How To Spin Your Wedges (5 Tips)

Written by Todd in Online Golf Instruction

The golfer must control the following 5 factors:

  • Low point control
  • The swing must be more shallow
  • The swing must have some speed
  • Have the right equipment
  • Have a consistent ball position

We have all been there!

You hit what feels like a perfect shot, but it hits the green and runs to the back.

You stand there and wonder how to increase the spin on your wedges so that you can hold the greens and have a chance at birdie!

For all golfers, regardless of ability level, the best place to make more birdies is when you have a wedge in your hand.  Even the professionals only hit it to 18 feet on average from 100 yards.

So the bottom line is that we must be able to control the distance and spin on our wedges to have any chance of scoring well.

How Do You Spin Your Wedges More?

Update: This past season I was really able to dial in my wedges. The key was a consistent spin rate and distance control. I could feel the difference between a 100 yard wedge shot and a 105 yard shot. The ideal spin allows the ball to hop once and stop. Too many golfers strive for the golf ball that spins back. This can be difficult to control long term.

Before we dive into the 5 tips, let’s first talk about what causes spin on a golf ball.  Every shot that is every hit in golf has some level of spin.  Typically, the driver as the least amount of spin at between 1800 and 3000 RPMs and the wedges have the most spin between 8000 and 12000 RPMs.

The spin is impacted by the shallow/steepness of the swing, the swing speed and the equipment the golfer is using.  If the wrong shaft is in place with the driver, the spin rate may increase and take away distance.  If you are using a wedge that is over 3 years old, you might be losing some desired spin

The golfers that are able to control spin rate with every club from driver to wedge, often are the best golfers and can hit the driver far and stop the wedges on the green to provide more birdie putt opportunities.

And then of course there are conditions that impact the spin on wedges including the length of the fairway grass and the wind.  The shorter the fairway grass with more wind in your face increases the amount of spin on the ball after it is struck.

Resource: Why is spin rate important in golf (complete overview)

These are the length shots where you want to be able to control your backspin!

Tip #1: Low point control

The number one sign of a good golfer is the ability to control the low point in the swing.  The best golfers hit the same spot of the ground 99%-100% of the time, while the high handicap golfer might only be successful controlling the low point around 50-60% of the time.  THis leads to fat shots, thing shots and a bunch of poor results.

In order to have any hope of a decent amount of spin on your wedges, you must strike the ball solid and crisp.  This starts with controlling the low point or where the club first strikes the ground.  In order to get the most spin, the golfer must hit the ball first and then the ground.  The divot will start after the ball.  

Below is a great drill to practice low point control.

Here the the steps to take to complete this drill:

  • Paint a 2-3 yard long line with some yard paint.
  • Place the wiffle ball on the line.
  • The goal is to have your divot start just on the target side of your line.
  • Go ahead and hit shot after shot, working on controlling your low point and your entry into the ground.
  • Assess your success rate out of 20 times and write it down.
  • Complete this drill daily for several weeks and see if your game improves at the course.

If you start to hit the ball poorly at any point on your golf journey, return to this drill and keep it simple.  

One quick tip: if you are struggling to control your low point, go ahead and set up with 60% of your weight on your front leg.  Keep your head centered without a big shift off the ball and turn more around your front leg. 

This will help keep your centers in place and allow you to control the low point.  Many golfers struggle with the low point because they don’t get their weight back to their front side early enough and end up casting the club.

Resource: How far should I hit my wedges?

Tip #2: The swing must be more shallow

For years, you may have heard that you really have to hit down on the ball to cause spin on your shots.  The reality is that if you get too steep and start to drive down into the ball, you are going to have poor contact, reduced loft and the gap between your loft and angle of attack will be too low.

There is a sweet spot with the angle of attack (angle at which you strike the ball) and the amount of loft.  If there is too big of a big or too narrow of a gap you will reduce the amount of spin.  There is a sweet spot where the swing is shallow and you’re hitting slightly lower loft than what is on the club.  

This starts with having a shallow swing, where you are striking the ball, striking the ground next and finishing your swing.

