Page 13 - Title page June

Turn Your Lob Wedge into a Weapon

As a specialty club, the lob wedge (aka an “L” wedge) is designed to handle specific situa-
tions. For instance, if you’re just off the green but must pitch over a bunker or thick rough
to a pin that’s very close to the green’s edge; facing a shot from 60 yards or less that must
carry a hazard and land softly; playing a sand shot where you’r forced to clear a steep face
directly in front of you; or confronted with a shot over trees.

Because it’s the shortest,most-lofted club in the bag, the lob wedge is relatively easy to hit
solidly. Still, some players struggle because they decelerate the swing or position the ball

improperly in their stance.

Here are a few keys that generally work any time you’re hitting the lob wedge:

• Set up with the ball in the middle of your stance and your weight distributed
evenly on both feet.

• At address, the shaft should be perpendicular to the ground or leaning ever
so slightly toward the target.

• The clubface should be square to slightly open.
• Focus on accelerating through the ball. A good trick is to make the fol-

low-through longer than your backswing. For example, if you swing back to

where the left are is parallel to the ground, swing through to a full finish.
• The left hand eads the downswing, which keeps the shaft leaning forward

and promotes a mildly descending blow.
• Trust the club’s loft. If stuck solidly, a lob wedge shot will shoot very high

off the clubface with plenty of spin and stop almost immediately after landing. In
other words, there’s no reason to swing tentatively for fear of going too long.