How To Master The High (And Low) Launch Wedge Shot With Simple Setup Changes

The short answer

To master the high and low launch wedge, change your setup rather than your swing. For a higher, softer shot: ball forward, face slightly open, handle close to level with the ball, and commit to a full turn through. For a lower, running shot: ball an inch or two back of centre, handle ahead, pressure in the lead foot, grip down the handle, and shorten the finish.

Both shots use the same motion. The only thing you are altering is how much loft the clubface presents at impact, and that is decided before the club ever moves.

Why one stock wedge shot costs you strokes

Most club golfers have exactly one wedge shot. It comes out at one height, lands at one angle, and behaves the same way whether the pin is at the front of a soft green or tucked at the back of a firm one.

That works until the course asks a question. Then it stops working, usually in expensive ways:

• A back pin into a headwind. The stock high flight balloons, drops short, and leaves a long putt from the front edge.
• A front pin on a firm green. The ball lands hot, releases past the hole and finishes on the fringe or worse.
• Any shot under a tree line. Common on London's older parkland layouts, where one overhanging branch removes your only shot.
• February in the south east. Soft greens hold almost anything, so the high shot is fine. On the same course in a dry July the ground has gone firm, and that flight is suddenly the wrong tool.

None of these are strike problems. They are flight problems. One extra trajectory in either direction covers most of them, and it costs you nothing in swing rebuilding.

The key insight: flight is decided by delivered loft

Launch angle is largely a product of dynamic loft, which is how much loft the clubface actually delivers at the moment of impact. Your 56 degree wedge is not a 56 degree wedge in practice. Lean the handle forward and it might behave like a 48. Sit the handle back and open the face and it can behave like a 62.

Three things at address decide that number:

1. Ball position. Back in the stance means the club reaches the ball earlier in its arc, with the shaft still leaning forward, so less loft. Forward means the club has straightened up by then, so more loft.
2. Handle position. How far ahead of the ball your hands sit at address is a strong predictor of where they sit at impact.
3. Pressure and chest position. Weight into the lead side moves the low point of the swing forward, which de-lofts. A more centred pressure keeps the low point back a fraction and preserves loft.

Here is the part that trips people up. The low point of your swing still needs to be ahead of the ball on both shots. The high wedge is not a scoop, and it is not a lift. You still strike the ball and then the turf. You have simply arranged more loft to be there when you do it.

Worth knowing too: the high shot needs more speed to carry the same distance, because more energy goes into height. First-timers leave it short, decelerate on the next one, and conclude the shot does not work. It works. It needs committing to.

How to hit the high launch wedge

Use your most lofted wedge. Reasonable bounce helps, because you will be presenting the sole to the turf rather than the leading edge.

Setup

• Ball forward, roughly opposite the inside of your lead heel.
• Stance a touch wider than your stock pitch for stability.
• Face open slightly, then aim your feet and hips a fraction left of target to account for it.
• Handle close to level with the ball, so very little forward shaft lean.
• Pressure roughly even between the feet.

Motion

• Longer backswing than the distance suggests, because loft eats speed.
• Keep the chest rotating through. If the body stops, the hands take over and the strike goes heavy.
• Let the arms and club exit higher and more to the left. A full, high finish is the tell that you kept turning.

What it should look like: a steeper climb, an apex noticeably higher than your stock shot, and a landing angle steep enough that the ball checks quickly with very little roll.

Where it fails: tight, bare lies in summer, and wet ground where the sole can dig. If in doubt on a bare lie, take less loft and play the runner instead.

How to hit the low launch wedge

This is the more useful of the two for British golf, and the one most golfers neglect.

Setup

• Ball an inch or two back of centre.
• Stance slightly narrower than your stock pitch.
• Grip down the handle by around an inch. This shortens the radius and quietens the strike.
• Handle clearly ahead of the ball, with the lead wrist flat.
• Pressure around 60 per cent into the lead foot, and keep it there.
• Face square. Resist any urge to close it, which brings a hook into play.

Motion

• Shorter backswing, and a firmer, more compact one.
• Feel your sternum staying over or slightly ahead of the ball through impact.
• Abbreviate the finish. Hands and club exit low and around, with the chest still finishing at the target. The follow-through length is what controls the flight ceiling here.

