All about plane: how to fine-tune your swing technique.
Here is probably the best lesson I can give you as regards wedge technique (and one that will also do great things for your full swing). It concerns the setting of the wrists in the preliminary stages of the backswing, so that the club is seen to swing up on a good plane (right).
Just as I would endorse in the full swing, the proper hingeing of the wrists (i.e. the right wrist back on itself, the left wrist into this nicely ‘cupped’ position as the hands pass the right thigh) is the key to getting the club to swing up on plane. I also like to sense the left forearm rotating gently away from the ball to achieve this.
Pick up a wedge and work on your action in front of a mirror. Relax your hands on the grip and look for this key checkpoint. Swing your left arm across your chest and get the wrists fully hinged by the time they reach this halfway stage; really crank the right hand back on itself and create this ‘cupping’ at the back of the left wrist. When you get this action working correctly, the club swings up in plane, the shaft almost vertical as you observe the position ‘down the line’.
The exercise that you see on this page [click here] will help you to appreciate the sensation of swinging the club up on a good plane. Get a wedge, go down the shaft a bit, and make a sort of ‘pencil grip’ with just your right thumb and first two fingers. Grip as lightly as you can, so that you really sense the weight on the end of the shaft, and allow the clubhead to swing up until it finds this natural ‘balance point’ as the right hand reaches about hip-high.
You can work on this at home indoors. Grip the club with those two fingers, swing it up, and hold it. When you hinge the wrist correctly, the club will feel very light as it reaches this near-vertical position.
(Note: If you are prone to taking the club back too much on the inside, it will feel heavy in your hand when you reach this halfway point; similarly, if you are one of those players who tends to pick the club up too abruptly outside the ball-to-target line, you will fail to find this balance point, and again the clubhead will feel fairly heavy – see insets, right.)
Only when you hinge your wrists correctly do you get the club up on end, where it feels light and in balance.
Bingo! You’re in business.