Why Do I Pull My Wedges Left (Causes and Solutions)

There are few things in golf more frustrating than being in position to score and hitting your wedges poorly.

We have all been there. We pipe a driver down the middle on a par 4 or his two quality shots on a par 5 to be in the perfect positions. We have that 70-120 yard shot ready to go and we either miss the green completely or leave ourselves a 30 foot putt.

Whether this is a result of a pulled or pushed wedge or a thin or thick shot it is frustrating. Today, we hope to help eliminate this and dial in your wedges

We will dive into the common causes of the pulled left wedge shot and provide solutions under each cause. We will then leave you with some general tips on hitting your wedges crisp and on the correct line.

Why Do I Pull My Wedges Left?

There are three main reasons why golfers pull their wedges:

poor alignment

overactive hands or a stalling body
over the top motion on the downswing

Let’s jump right in!

Dialing in your wedges is vital to your overall success. See our general wedge tips below!

Cause #1: Poor Alignment

The reality is that the golfer might not be pulling his or wedges as much as they have poor alignment. The golfer might aim 5-20 left and hit the ball fine and on the right line, but the poor alignment leads to poor results and a shot that might have missed the green.

While we don’t recommend aiming right at the pin, we do believe in playing a slight draw or fade, it is essential that the golfer is aiming down the intended start line.

Why am I pulling my driver left?

Solution #1: Use Alignment Sticks and A Video Camera

The next time you are at the range use an alignment stick or golf club in addition to a video camera (smartphone video) and check your alignment with your wedges. Pick the spot that you are aiming at, setup and see where you are really aimed. We recommend starting here to first ensure your alignment is where it needs to be. If it is not, it is time to move to one of the next two causes.

The more difficult the course, the more important precision is with your wedges.

Cause #2: Overactive Hands or Stalling Body

Overactive hands with the wedges can make it difficult to start the ball on the right line and play the desired shot shape. The more the golfer is dealing with a less than full swing, the higher chance of hitting the ball off line and potentially pulling the ball left.

The overactive hands can be a result of an intention to actively use the hands or if the body is stalling. The club face will close down as the body stalls to try to square the club face.

Solution 2: Use Your Body and Keep It Moving

While it is impossible to remove your hands from the swing, the thought or feel in the wedge swing should be more of a body driven swing where the arms are riding along the body for the ride. There doesn’t need to be an active hit or strike with the hands.

Instead stay steady and consistent thru the shot. Speed and overall distance is not vital in the wedge game. What is more important is hitting it on the right start line and hitting it the correct distance. A 105 yard wedge shot when you are trying to hit the golf ball 95 yards can often lead to a bogey or worse.

The stalling body, which can lead to the hands closing the clubface can be a result of being fearful of the distance you will hit a shot and trying to slow down to over control your distance.

Eliminating the over the top move will help you throughout your bag.

Cause #3: Over The Top Motion

From the top of the backswing, many golfers get anxious and come over the top, which results in a pulled shot in many situations. Golfers get a hit instinct from the top instead of remaining patient and have an outside to in swing motion that sends the ball flying left if the clubface stays square to the swing path.

Over the Top Golf Swing: How to stop it today!

Solution #3: Stay Patient

From the top of the backswing, stay patient, keep the head behind the ball and have a feeling of hitting the ball out to right center (think of a baseball field). This intention should help at least straighten out the shot and eliminate the pulled shot with a wedge.

Other General Tips With The Wedges

Manage Your Expectations
Work on Low Point Control
Develop A Stock Shot

Tip #1: Manage Your Expectations

Did you know that the average proximity to the pin from 100 yards on the PGA Tour is 18 feet? Many amateurs expect to hit every 100 yard wedge shot to 2-3 feet for a simply tap in for birdie. Stay patient and take it easy on yourself. As golfers get disappointed in the results, they often start to press more and only play worse.

