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I have now started working on the short game method where you find your wedge distances with backswings of 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30. Thanks to a rangefinder it is a lot easier to do this. So far I have figured out four distances, 7:30 lob wedge flies 27 yards, 7:30 sand wedge goes 35, 9:00 lob goes 40, 9:00 sand goes 50. Anyways, today I was playing a hole and I had 60 yards to the pin with a bunker only five yards short of that. I figured if I took my sand wedge back just past 9:00 that should be about right. I did that and ended up sticking it to 8 feet and pin high, made my putt and walked away with my par . I also stuck a 50 yarder to five feet and made the birdie I have read about this in dave pelz's book, I think there might be something to this method. This opens a whole new chapter of the golf game for me

If you've got your swing down to the 1/2 hours.....you've certainly got it fine tuned!

Uh, 7:30 to 9:00 to 10:30 is 90 minutes. Remembering 20 distances per club for all the half hours is too much.

My PW:
7:30: 55 yards
9:00: 70 yards
10:30: 100 yards

So if I want 60, I know it's about 8:00, but I don't have to "have it down to the 1/2 hours" per se.

I think what LG meant is, if you can tell the difference between 7:30 and 8:00 or 7:00 in your swing, then that's a pretty precise assessment, and one that most people wouldn't be able to make without a diagram of a clock beside a picture of their swings or something to that effect.

Thanks fellow "LG." That's exactly what I meant. I also use the "clock" to determine wedge distances and 7:00 - 9:00 -11:00 etc. are swings a lot of players use. The 1/2 hour increments are for those far better than me.

I have 4 wedges and I know the distances for each of them at each level of swing, only I use my hands at body parts. I swing to hip, waist, arm pit and shoulder. Shoulder is full for me, but I use full easy swing and full hard swing so I have 5 distances for each club. I use body parts because I found teaching that people and myself could hit the body parts easier than the clock. Every one could hit their body parts with their eyes closed, but a lot of them could not visualize the clock. Of course I have to write the distances down and carry them with me in my bag. There is some over lap but some times I make my decision due to the trajectory I want. I also know the distances for each wedge and length of swing for my flop shots also. It took a while to get it all down, but the short game is so important that it is worth it. I spot check the distances from time to time to make sure I am staying on track plus it is great practice. The hard part is getting a new set of clubs and wedges and having to recalibrate them all over...oh well!

I, and according to dave pelz, most pros, use the half hours because at 7:30 you are 1/4 of the way back with your hands, 9:00 you are 1/2 way back with your hands, 10:30 and you are 3/4 way back with your hand. It is a 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 swing. It keeps it in incremints of quarters. I think that is a lot easier to remember then a 1/6, which would be 7:00, and a 2/3 which is 10:00

Great distance tricks!!!!....I'm going to start incorporating this...thanks!

I think some of you are thinking about this the wrong way. The clock method is a very good method, but I don't think you should think about such precise "time points" for different distances. There's no way you can go back to 7:23 with a lob wedge each time you need 30 yards.

I think you should develop the 3 different length swings with each wedge, and from there it's just about feel and creativity.

If you hit your 7:30 swing with a lob wedge 32 yards, then the 7:23 swing is probably exactly what you need...

You may not realize that you said the same thing. Three different length swings. 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30. The "feel" comes in when you need to generate a shot that would lie between the two. For some people, they think "I need to swing to about 8:15." Others might say "I need to go halfway between 7:30 and 9:00.

Same thing.

because you would use at least 3 different wedges, for some people four, these three backswings would provide 9 or 12 distances between 25-90 yards. only 3 swings and at least 9 variations, sure does simplify and take out a lot of guesswork

My lob wedge at 7:30 goes 27 yards, if the hole is downhill then it should release about 3 yards or so. My sand wedge goes 35, if it is uphill thnen it should check and might back up to the hole. Once I get it dialed in then I will put the distances on a label and put it on the club. This is why the pros get up and down so much from inside 100 yards. 3 times yesterday I put the ball inside of 10 feet from 35-60 yards, one got me a par, another a birdie, and I missed the third putt.

It sounds like you've found a system that works very well for you. Dialing in the shots from 125 yards and in, is a surefire way to improve anyone's scores! Oh, one more thing. I hate it when I miss my "third putt!"

I am really starting to like this method. Today I was playing a par 3 that was 210 yards into a 2-3 club wind. I would have had to hit maybe a 3 wood to get it there. THere was water left and right with the sides of the green sloping towards it and the green is about 20 yards wide, all in all an easy hole to make double bogey. So i decided to play it safe and lay up. I hit five iron off the tee straight at the flag. I had 35 yards to go so I hit my 7:30 sand wedge to 3 feet and made the putt for par. The only negative about this system is it test your nerves because you will have a lot more putts insde of ten feet, and those can be nerve rackers.

To tell you the truth I don't think I could do the whole time system you guys are talking about. Maybe on the range but thats about it. On the course I try not to think about mechanics and rather have my body take over. I only tend to worry about my alignment. If I have the quarter and half shots I just use feel to get an idea of how big of a swing I need to use. I think I would end up thinking to much about the shot rather then just letting my body take over and do what it has over and over.