Zach Johnson: How to Get DEADLY with Your Irons and Wedges

Zach Johnson shares the keys that made him one of the greatest wedge shot players of all time and how amateurs can get better at them. He also shares how to stay down on the ball with irons and a drill that can help you compress the ball better.

Let’s start with the wedge. I think you’re the best wedge player in the world. No pressure. Yeah. Thanks. Show us how the magic happens. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, you said we’re going to start with the wedges. That’s a bulk of my practice is my wedges. I think that’s kind of where I can make up some ground. But even when I’m warming up, that’s where I start. I’m going to start with wedges. I’ve got uh situated here about a 100 yard shot. Um, and it’s for me, I I’m always about trajectory control and spin control, but they kind of go hand in hand. So, I like my wedges to kind of launch at a pretty low trajectory so that my control is better. It eliminates a lot of the wind and there’s still good spin. I’m It allows me to make good cris contact on the golf club, thus creating proper spin. I prefer a draw. I almost feel like my the club and my body are just pivoting and the ball gets in the way. And with my grip, which is pretty strong, and the plane of my golf swing, that just promotes a draw. So, I’ve got a left to right wind here, so it’s a little more difficult to draw it. However, I’m still going to play my shot. So, here I got the ball more middle to back. My my stance is a little bit open. I’m going to play a little draw in there about a 100 yard shot. [Applause] There we go. So, Zach, when you talk about keeping the tra down with your wedges, easier to control the distance and the spin mechanically, what do you do to flight the ball either up or bring it down? Yeah. So, there’s there’s a couple of ways you can change the trajectory, whether it’s putting the ball further up in your stance to hit it higher, back to hit it lower. The other thing a lot of guys do, you know, you hear somebody use the whatever it is, the PEL system or or anything of that matter, but going up and down the grip. So the the the less amount of shaft you use, the lower it’s going to be. So for example, if I if I choke up on my on my grip here, put it in the same position, it it’s going to launch even lower, [Applause] but still a good trajectory about 100 yards. Uh and then when I want to hit it higher, I can put it a little bit further up in my stance, go up my grip again, and hit it a higher shot. That’s outstanding. Let’s check the number here on our Bushnell Pro X2. Do it. See how good you are. 97 yards. Well, too much of a draw. A little left of the pin, but something along those lines. Um, good trajectory. It still sat when it landed on the green. didn’t spin out too much. Hey, you playing a lot of proams, Zach. Uh, what are the common faults you see with amateurs? Uh, specifically with their wedge play. What I see the most with amateurs is they really put the ball too far up in their stance. It’s almost like I mean my drivers up here, your wedges do not need to be up that high. They need to be further back here. Almost as if your head’s over it. Maybe even, you know, kind of feel like you’re more on your left side. Ball position more mid stance or even back back right at heel. Hands forward. That’s key. Hands forward. You want at impact, my impact position is going to be about right there. See how much more forward my hands are versus uh where the club head is. And what that does is there’s already loft here. The loft on the golf club will get the ball in the air. You don’t have to help it up in the air. So, I would say ball position, and keeping your hands more forward at impact will allow for a more consistent trajectory, consistent uh shot making, and certainly consistent feel. Yeah, I think Zach, when in the Pro, we’ve talked about before with amateurs having trouble controlling their distances with their wedges, a rangefinder is an easy way for amters to uh practice their numbers, not only work on their golf swing, but also work on their distance. And with a rangefinder, you’re going to find that out fairly quickly. Welcome back to Golf Channel Academy here with Zach Johnson. And Zach, we started with the wedges here in your full bag display. We’re going to move over to the seven iron now. Sure. So, let’s talk mechanics, basic fundamentals. We’re into the middle of your bag. So, this is a full seven iron. What’s your prospects when you are working on fundamentals with your full swing? Yeah. No, I mean, you know, I’m I’m always one that uh you know, I like my hands to go up the plane. I like my hands to come down the plane. I may even get some rods out and work on that, but I do a lot of that stuff in front of the mirror. When I get on the range, I want to get down to the basics. I want to get down into shot making and that sort of thing. I’ve got an alignment stick. Always want to check that, right? Check where your my alignment is. My feet, my shoulders kind of get parallel with that. Um my knees, etc. And then from there, Brian, I like to have my hands a little bit more forward and impact. I’m practicing impact position, putting some nice lean on that shaft to mimic exactly where I want that ball and club to meet. And then when I come back and take a swing, it just it’s easier to get in that position. Let’s see one. Overturned it a little bit. Solid, but nice little draw. Well, let’s talk about what you just said with with your Caddyy Damon Green. Sure. how you like for him to hold a club to the left of your head so you don’t have any movement going back. So I’m going to emulate Damon here. Sure. Club here over your right ear. And then from there, what does that make you do? So I won’t hit this one just to kind of show. But on my back swing here, I’m going to take it back, get to my transition, and on the way down, I want that my head to just stay right there and almost almost feels like it’s going forward. It’s not just staying right where it started at address. My tendency is for it to creep back. And if I hit that if my head creeps back, I’m going to hit that golf club. So it’s a great drill. Let’s try one. You got it. That one was very effective. It’s promoting muscle memory. It’s allowing me to get into a kind of little station here and just hit shots. I really don’t have to worry about where it ends up, but I’m I’m creating solid shots, good divots, and the moment my head creeps back, I’m going to I’m going to thin it. I’m going to chunk it. One of the two. And that’s when the inconsistencies come. So, keeping that head stable on the way back and then coming through allows for more consistent action through the turf. Zack, you and I have been friends a long, long time. We’ve played a lot of golf together. I’ve always admired the pace of your swing. Is that something that gets you in trouble at times, having a quicker tempo, or is that just the rhythm that you’re born with that you’ve always used? Actually, you bring up a great point. My coaches and I, we always talk about, okay, you start hitting some errand shots. What do you go to first? Is it your alignment? Is your grip? Is your posture? Well, certainly those things are all important, but for me, I always try to go back to the rhythm of my golf swing. And when I say rhythm, it’s all about where that back swing and the down swing meet, the transition. So, the bigger my turn off the golf ball, because it, you know, a lot of people say I have a pretty short turn and short golf swing, which I do. I mean, I I I have some limitations more or less, but I but I want that transition and I want that turn to be about as big as it can be on every shot. I want my back to the target. And when I get my back to the target and that club gets set, uh, I have a better chance of hitting it solid. So, making a big turn behind the golf ball, getting it set, and then letting the club come down.