WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Why do it?

Let’s now go the other way. Return to your regular starting position, the club at its designed lie angle. From here, push the handle away from you to raise it. Again, this will cause two important changes in the clubhead:

It begins to rest on its toe as the heel is raised from the ground.

The face becomes increasingly open as the handle rises – again, this is not easy to see without a face aid.

Both these techniques need to work in tandem with your wedge’s sole profile. The club’s leading edge camber (curvature) and bounce angle both play a role in how comfortable it feels to hit shots from a raised or lowered handle. Note that some sole shapes – for example PING’S versatile new half-moon H grind – allow this more than others. Experiment with different grinds to see which works best. Remember! Raising and lowering the handle affects face aim. Again, experiment to see the results… but as a rule, consider closing (raised handle) and opening (lowered handle) the face to bring it back to square.

Shuffle in to take your address position around this higher handle position. Consider two potential benefits of hitting shots from here:

That sharper, tighter toe helps us ‘dig out’ a ball that has nestled awkwardly.

Your chances of heavy contact are reduced because much of the sole is raised from the ground.

Raising the handle, then, becomes a useful option when you face a lie that demands a neater, sharper contact – perhaps sitting down in fluffy grass, or with the grass growing against you. Hit shots from these situations… and compare your results against your regular playing position.