What it should look like: a flatter climb, a lower apex, and a shallower landing angle. Expect it to run. That is the point.

Where it fails: trying to hit it hard. Reduced loft plus full speed gives you a low missile with very little spin, which lands hot and keeps going. Take one more club and swing at 75 per cent.

Choosing the right flight on the course

Work backwards from the landing area rather than from the number on your rangefinder.

• Back pin, soft green. High. Fly it in and let it stop.
• Front pin, firm green, run-up available. Low. Land it short and use the slope.
• Into a headwind. Low, almost always. Height and wind are a bad combination, and this is the shot that saves you on exposed holes.
• Downwind to a back pin. Low, with the wind doing the carrying.
• Short-sided with no green to work with. High, and accept it is the hardest shot in the bag. Play to the middle if the lie is poor.
• A branch in the way. Low, and pick a window rather than a target.

One honest caveat. If your stock wedge strike is inconsistent, build that first. Trajectory control on top of an unreliable low point produces two unpredictable shots instead of one. Our guide on how to play better golf covers the order to work in.

Practise the high and low launch wedge indoors at Grip

Trajectory control is the clearest example of a skill that is easier to learn indoors. On a floodlit range at 7pm in January you cannot see the apex or judge the landing angle, and you are hitting range balls that fly differently anyway. You are guessing.

Every bay at our Tower Bridge and Deptford Park studios runs Trackman, so the flight is measured instead of imagined.

The four numbers to watch

• Launch Angle. Your direct read on whether the setup change worked.
• Height (apex). The number that tells you what the shot will do to a green.
• Landing Angle. The most useful and most ignored metric in wedge play. Steep lands soft. Shallow runs.
• Carry. Because both shots are useless if you cannot control the distance.

A 45-minute session that builds both shots

1. Baseline, 5 minutes. Ten stock wedges to one target. Write down your typical carry, apex and landing angle. This is your reference point.
2. High only, 10 minutes. Ten balls, same target, same carry number as your baseline. Ignore height at first and just match the carry, then check what the apex did.
3. Low only, 10 minutes. Same again. Match the carry, watch the landing angle drop.
4. Alternate, 10 minutes. Call the flight out loud before every shot, then hit it. Alternating is uncomfortable and it is where the skill actually sticks.
5. Pressure, 10 minutes. Pick a carry window and a required flight, and give yourself a score. Miss the window and you lose a point.

Repetition is the whole game here, which is where a membership earns its keep, and Tower Bridge is open around the clock to members for that reason. All-weather, all abilities, complete beginners to low handicappers.

If you have not used a simulator before, start with a lesson. Casual bay bookings are self-directed and assume prior Trackman experience, and a PGA coach will get your setup right in twenty minutes rather than over three frustrating sessions. If your wedges are the wrong loft or bounce for how you play, a custom fitting is worth doing first.

Book a bay or a lesson

Pick a session at Tower Bridge or Deptford Park, bring your wedges, and leave with two flights instead of one.

Book a bay or a coaching session, or become a member if you want the practice hours to build up. We also run corporate days, client entertainment and staff wellbeing sessions at both studios.

Frequently asked questions

How do I hit a wedge higher without scooping it? Add the loft at address rather than during the swing. Ball forward, face slightly open, handle level with the ball, then turn through fully. The low point still has to be ahead of the ball.

What ball position should I use for a low wedge shot? An inch or two back of centre, with the handle ahead and around 60 per cent of your pressure in the lead foot. Grip down the handle an inch and shorten the follow-through.

Does a low wedge shot spin less than a high one? Generally yes. Removing loft reduces spin along with launch, so the ball lands at a shallower angle and runs out further. Plan for the roll instead of fighting it.

Can I practise wedge trajectory control indoors? Indoors is the better place to learn it. Launch angle, apex height and landing angle appear on every shot, so you can see the flight change rather than squinting into the dark at a range.

Which wedge should I use for the high shot? Your most lofted wedge, usually a 58 or 60 degree, and ideally one with reasonable bounce. A low-bounce wedge off a tight lie leaves very little room for error on a heavy strike.