See how Tiger Woods and Fred Couples approach short wedge shots.
Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series in which we’re sharing improvements, learnings and takeaways from amateur golfers just like you — including some of the speed bumps and challenges they faced along the way.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve learned from our GOLF Top 100 Teachers is this: The greatest players excel from 100 yards and in.
While every amateur loves trying to add yards or decode why they keep mishitting a 6-iron — both important problems to solve — it’s even more critical to master your wedge shots from within 100 yards.
So how can you do that? By watching the video below (courtesy of PGA Tour Superstore’s YouTube), which shows Tiger Woods and Fred Couples describing a variety of shots from that distance. Let’s get it!
Tiger Woods and Fred Couples share 3 types of 50-yard wedge shots
When you’re within 50 yards, a variety of shot types can be effective.
So whether you’re playing a draw to use the slope of the green, a cut to add some spin or a shot with a lower ball flight, Woods provides some details on how he approaches each shot type.
“I like to play a slight draw for me, personally, so I’m always aimed slightly right, face slightly open and closing it slightly at impact,” Woods says.
How Woods hits a cut (or fade)
“If I’m going to hit a cutter, I want it to hold the grain and hold it against the hill. So I stand closer to it,” Woods says. “What people don’t realize is, I’ll shut the face down a little bit. So my face is open for a draw and it’s slightly open for a cut.
“The draw’s going to be slower, and it’s going to be more armsy — because it’s going to go farther.”
Regardless of which wedge shot you’re hitting, Woods reminds players to always set the clubface in the direction that you want to start the ball.
“Wherever I want the golf ball to start out at is where I put the face,” Woods says. “So if I’m going to start it out to the right, my face is going to be open. Then I try to close it down a little bit [as I come through impact].
Couples then chimes in, adding, “A lot of people think that, because they have to hook it, they have to shut the face. But that’s hard to control.”
“I don’t like that,” Woods says. “Wherever I want the ball to start out at is where I have the face.”
How Woods controls ball trajectory
Couples asks Woods if his secret sauce from within 130 yards is his ball trajectory. Woods says it is.