. I'm not really creating very much lag because
33
00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.840
what'll happen is my biggest stretch will basically be at the top of the swing
34
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:21.800
and then I'll close that stretch the entire time that I'm going into that
35
00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:27.760
throwing motion. Here's how that applies to golf. So if I were to take a stock
36
00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:32.520
full swing you would see a slight little counter movement into the backswing
37
00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:38.640
followed by lag created from the lower body through the upper body. During that
38
00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:43.590
transition my arms get in narrow and then I release everything during my
39
00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:44.040
powerful
40
00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:48.120
release which you've studied in the stock full swing. In this short game area
41
00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:53.440
or in this finesse wedge swing section basically what you'll see is during the
42
00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:59.170
backswing my body is going to be moving towards the target just slightly and I
43
00:02:59.170 --> 00:02:59.360
'm
44
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:03.720
gonna have a little bit of set for my wrist. Now I'm not gonna have a big down
45
00:03:03.720 --> 00:03:07.800
cock movement but from the top of the swing I'm just going to release those
46
00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:12.880
arms and hands while I continue to move in the direction of the target. So we
47
00:03:12.880 --> 00:03:12.960
'll
48
00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.400
go through my favorite drills and some of the key details in the drills section
49
00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:22.760
but that's kind of a big overhand or the big overview. Instead of trying to
50
00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:26.440
create power and throw in a wall we're gonna try and create control like
51
00:03:26.440 --> 00:03:26.800
tossing
52
00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.080
a wall. If you can do that you can probably be pretty accurate at getting up
53
00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:34.240
and down around the greens.
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Ask Mulligan for personalized guidance on technique, drills, or how to apply what you've learned.
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