The Best Wedge Test to dial in feel

Master Your Wedges with the 10-to-90-Yard Challenge

Whether you’re a seasoned golfer or a weekend enthusiast, improving your wedge play can lower your scores and boost your confidence around the green. The 10-to-90-Yard Challenge is a simple but powerful practice drill that helps you dial in your wedge distances. Below, we’ll explore how this challenge works, why it’s beneficial, and how you can incorporate it into your regular routine.

Why Focus on Wedge Play?

Wedge shots often account for a high percentage of strokes during a round—short approaches, chips, pitches, and bunker shots. By improving your wedge distance control, you’re more likely to leave yourself shorter putts, reduce mistakes, and ultimately improve your scoring average. Dialing in each yardage from 10 to 90 yards helps build confidence in all those in-between distances that can make or break a round.

The 10-to-90-Yard Challenge Explained

1. Three Wedges:
   Choose three different wedges (for example, a pitching wedge, gap wedge, and sand or lob wedge). These clubs will cover a variety of lofts and distances, giving you well-rounded practice.

2. Yardage Ladder:
   You’ll practice hitting shots at 10-yard intervals, starting from 10 yards and moving up to 90 yards. This helps you develop a feel for each distance without skipping any important gaps.

3. Handicap-Based Tolerances:

   • Sub-5 Handicap: Aim to land within ±0 yards of the target (essentially, an exact carry distance).

   • 5–10 Handicap: Aim to land within ±3 yards of the target.

   • 10+ Handicap: Aim to land within ±5 yards of the target.

4. Record Your Attempts:
   For each wedge and each distance, track how many shots it takes until you reach your target tolerance. Once you succeed at one yardage, move on to the next. Repeat this process for all three wedges.

How to Set It Up

• Use the ball tracker at the range:
  A launch monitor is best for precise carry yardages.

• Download my Free Scorecard:
  Make it easy to track your progress with our ready-to-use scorecard. It’s pre-formatted with yardages from 10 to 90 yards along the top and space for each wedge on the side. Simply mark down the number of attempts it takes to reach your target range for every shot. Click here to get your free copy now and stay organized while you sharpen your wedge game!

• Warm Up Properly:
  Take a few minutes to warm up with easy swings. Focus on rhythm and contact—this will help ensure consistent results once you start the challenge.

Benefits of the Challenge

1. Pinpoint Accuracy:
   Practicing specific yardages and requiring yourself to land within tight tolerances helps develop acute distance control. This translates into fewer missed greens and shorter putts on the course.

2. Enhanced Feel and Touch:
   By working through incremental distances, you build a stronger connection between how each swing length and speed affects the ball’s carry distance. This greatly benefits shots that require delicate touch, like pitches and chips around the green.

3. Better Problem-Solving:
   On the course, you won’t always have a perfect full-swing yardage for your approach. Knowing exactly how far you carry each wedge at different swing lengths gives you more options to handle various lies, wind conditions, and pin locations.

4. Consistency Under Pressure:
   Repetition at each distance under challenge conditions boosts confidence. When you face a 60-yard pitch shot during a round, you’ll recall having practiced it countless times.

5. Measures Improvement Over Time:
   Because you’re recording your attempts, you can see progress. Fewer shots needed to hit the target means your wedge game is improving. Tracking these numbers gives tangible feedback and motivates consistent practice.

Tips for Success

• Stay Patient:
  Don’t rush through each distance. Focus on technique and maintain a consistent tempo for every swing.

• Adjust for Conditions:
  Wind, humidity, and range turf conditions can affect how far the ball travels. Be mindful and adjust your approach if conditions change.

• Practice Smart:
  If a certain distance consistently requires more attempts, spend extra time on that yardage later. It’s likely an area where you need more focused work.

• Mix It Up:
  Once you’ve gotten comfortable, try varying shot trajectories (low, high, or a knockdown) to broaden your repertoire.

Putting It All Together

The 10-to-90-Yard Challenge is an excellent way to systematically improve your wedge play. By honing your distance control for each 10-yard increment and tracking your attempts, you’ll quickly identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas needing more attention. Make this challenge a regular part of your practice routine, and before long, you’ll notice a significant boost in your short-game confidence and overall scoring potential on the course.

Give the 10-to-90-Yard Challenge a try, and watch your wedge game reach new heights!