Martin Hall on Drawing a Wedge (Video)

Here's a technique I haven't posted before, so you can thank Martin Hall for this one. Here's Martin demonstrating how to hit a draw with a wedge.



Most of this sounds like typical instruction for playing a draw with any club. I'll use Martin's description, which is for a righthander, and I'll put the lefthander's version in brackets:

• Aim the clubface at the spot where you want the ball to finish.
• Aim your body to the right [left] of your target.
• Twist your forearms as you hit the ball and follow through to close the face. Martin uses a bucket to demonstrate the motion.

I admit that I don't care for all that twisting. While there are times where extra forearm action is needed -- hooking the ball sharply around a tree comes to mind -- you'd generally like to keep your forearms as quiet as possible. However, hooking a wedge is difficult, so I can see where you might need some extra "stuff" to make the wedge shot hook. (I'll have to try it myself and see, when I get a chance. It clearly worked for Bubba at Augusta!)

However, here's an extra key thought that you may never have heard before, and it might help you when you need to draw the ball with other clubs as well. Martin says you want to keep your trailing shoulder high, which may be a bit misleading. It's more like you avoid dropping your shoulder as much as you normally would. (After all, your trail hand is lower on the grip than your lead hand, so obviously your trail shoulder has to be a bit lower than your lead shoulder -- and it will be unless you do something strange. If you do something strange, you'll probably pull the shot as well as hook it... and that's not good.)

Anyway, this is a good thing to remember when you absolutely have to hit a draw with any club, but especially a wedge. Feel as if you're making a level shoulder turn and that should help you get that extra curve you need. The ball should fly lower and hit the green with a lot of spin.