Dealing with Conflicting Wedge Advice (Video)

A couple days back, I posted a short recreation video from Lee Trevino. Lee is aware of what he's speaking approximately because he has always had a wonderful brief recreation.

But so does Phil Mickelson. And if you watch this slideshow of Phil's chipping at the Golf Digest site, you'll get some different guidance than you will from Lee.

And if you watch this short game video from Golf Digest Best Young Teacher Brandon Stooksbury (the video below), you'll get yet another approach. Who's right? Who's wrong? What's a poor player to do?

Let me provide you with some tips to assist type matters out.

One thing that I noticed right off is that none of these videos is specific about which short game shot they're teaching! I can tell you that Lee is teaching a pitch shot, and Phil is teaching a flop shot, but Brandon is teaching something midway in-between.

How do I understand this, you ask? Because I search for some unique clues inside the slideshow and films. You can look for these things too.

First, if feasible, I look for clues approximately the trajectory of the shot.

• I can see that Lee's shot is flying pretty high when he hits it, and I can see that he and Billy are quite a distance away from the green. Lee is also using a lob wedge; I could tell that when I ran the video full screen.
• I can see that Phil's shot is shooting almost straight up in the air (the final slide shows all the pictures in sequence), and the text on the second slide says he's using 60° and 64° wedges.
• I can see that Brandon's shot looks to be flying about the same height as Lee's, but I can see from another section of the video (just keep reading) that he's using a lob wedge like Phil and Lee.

Although all three men are using lob wedges of some sort, the trajectories are slightly different. Those differences are explained as I gather other info.

Second, you need to note the stance. Lee and Phil both use an open stance, Brandon uses a square stance. (Lee doesn't say his stance is open, but you can see it in the down-the-line shots of both him and Billy Andrade.) If you open your stance, you also have to open the clubface. Otherwise you'll pull all your shots.

Third, check the ball position. Lee says to place it back in your stance, Phil has the ball opposite his lead heel, and Brandon say to place it forward although he actually has the ball just ahead of center, as you can see in the video.

Let me make a short note approximately gambling the ball back in an open stance. It sounds funny however, with an open stance, your stance is efficaciously narrower than the identical width in a directly stance, so the ball is virtually towards the center of your stance. If that doesn't make sense to you, allow me realize within the comments and I'll do a put up to give an explanation for it. For now, just take my word.

But you can't stop with just knowing the ball position...

Fourth, you have to check weight distribution at setup. If your weight is more on your lead foot, the ball is probably being played farther forward. With a more balanced weight distribution, the ball position is going to be farther back. Phil has 99% of his weight on his lead foot, according to the text on slide #3. Lee has his weight more on his lead foot, but not nearly as much as Phil. And Brandon's weight is nearly equal on both feet. (You can tell from Lee and Brandon's videos.)

Finally, you have to check how the hands and arms move when compared to the ball position. And this is where it can get tricky. Check these out:

• We'll start with Brandon this time. Brandon specifically says not to bend your lead elbow and pull the club across the ball. That's because his stance is square. He lets his arms and shoulders work as a unit, without any manipulation, and the turn of his shoulders provides a very quiet swing where his wrists don't bend forward or back. The weight of the club pulls his hands straight out so his wrists don't flip or bend. He's playing a "straight" shot, and the ball is in the standard mid-stance position for a straight shot.
• Lee is the exact opposite. You can see him bend his lead elbow somewhat dramatically as he swings along the aimline of his open stance, and finishes with his bent lead elbow close to his side. He's "cutting across" the ball.
• And Phil? Although he plays from an open stance, he tries to swing straight down the line for as long as possible. The result is that he actually "chicken-wings" a bit, as you can see in the final slide's swing sequence.

These are all things you need to take note of whenever you try swing techniques that are different from what you normally do. Differences in address function make a large difference in how the swing works, as do extra hand and elbow hobby. All of these affect when you actually contact the ball during your swing, and therefore it changes what you're trying to do when you hit it.

Hope that facilitates what to look for whilst exploring any new golfing techniques.