The Tweener

azgreg

In my round yesterday I was faced with about a half dozen tweener shots. As far as I know there are only two options, lay off the longer club or step on the shorter one. Neither one was working for me. I found it a bit frustrating.

Bigborgel

azgreg Best way to minimize tweeners is to play the hole backwards. On Thursday, I was 200 yds out, rather than be left with a 30-50 yds approach, I hit a wedge 100 yds, and had another wedge onto the green. It felt stupid, but worked great.

Hoss7504

I always over swing when I try to get after it with the shorter club. Sometimes the need to be the big swinging d!ck is too much to resist and then I go screw it all up...

SVonhof

Always go with the longer club and do a partial swing, just make sure to FINISH the swing or bad things will happen.

That's my advice, even if I don't always take it myself.

ZWExton

Trying a 95% swing is a low percentage play. Take the longer club and choke down an inch. It feels lighter, so take a handful of practice swings to acclimate. All other things being equal, this takes about 7yds off a full shot if I recall.

I've had success with this. My full gap wedge is about 130. If I have a 122 shot I can choke up an inch and take a full swing without worrying about going long.

PA-PLAYA

If you look back over the past several years of my really good scoring rounds, one of the most often-overlooked aspects has been that my approach shot yardages fell on reasonably good numbers.

And although I'm usually fine with playing a 3/4 shot with a longer iron, a lot of times it's situational as far as hole locations, how much green I have to work with, potential forced-carry situations, etc.

My usual trouble area is when I'm facing a mid-iron (170-175 yards) approach downwind with trouble in the front. Going with less club to account for the wind requires a perfect strike, and going with the right club generally means I'm off the back and facing a very long chip or pitch shot. If there's no trouble in front, not a big deal. But if it's a forced carry, most of us instinctively try to help the ball get in the air at impact, which is typically commensurate with jerking off a rabid mountain lion with 50-grit sandpaper.

DC300

PA-PLAYA which is typically commensurate with jerking off a rabid mountain lion with 50-grit sandpaper.

You win the internet today.

azgreg

Bigborgel
I'm not referring to those shorter wedge shots, I'm talking about those shots between 7 and 8 iron, etc.

Rickochet

Going after the shorter club usually works better for me. Most times with the longer club I quit on it on the downswing. The key to going after the shorter club is to not get too quick on the backswing and keep your head down. On the occasion I have a tweener with a lake to go over I will take the longer club but play it forward in my stance that will launch it higher and shorter than normal.

ode

Choke up and swing full or figure out the best miss and live with it, IE front of green/just short or back of green/just long

garyt1957

I'll usually hit the longer club unless there's sure death going long. I figure what's the odds I'm going to hit it perfect anyway? If I mishit it a little it's still OK. If I hit it flush I just have a longer putt. If I mishit the shorter club (even more likely since I'm swinging harder) I'm not even reaching the green.

mikeintopeka

Something that works for me. I take the longer club and open up the face a little, or play it a smidgen more forward in my stance, to get a higher trajectory from the fairway. I have even more success on a Par 3 tee box and tee it up a tad higher to get the higher loft and thus a little less carry.

accufitgolf

When in doubt, take a longer club and swing easy.

DC300

I just choke down and take a normal swing at the longer club.

eltigrecda

I always take the longer club. Usually I choke up with a full swing but because my yardage gap between the lob wedge and the gap wedge is larger I will often try a 3/4 swing or even choke up AND use a 3/4 swing.

Provisional

Chokeing makes me choke, instead, per Harvey Pennick,
I grip down & think about a positive strike and ball flight, pay extra attention to stance and posture, swinging down and through sending the ball toward the target, take dead aim,
Then I choke.

MartinD

I usually try to put these shots into context - in particular, is it better to miss short or long? I'll also look at other options - there's a hole on a course I play regularly where the green is at the top of a small rise but an otherwise clear route in from the fairway, where I might have a full 5-iron distance (a tough shot for me to fly all the way and stop, particularly downwind) but play what feels like a long pitch shot with 4-iron or hybrid to land the ball short and run it up the bank. (It's worth noting that I'm probably more comfortable than most at hitting shots with less than a full swing - it's very rare that I hit a full-swing wedge shot, and I'll play a lot of punch/knock-down shots, particularly on windy days.)