If you cast the club and stop from the top, you will struggle to have a quality angle of attack and to keep your swing shallow.  This results in a steeper angle of attack and too much loft.

The tip here is to keep the swing moving down and through the ball without hitting severely down into the ball.

Resource: When to use a 60 degree wedge

Tip #3: The swing must have speed

I play golf with someone that expects to spin the ball on 30 yard shots. 

This is highly unlikely for most amateurs as they are going to lack the speed in the swing to get the ball to spin back.  Instead, you might be able to hit the shot that skips a couple of times and stops, but that relies greatly on really tight fairways and greens that are receptive.

The ideal distance to maximize your spin with your wedges is going to be the range between 70 and 120 yards.  When you get inside of 70 yards, having enough speed in your swing to control your distance and spin rate becomes difficult.

If you are playing a par 5 with a difficult pin location where spin is going to be necessary, you might consider laying back to a certain yardage.  The alternative is to hit the ball as close as possible to the green and use loft to stop the ball and don’t rely on the spin as much.

Resource: When to use a 56 degree wedge

Tip #4: Have the right equipment

The grooves on your wedges must be crisp and sharp.  If you play around 20 rounds of golf per year or more, after several years your wedges are not going to be as effective as when you first purchased them.

Over time, the grooves start to wear down from dirt, hitting them frequently and overall usage.  The professional golfers on tour will often change their wedges every several tournaments.  This helps them control their distance and spin rates.

I would recommend that a good amateur golfer should replace their wedges after 2-3 years for maximum performance when it comes to distance control and spin rate.  Your distance control is impacted by the spin rate.

Resource: What wedges should a beginner carry?

Tip #5: Have a consistent ball position

If the ball is too far back in your stance, you will reduce the loft and possible steepen the swing.  If the ball is too far forward in your stance, you will add unnecessary loft and create too large of a gap between the angle of attack and the loft at impact.

The golfer has to work to find the sweet spot for the amount of dynamic loft and the angle of attack.  Once again, if these numbers are too close or too wide, you will impact the overall amount of spin on the ball.

You will want to control your spin into holes like the one pictured above! Learn more below on how to measure your spin rate!

How To Measure Your Spin Rate?

LIke I explained before, every golf shot has backspin.  If we didn’t have any backspin the ball would not fly through the air.  Golf is an amazing game as we want low spin rates with our drivers to maximize distance and ball flight and higher spin rates with our wedges to stop the ball on the greens.

I have learned a great deal about spin rate from my SkyTrak Launch Monitor that I use as part of my golf simulator setup in my garage and when I take my SkyTrak to the driving range.  I have learned the ideal ball position, speed needed in the swing, a shallow angle of attack and the importance of hitting the ball with enough speed.

Check current price on SkyTrak Launch Monitors, here!


When I first purchased my SkyTrak I spun my driver too much and my wedges not enough.  Through the instant feedback provided with the SkyTrak I am able to build the feel and adjust the different variables to get to where I need to be with the driver spin rate and wedge spin rate.

I would highly recommend that any serious golfer or anyone looking to take their game to the next level consider a SkyTrak or comparable portable launch monitor to use ain a garage setup or to take with them to the range.

Check out these 3 quality options below:

Overall, you will get the following data after every shot:
  • Carry and Total Distance
  • Ball Speed
  • Launch Angle
  • Spin Rate
  • Spin Axis

Spin rate is vital in golf.  We must keep it low the driver and higher with our wedges to hit the shots we need to score well!  Are you ready to get better and take your game to the next level?  You have to check out the launch monitors linked above!  You won’t regret it!

It is one thing to guess how much spin you had on a wedge shot and to know the exact amount of spin your hit on your wedge shot.  You will also notice the differences in total distance with the driver based on your spin rate.  If you hit a driver at 2000 RPMs vs 3000 RPMs, we are talking close to a 20 yard difference on the average swing speed.

Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better

What does this mean for you?  I believe in the following recipe to get better:

1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor.  Here are some options:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed.  Here are some options:

Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:

3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier.  Here is a series on breaking through:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.

4 – Practice Frequently

Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system?  It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:

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