#1 Inside 100 Yards – Russell Henley’s Wedge Tips

Most golfers waste strokes from 75 to 100 yards — but not Russell Henley. In fact, he’s number one on the PGA Tour from this distance. So we asked him: how do you do it? His answers were simple… and surprisingly doable.

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Russell, thank you so much for joining us. Absolutely. Really good to meet you. Yeah, thanks for having me. Now, you are one of the best approach play golfers in the world, but specifically from 75 to 100 yards. You are number one. Number one. So, we want to pick your brains and hopefully share some wisdom and some information that hopefully can help some of our our viewers with this. I’m excited. Let’s do it. So, we’ve got 100 yards here to the first flag on the right. Talk us through what you see and how do you go about getting it close on this one. It’s seven yards on, six from the right. Okay, perfect. Yeah, so six from the right, I’m not really concerned with missing it right. I feel like if I’m going to miss it that far right with with this shot, I’m I I don’t that’s a very bad shot for how much I practice my wedges. But that to me, that’s a more of a green light pin versus if it was three from the right. So, I would just be going pretty much at it. I would I would pick the side of the hole with the better putt. I I kind of see my wedges in five yard increments. I I was practicing my wedges, I don’t know how long ago, and it was like 97. And it’s like I don’t know what a 97 swing is, but I I I feel like if I can practice in fives, this is my 90 fing swing. This is my 95 fill in swing. That way I can be a little more confident and simple in kind of how I have all these like I so have like three or four shots with this wedge and I have three or four the other. That gives me a wide range that I can adjust. So this one 98 I’ll just have a neutral path and try to take it back to what feels like about 100 yards. So, like I kind of feel like I go like 90, 95, 100. I feel like I didn’t quite hit it. Yeah. Yeah. By the time that spins back, it might be a little short, but yeah, that’s not far. That I felt like more like 94, maybe 95. Have a look at the number. 94. Yeah. So, I That’s when you know you’re really good. You mentioned where you want to putt from next. So, where’s the best putt, right? What do you mean by a good putt? What does that look like then? Yeah, just the uphill putt. But I mean I mean I’d rather have a 10footer straight up the hill than a six-footer downhill with a bunch of break on it. It’s just the the percentages go up and so I can hit that putt a little harder and it’s going to hold its line better. And so if I can have an idea of where I’m going to putt from, that’s a big advantage. Yeah. And it’s interesting that you say this as well because a lot of people would say that pin high is something we should always strive for. But if the green is pitched from back to front, you want to be short because you’re giving yourself that uphill putt. I know a lot of the the putting coaches who looked at what Jordan Speed did when he was putting out of this world. They saw he had a really high percentage of straight putts, you know, so he was hitting it into good areas. It’s just an easier putt to execute, less break, and you can hit a little harder. I love that. I love that. Yeah. So, your three different back swings that you mentioned, how would that work with the clock system? I just practice 90% of the time like three to four with each wedge. So, like I’m going to practice with this wedge. A 90, which is I guess that’d be 9:00. A 95 would almost be like 9:30. Sorry. So specific. 100 would be closer to the 10. And then 105 would be like 10:30. So I mean it’s it’s kind of small, but it just gives me in my practice swing kind of, okay, I’m going there. I’m going there. So we’ve got 100 yards here. Is there any separation between the technique here compared to let’s say 160 170 yards? The biggest thing I change with wedges and all wedges uh I choke down about an inch on all of them, even on full shots. I just feel like it allows me to have better contact and through through the ground. It kind of shallows the contact just a little bit and it for some reason, I don’t know why, it makes me feel like I use my body better. I feel like it takes away any hinge. Yeah, I do have a little hinge, but like I’m not trying to like hinge the club that much. But yeah, choking down. I’m making more like half aggressive swings, 3/4 feeling swings. Um, compared to like an eight or eight or six or five iron, not choking down typically, you know, kind of doing the full wind up. Okay. Yeah. A little bit more control and sort of touch. Yeah. And you’re looking to to create a little bit less, let’s say, movement with the hands. Is there anything that you do different in the setup and the stance? It’s not a full 55 for me, but I definitely I guess I’d be a little more narrow. I feel I feel like the ball’s middle. Usually what what feels middle to me, I look on camera and it’s a little back. Okay. And then I’ve tried to kind of shape wedges like if there’s a right pin, cut it, left pin, draw it. But really to get the best number every time, I try to hit them all pretty neutral. Neutral to just little draw, but I’m not trying to curve it, but it just feels neutral. And so, um, I’m just trying to hit them all the same. And I’m trying to I like seeing them kind of flat. Like I don’t like to hit big high spinny wedges. I like kind of flat ones and I know I can hit my number. And then if the greens get really firm, then I’ll just hit a bigger a bigger shot, a bigger wedge with more spin. Let’s hit another shot cuz I know you want you want to hit it a little closer than that. I can tell you know your your standards are pretty high. So let’s go. Same plug again. There. All right. Take a practice swing. That felt like about a 100 right there. That was a little better. It’s probably still a little short. Yeah, just a lot of again loads of spin on that. You can see there. 