Chipping with lob wedge

Question
QUESTION: Quoted from "Tiger Woods - How I Play Golf" 2001, page 52, Choose your weapon wisely. "Favorite chipping club 56* sand wedge", "Don't be afraid to have a small bias toward your favorite chipping club".

Quoted from "Annika Sorenstam - Golf Annika's Way" 2004, page 132, A Tiger Tale: Chipping with one club. "I started chipping exclusively with my lob wedge in 2003", "The impetus for the change was Tiger", "I noticed he was chipping primarily with his lob wedge".

My grandson, aged 13 years, (yet to grow), with "Up and Down" (Scrambling) statistic of 92% from within 30 yards of the pin uses his favorite club, a 60* lob wedge.

In Australia we have a saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" which seems to be most applicable in this instance, however my grandson has experienced considerable criticism from senior golfers, on the few occasions that he has not achieved "Up and Down".

Would you recommend that he changes his game to the 7, 8, 9 iron chipping technique as detailed in all golf instruction books, or simply keep building on his current success.

Regards
Chris

ANSWER: Hi Chris:

The more shots a person has in their arsenal, the better the opportunity for lower scores.  Your grandson is only 13 (same age as I was when I started taking lessons).  He obviously has a "feel" and a knack for playing the little shots around the green.  Once he starts to grow up and if he keeps playing at an increased level of competition, I would only hope he starts to learn how to keep the ball closer to the ground.  I ask all of my serious students to learn how to play all the shots simply because not every shot around the green calls for a 60 degree wedge.  What I have seen in my 26 years of teaching golf is that those who rely on only one club have a limited ability to hit all the shots required of good players who win.  I believe you need to play the shot that is required...that is, what is the easiest way to get the ball close to the hole.  I would rather choose between 14 clubs than just one.  I haven't seen too many people who are very good using just one club.  Bottom line in this game though Chris is "What did you shoot?"  For now, I would say carry on.  But I would make sure he is introduced to the chip and run, the low wedge shot, learning how to control his trajectory with wedges, putting the ball on the green as soon as he can and letting it roll the rest of the way.  Simple idea behind it all is if the ball is in the air time, that means a shorter swing, that means less can go wrong.  If it's only one club for every shot no matter the distance or the trajectory, I'm not sure he can practice that much to get that good.  Just my opinion.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Eddie Kilthau


Dear Eddie
Thank you for your much appreciated reply.

I would hope that as my grandson grows he continues to enjoy golf as he has done for the past three years. However as a grandparent I am wise enough to know that any "increased level of competition" will be determined by the many and varied life circumstances that all young people experience.

My grandsons game has but one definable strength, as you noted "The little shots around the green", the rest of his game having an "OK" tag. I would like to clarify a number of points. My grandson uses the 60* wedge to chip and run the ball, he has developed a technique of adjusting the power, loft and ball position to achieve the various flight to roll ratios required "to keep the ball closer to the ground".

He began his golf using the 7, 8, 9 iron technique (some books 7, 9, SW others include 4, 5 irons for longer chips), one swing and vary the club. Within a very short time he had adopted his current preference for the 60* lob wedge. He does not lob or flop the ball for these short chips, (inside 30 yards) unless of course a hazard and a close pin position are in play.

He uses his other wedges 52*, 56* for pitching inside 90 yards and readily takes his 52* for the shorter chips (inside 30 yards) when faced with a raised green. An "arsenal of shots" he may not have, given his limited experience, however the 14 clubs he carries are given a good workout at every available opportunity.

I have acquired another couple of books today, "Greg Norman - 100 instant Golf Lessons" 1992. Quote from page 86, Master the method. Vary the club. "Jack Nicklaus likes to hit about 90 per cent of his shots around the green with one club, his sand wedge. He plays it back or forward in his stance and varies his wrist action and swing speed to create several different sorts of chips and pitches". Norman continues by disagreeing with the technique used by Nicklaus, instead favoring the use of six different clubs to achieve the same result as Nicklaus's one.

We now have Woods using 56* in 2001, then lob wedge 60*?, Sorenstram lob wedge 58*, and Nicklaus 56*. Norman choosing to be at odds in favoring a wedge or 9 iron inside 8 yards, then the middle irons and on the longest of chips a 5 or 4 iron.

The area of chipping around the green with one club appears to be shrouded in secrecy (Sorenstam extolled the virtues of her new found preference for one club but failed to explain the "adjustments necessary" instead describing the 7, 9, SW, flight to roll ratio which she had been taught as a junior), (Nicklaus describes his technique in less detail in his book My Golden Lessons 2002, than Norman抯 description of Nicklaus抯 use of one club some ten years earlier )..

Why is it that it seems to me, the whole of the "Golf World", (The numerous books, magazines and Internet articles which I have read and discussions with other golfers) where the subject of technique around the green is concerned, is vehemently opposed to golfer's young and old experimenting at play and discovering for themselves, what works for them and what doesn't.

I would gladly be corrected if my assertion is incorrect, I would be very grateful if you could direct me to a suitable reference source if I have inadvertently overlooked the existence of such a source.

Regards
Chris

Answer
Hi Chris:

You are correct.  Why not let him discover what works best FOR HIM.  He is not Jack Nicklaus (by the way, pitching and chipping was the worst part of his game), or Greg Norman or Tiger.  Let him carry on and watch in the beauty of being a natural.  As I mentioned before, as he grows older and starts competing, I guess we'll let it play out.  I would coach him to do what he does best, but I would teach him to use all the clubs and then let him decide for himself.  I dont' believe there is a reference out there for what you are looking for.  Remember, no matter who or what you discover, it's just someone's opinion.  Let him play.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member