To me the short game is about what works for you and different methods work equally as well for different players.

There is no reason to say a high handicapper who has trouble off the tee and in the long game cannot be good at the short game.

I have had a dreadful season especially with woods and long irons and my tee shots must look like a real hacker to anyone watching, however from 120 yds in I am as good as anyone I have played with in competitions this year including single figure handicappers, so for me the foged wedges with feel and plenty of spin are fully justified. 

I play most of my close in chip and run shots with my PW, for partial pitches I nearly always use my MPT SW, it just seems a bit better than the GW for partial shots.

I also have a 60 LW which I keep in the bag manily becuase it is excellent for high shots out of the rough for me especially when there is not much green to work with, I would pull the shot off 4/5 times but from tight lines there is much more risk and not worth it.

Anyone struggling with the short game should spend time practicing with thier wedges, I have 3 swings, keep the swing speed the same but taking the club back a different lengths, hip height, sternum hieght and shoulder height, follow through to the same hieght.

With a bit of practice you should be able to establish 3 shot distances per club i.e. a choice of 9 shots from with 120 yds. 

Nick

At no point have I said a high handicapper cannot be good around the greens.I simply stated that wedges are as important to fit correctly as any other club,yet many just battle on with wedges ill suited to their ability and game.For every player off 24 that convinces themselves a forged Vokey is perfect and they have perfected the Mickleson lob,there are 50 others who really should go and see a pro,have a lesson and buy some new clubs.

The lob is a high risk shot for all but the best players,it takes a hell of a lot of practice and great technique

Wormburner, sorry did not mean to mis-interpret your comments, I agree that the lob shot it's very risky for most golfers, just seems its something I am reasonably good at, but I still only play it when it is needed.

The only thing I will say is that at wedge level I do not think most people need the forgiveness that they do at 5I and longer, there are often comments on here from people that say they have tried blades and feel better in the sort irons than their game improvement cavity back clubs etc.

Nick,sometimes I think its a placebo effect,the sharper 'players' wedges look and feel so nice they can convince you that they actually work,when in fact the lack of foregiveness,the grind,the lack of  bounce etc etc just make it harder to play the shot.But if the feel good factor works then tahts fine,I would never argue against that after all golf is a game of confidence.

But for many I suspect the higher lofts and sexy wedges have just made things worse.We used to play our 50 degree wedges with a sexy 3 bounce check and roll it to the hole,this was a relatively easy shot technique wise and was a consistent percentage shot to play.Now we see beginners trying to decide which wedge to use and invariably they reach for the sexy lob wedge and just play totally the worong shot with the wrong club