92. 92. So your height was 53 on that one and 52 on the other one. Oh wow. So you’ve kept that real similar. The launch 23.6 and 23.4. So you’re literally in these windows now of like repeatability all the time. Like the spins both in the 10,000s. So you know it’s the same for the most part when you’re hitting it. When I choke down, I feel like it allows me to launch that ball low every time. You could tell me probably why that works better than I can tell you. And there can easily be some technical reasons like it’s going to help you sit low on the blade. It helps the handle get lent forward a little bit more. But ultimately what it’s doing is it’s sending a signal to your brain that goes, I know what happens now when I do this. Exactly. It’s like the intention is now set. I choke down. Oh, that means it’s going lower. So your brain’s already played the shot in in its mind already. So yeah, I think the one thing I like from here where the where the the amateur golfers will go wrong from this yardage, they’d maybe pull out the most loft and go, I can get it there. I can do a full swing and do everything that I would normally do and then struggle with location, struggle with the height. You’re swinging very comfortable with a 55 degree knowing that you’re going to strike it, knowing it’s going to be repeatable here. I think there’s so many lessons in that. If the average golfer was to go, let me hit a 50°ree from here. let me hit a pitching wedge and have more of a controlled motion as opposed to trying to do what they would do back there. Yeah. To me, less loft is just guaranteeing more consistency with uh spin and flight and just makes it makes it easier. That was a little better. It’s getting hit a little bit, but you can see that’s nice. That’s beautiful. We look at the number on that. There we go. 97. Yeah, that’s really good. 97. And again, you look at the spin. It’s within 200 of the last one. So that tells us that the strike was almost identical to the first two. Real real consistent. All right. So we’ve moved up. We’re closer. So we’ve got 80 yards this front flag. As we know, you haven’t got you’ve got a little bit of room on the green, but not loads. But the wind’s kind of picking up a little bit now into and off the left. We know the chances here are that we could spin it too far back. Is there anything you do different here, or if I did feel like it was enough for it to kind of rip back with the lob wedge, I could definitely chip the uh 55, you know, use use more loft, take the spin off. But for this one, I could probably just hit it past the pin and know it’s going to spin just a little bit. But I would definitely flat it down. Hit an 85 shot and I would just move the ball a half ball back. Mhm. Same shot. So, it’s almost like you’ve got this matrix of these swing lengths that you know fit and then you got these little adaptations of ball position and just trying to knock it a little bit lower maybe or a little bit higher if it requires around it. Exactly. Yeah. And the reason I like 85 with flight, let’s just say I don’t hit my number and I hit it 80 with flight, that ball’s probably not going to spin quite as much and it’s still going to bounce out and stop. So I feel like if I hit 85 with flight or 80, I could end up in the generally the same area. Giving you a margin for error, doesn’t it? Which is beautiful. Yep. That one probably felt like 80, but beautiful. It’s nice. See, it’s ripping back control on that one. Yeah. and and almost that first bounce because it’s coming in flatter. Yeah, that’s 40 ft high, 45 ft high. So, it’s coming in flatter, which is going to be a bigger skip forward and then it sort of Yeah. Then you get the spin 79. And that’s how tuned you tuned in. You knew soon as you hit it, you’re like, “Okay, it’s probably around about 80.” Yeah. That’s how tuned you in off the disc. Look at the spin again, though. You know, super high strike is consistent. Yeah. I got an awesome lesson from uh Jim Mlan a couple years ago. We were hitting just he was watching me hit wedges and he said I think it’d be helpful if you try to hit a number and right after you hit it you say what you think it is and then you can look and see what it was and that’s just going to get you constant your brain working a little more. So like I always like to after I hit it guess and then look. Let’s do that on the next one. Let’s do that on the next one. Well let’s go let’s go back left on this one which that’s 100. Now the scenario on this one is you got six yards past the flag but it’s all like this. Yeah. So first of all what’s your strategy play? And we’ll have the same wind obviously. Yeah. Obviously, you can’t go long, uh, but into the wind and it looks like there’s pitch short of the screen. Uh, if I’m if I’m really feeling like this is a pin that I want to attack, uh, which at 100 yards, I do. Yeah. Uh, I could do two different shots. So, the 55 on soft conditions with this type of wind, I feel with that much pitch on the green, I think, would spin too much. And sometimes hitting that shot knowing it’s going to spin and taking 15 18 feet isn’t the worst thing. But if I really if I need it and I’m trying to make the cut or trying to win the tournament or whatever it is, I’ll probably choose a 51 degree. Yeah. Take the spin off and deal it off, hop, stop, and get it right next to the hole. Nice. Nice. Let’s do it. 100 yards. And I feel like it’s a little into the wind. I I want this to probably land 95. Okay. It’s a little into the wind. So, I’m just going to play it at a 100 yard shot. That’s a lot off of 51 for me. So, it’s going to take a lot of spin off, but it’s still long enough to where it’ll it’ll check. What’s the normal number on a full shot for this? I can hit a 120. So 120 shot and we’re trying to hit it at 100, which is crazy, isn’t it? So I’m just shortening my back swing, you know, to about right there. What’s the What’s the number? 