Tip #2: Work on Low Point Control

The best golfers can strike all their irons and wedges crips. This starts with low point control. Here is a great drill you can use to develop this skill.

The Low Point Control Drill

Take some yard paint and paint a 1-2 yard long line.

Setup with 55% of your weight on your front side.
Try to hit the target side of the line and see how many times out of 10 you can do this successfully!
Repeat this drill every day for a month, tracking your progress and your ability to to this successfully in trials of ten.

You may need to start with half swing and progress to full swings.

If you are struggling, put more weight forward and work on keeping your head still to help control the low point in the swing.

Tip #3: Develop A Stock Shot

We recommend developing a fade or draw stock shot. Have your go to shaped shot with all of the clubs in your bag. Here is an excellent drill you can use for the rest of your golf journey!

How to develop a stock shot in golf!

Stock Shot Drill

At the driving range, set up an alignment stick about 6-8 yards in front of you, straight down your target line.
If you have a second alignment stick, set the stick 3-4 feet right of the first stick (for a draw) or left of the first stick (for a fade).

Complete your initial assessment see how many times out of 10 you can start the ball to the right or left of your target. Pick one side and measure your game at this point.
The goal is to eventually

BONUS TIP For Wedges: Know Your Distances!

I would highly recommend each golfer create a distance chart like the sample below:

Club	Carry Distance (100%)	90%	80%
2 Utility Iron	210
4 iron	190
5 iron	181
6 iron	171
7 iron	163
8 iron	153
9 iron	143
P Club	130	123	115
Pitching Wedge	118	110	102
SW Club	105	97	91
LW Club	90	82	74

This might be the most important information you can use to help you play quality golf. I have heard so many stories and have seen it first hand where golfers completely over estimate how far they hit each iron.

They hit one 7 iron 165 yards one time and think this is their carry distance. So they step up to a 165 yard shot, hit the 7 iron and end up in a bunker. They blade it out of the bunker and are looking at a double bogey as their reality. Instead, if they had the right club and hit the 6 iron, their chance of hitting the middle of the green would increase greatly!

How to hit your irons pure (5 Keys)

How can you create your own chart?

Best Option: I would highly recommend a launch monitor!

These portable devices can be used at the driving range, golf course or set up in your home net or golf simulator. These devices are game changers not only on being able to map your bag and know your distances, but they also provide quality feedback after on every shot and provide the following information:

Carry Distance

Spin Rate
Launch Angle
Spin Axis

Total Distance
Ball Speed

This information will help you map your bag, decide on which clubs are best for your game, develop a stock shot and much more. I love using my SkyTrak 365 days a year in my golf simulator setup.

The process for mapping your bag can looking something like this:

Hit 5 shots with each club in your bag.
Log the carry distance and total distance for each shot.

Eliminate any outlier numbers (poor hits or low spin rates).
Take the average and create a map of your bag.

If you visit any PGA Tour event you will see plenty of golfers utilizing their launch monitors. While most can’t afford a Trackman, there are some very affordable options in the 500-2000 dollar range. I own the SkyTrak and think the world of it.

Here are the top 3 options to check out:

The ultimate game improve tool! A golf simulator! Play 365 days a year and finally get better!

My Secret To Golf Improvement

Let’s face it, in order to get really good at golf, we must practice frequently. About five years ago, I made the leap and invested in a golf simulator build for my garage. I went with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor and the TGC software and can now play over 100,000 courses including Augusta, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits. St. Andrews and many other of the top 100 courses in the world.

This golf simulator setup, which is more affordable that you might imagine, has been a game changer. I can now play golf everyday of the year regardless of rain, snow, cold weather or time of day. I can practice or play rounds of golf. I can stand in the 11th fairway at Augusta and with the auto-rewind feature I am able to practice my approach shots from various differences.

It is worth checking out through Rain or Shine Golf as they offer some incredible packages along with financing offers that are difficult to beat.

Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:

Rain or Shine Golf Packages

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: