How to Play the 30 Yard Wedge Shot
In today’s guide let’s talk about the importance of mastering the 30 yard wedge shot in golf.
It’s one of the more common distances you may find yourself from the green.
For example, if you are playing a longer Par 4 and come up short on your approach shot. Or if you’re playing a Par 5, you might hit your first two shots and now you’re facing a 30 yard wedge shot for your 3rd to get onto the green for a birdie chance.
If you get really good at hitting the 30 yard wedge shot, you can save par or set yourself up for more birdies.
It’s a golf shot you definitely want to spend time practicing as it will be useful in helping you lower your golf scores.
Tips for Hitting a 30 Yard Wedge Shot in Golf
#1: Learn what 30 Yards Looks Like Visually
Using a rangefinder to get exact distances from the pin is always a smart strategy when golfing. But as you are shooting different distances for different golf shots, try to learn how far these golf shots look visually so you can build “feel”.
Eventually, you’ll become great at identifying how far you are from the green without needing the rangefinder. You’ll be able to look at where your ball is and then look at the green and approximate that you’re about 30 yards away.
#2: Analyze the Green and Landing Zone to Aim For
Identify the pin location on the green to see how much green you have to land the ball before the pin.
Is there any trouble to avoid such as bunkers? Are there tiers on the green (slopes) that might funnel the ball back downhill off the green if you don’t get over them?
Where do you want to land the ball? How do you expect the wedge shot to react once it lands in terms of roll and spin?
Resource: How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
#3: Choose the Right Wedge for the Shot
Club selection is key to hitting any golf shot on a golf course, none the less, the 30 yard wedge shot.
Once you’ve analyzed the green and your lie of how the ball is sitting in the grass, you’ll be able to pick the correct wedge for the shot.
For example, you might choose to hit a lower flighted wedge shot that lands and rolls more. Or you might need to hit a higher flighted wedge that lands softly and doesn’t roll as much.
Playing a low spin or high spin wedge shot from 30 yards will depend on where the pin is and how the green is setup.
#4: Setup a 30 Yard Wedge Shot on the Practice Range First
If a driving range has a target or green that is close to 30 yards away, then that will be great for practicing this short game shot.
However, if the driving range does not have this distance setup for you already, then you’ll need to create it yourself using an alignment stick or a chipping net to hit 30 yard pitch shots too.
Find an open area on the driving range or chipping practice area at your local golf course to pace off 30 yards and stick an alignment stick in the ground vertically to create a target to hit wedge shots too.
You can also do this at home in your yard if you have the space.
Work on hitting 30 yard pitch shots to the target you setup to build distance control with your wedge.
#5: Hit Your 30 Yard Shot to the Practice Putting Green
Once you’ve spent time mastering control over the 30 yard wedge shot on the driving range, now it’s time to practice hitting it to a green, such as the practice putting green.
You don’t want to start with hitting to the putting green from Day 1 if you don’t have good distance control yet.
This could be dangerous for hitting other people who are putting on the green. Master distance control at the range for a few weeks before you attempt to hit shots to the putting green.
Measure off 30 yards away from the green. Set down 10-15 golf balls and begin practicing hitting shots to a hole on the green.
The goal is to get the balls to finish within 10 feet or less of the hole starting out. Later, you can narrow this margin to 5 feet or less from the hole when hitting from 30 yards.
#6: Practice the 30 Yard Wedge Shot on the Golf Course
In addition to working on this shot on the practice area, you should also get some extra reps in out on the golf course while playing practice rounds.
Drop a few extra balls around 30 yards from the green on each hole and hit to the pin. See how close you can get your wedge shots each hole.
Doing this for 9 or 18 holes on every hole will add up to quite a few practice reps by the end of the round, building skill and confidence.
Practice from both the fairway and from the rough. Give yourself a couple different lies on the golf course since sometimes you might miss the green in the rough and other times you might come up short of the green in the fairway.
And if they have bunkers that are around 25-30 yards from the green, you might want to hit a few from there as well to learn how to hit the 30 yard shot from sand too.
#7: Use a Launch Monitor or Golf Simulator to Practice Distance Control
You can also practice the 30 yard shot by using a golf launch monitor device that tells you how far you hit each golf shot each time you make a swing in front of the device.
Or if you have access to an indoor golf simulator at home or at a local facility, this can make for a good way to practice distance control with your wedge shots.
I recommend buying a hitting net for the backyard at home as well as a launch monitor. Spend a half hour hitting balls into the net working on feel and use the launch monitor for feedback after each swing to see how far the wedge shot would have gone.
Working on this shot at home can quickly build your distance control, learning what a 30 yard shot feels like. You get to practice different backswing lengths and swing tempos until you create the 30 yard shot.
Overall, these are the best tips for quickly improving from 30 yards with your short game. It’s a golf shot you’ll want to become skilled at and use during your golf rounds to save par or setup birdie chances on the putting green.
Work on distance control with your wedges by using targets to hit to or using a launch monitor to get distance feedback after each shot you hit.
Learn what the 30 yard shot looks like visually as well as what it feels like when you make a certain backswing and forward swing with a certain tempo each time.
Golf Practice Plans to Follow
- How to Score in the 60’s Golf Training Plan
- How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
- How to Score in the 80’s Golf Training Plan
- All Access: Get Every Practice Plan (Lifetime Membership)
Thanks for reading today’s article!
Nick Foy – Golf Instructor