94. I mean, such a good shot. Beautiful shot. Look how low that was. Oh, close. 91. 91. Where do you see the average golfer go wrong on both of these flags? Maybe let’s pick the front right one first of all. Yeah. I mean, I think I think they pick lob wedge. I think they hit it too high. I think you got to figure out a way to create shaft lean but with rotation to get the club out of the ground. Yeah, I’m not a very technical guy. I don’t really understand a lot of of the the golf swing and how the club works. But I do know that um for me choking down, having an abbreviated swing on both sides and and just feeling like I’m I’m using my body just create like simplifies my contact. How about that back flag there? Do you think where do you think you a golfer could go wrong with that one? I think they’d probably just be like, “Oh, it’s into the wind and try to hit something really hard.” And if they might go through the wind or hit it too far or it might land and just rip. If we were in a situation here where we’re caddying for an average golfer, we’d be like going, “Well, you can probably hit that 20 ft right of the flag and about 15 ft short and that would be a really nice spot in that situation.” Okay, let’s let’s head into some rough. I will say before you get there, Andy picked both of those lies. So, I have nothing to do with those lies. This obviously looks pretty bad. It’s It’s buried a little bit. This sometimes can also be a little dangerous because it’s it’s lying that good, but there’s a a fair bit of air underneath that. What was the yardage? 75. 75 to 95. Let’s talk through how you’d play both these shots and what differences you do. So, the big thing I do on really tough lies in the rough that are sitting down is I try to hit a cut like a cut shot. Just come over the top of it just a little bit. I feel like that allows me to get to the ball, get more ball with a steeper angle without having to think too much about it. And then it also makes me want to hold the face, which is important through the rough. This thick rough is going to make the face want to turn over. Yeah. So, if I hit a little cut shot, just feel like I’m coming like one degree over the top of it. Feel like that creates better environment for for contact. So, I probably can’t land this ball on the green and stop it. So it might be if if it was really firm, I could take the lob wedge and almost land at 65. Kind of make that my number because if it does land short and stops, it’s fine. Yeah. And if it if it lands short and bounces up, it’s it’s great. But I think you got to land this ball short. Yeah. I think I would take the lob wedge and say I want to fly at 65. I would probably feel like that’s about a 75 yard shot. Okay. Okay. So I do a 75 yard swing. kind of get that on my clock system. And then I would try to come over the top of it just a little bit. Ball back still. Yep. Ball back. A little cut. You can see wanting to release a little bit up there. Yeah. There’s no real danger there. It was a little shorter than you wanted, I’m sure. Yeah. But that wasn’t There was no real danger in that shot, was there? I don’t think so. I mean, I think I probably chunked it just a little bit. It probably wasn’t quite the best swing, but I that was kind of the what I thought would happen. Kind of a high launch, rolls up the face, comes out shorter, and tumbles. 61. It’s carry. It’s carried. It’s probably gone 65. Yeah. Yeah. It’s probably gone 60. It’s gone 65. So, a 10 yard shot 30 yard a 30 foot pitch. Little chip is going to be pretty simple compared to something that you nuke and it doesn’t spin and it runs out and it goes past like 50 feet past the flag. 100%. It’s from here, it’s a game of where you want to miss the ball. This one to me, since it’s kind of down grain, the grass is is with you. You’re going to probably get a better strike on the ball. So, I wouldn’t feel like I needed to hit a cut shot and hold the face here. I don’t think this grass is going to do a ton. It’s sitting up high. The only thing I would be concerned about is if it was a super dry day and it was almost like a wispier grass, if that would make it a flyer. Okay. It’s another reason why I personally like not hitting super hard shots like just ripping them with with a wedge in my hand out of the rough. I want to be aggressive, but I I don’t mind hitting them trying to almost air on the lower shot when I have a lot like this to take away from that ball going too far. You don’t want to kill the spin and it just sort of nuke through the back of the green. Yeah. So, I’m going to plan on this coming out pretty normal uh in terms of distance- wise, but I think do think there’s going to be a little less spin. So, I’m going to land on the front. What was it? 75. He’s seven on. So, uh 60 uh 68. So, I probably need to So, I’ll just call this like a 70 yard shot. If it does run run past, that’s fine. So, 70 yard shot here. Flying at two on going right at it. That sounded nice. That felt like 72. Yeah, could be in. That’s pretty good. Hang on. What? It was 73. You were one out. One out. You’re pretty good at that. Look, I mean, that’s awesome. I think the one thing that I really like about this is number one, you’re reading the lie in all of these different situations. You’re looking at the shot that’s required, the specificness of where you want the ball to be next and then you’ve got a system to fit to that. And I think that’s just crucial for anyone watching this. And I think the biggest thing that the the amateurs can take away from watching this is for me the trajectory that you hit it on as well. It’s way more predictable, a little bit less loft. Get it on the green relatively quick and just don’t over complicate it. Okay guys, thank you so much. Hope you enjoyed that. If you got any questions down below, leave them there. And also, if you want more from us, check out me and mygolf.com. We have a plan to suit every part of your game.