The Art & Science of Wedge Play – Steven Orr

Most coaching on wedge play focuses on clock-face swing lengths and cone drills. Steven Orr has spent five years looking at it from a different angle – studying ball and club data from elite players, running robot tests on strike location, and interviewing Tour winners about how they actually developed their skills. What he found challenges several widely held coaching assumptions, from the effect of face strike on spin to the role of landing-spot thinking. This Masterclass condenses a two-day course into the key findings, giving you a research-grounded framework you can apply immediately with your players.

💡 What You’ll Learn

• The spin rates, launch angles and dynamic loft numbers that characterise elite wedge players – and why friction and groove condition matter more than most coaches realise
• Why skilled wedge players de-loft the club more on wedge shots than on full irons, and what that means for how you frame technique with players
• The body motion patterns common to good wedge players – including the surprising finding that the head and pelvis move toward the target while the club is still going back
• What robot-testing at the Titleist Performance Institute actually showed about strike location and spin – and why hitting low on the face does not increase spin the way coaching lore suggests
• How dynamic loft and strike location each affect carry distance, and why a single degree of loft change can shift the ball up to three yards
• Why distance control coaching built around speed and cones may be working backwards – and how controlling loft and strike should come first
• What Tour players interviewed about their short game development had in common – including the finding that none of them had formal short game coaching before turning professional
• How to set up exploration-based practice tasks that develop skill faster than technique-first instruction

👥 Who is This For?

• PGA Professionals and coaches who want a research-based framework for teaching wedge play rather than received wisdom
• Coaches working with competitive amateurs who need to improve proximity to the hole from 50-120 yards
• Any professional who has wondered whether their current approach to distance control and short game practice is actually working
• Coaches interested in motor learning and how skill is really acquired in the short game

📂 Format & Structure

• 1 video Masterclass (approx. 48 minutes, including live Q&A)
• Estimated completion time: under 1 hour
• Watch at your own pace, on any device

🎤 About the Speaker

Steven Orr is a PGA Master Professional and one of the youngest coaches ever to achieve that distinction. Based in Scotland, he has coached European Tour and Ladies European Tour players, national squads and the 2018 Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup side. He holds an MSc in Sports Coaching and has conducted extensive robot-testing and 3D motion research into wedge play over more than five years, making him one of the most rigorous researchers in the short game coaching field. He is a Trackman Master and a regular contributor to CPG education.

The CPG Masterclass Series embodies a range of talks and presentations for PGAs and PGA Professionals that cover a variety of subjects and topics, delivered by world-class, industry leading experts from their respective fields.