What is pitching?
When and why do we pitch?
What club do we use for pitching?
The set up for pitching
The Grip
The Posture
Aim and alignment
Creating a steeper swing
To avoid: The flipper
Grip pressure
Controlling distance
Where to aim
What is
pitching?
The
pitch technique is used for any shot short of the length of a full wedge shot. It requires a slightly different set up than
the full swing as it designed to promote control rather than distance.
Pitching is lofting the golf ball high in the
air in order that it will stop quickly on the green.
When and
why do we pitch?
We
will pitch the ball whenever we have a shot near the green with interference in the way e.g. a bunker, mound, gully, shrub,
rough grass anything that would make a putt or a chip shot too difficult.
Sometimes it is the only shot that we can
get the ball close to the pin.
We would utilize the pitch shot to gently loft the ball into the air landing softly
on the green, stopping by the pin. Hole the putt for a par.
What club
do you use for pitching?
A
pitching wedge or sand wedge are ideal, if you have a sand wedge with a lot of bounce it may be difficult off a bare lie.
Other than that a sand wedge is great for pitching as it has a little more loft than the pitching wedge.
Pitching
Set Up
The
grip in the full swing is the same as the grip for pitching however in pitching you can grip down the shaft a little in order
to achieve better feel.
Posture for a pitch shot would have feet close together, the stance a little open (feet
left shoulders square, this keeps the hips out of the way in the down swing)
For a pitch shot we must clip the turf
and the bottom of the ball simultaneously for the ball to become air-borne. This is achieved with a descending blow requiring
a slightly steeper swing than the full swing.
The club hits the ball at the bottom of the arc of its swing!
The
ball climbs the clubface in order to become air borne!
Aim and
Alignment
Just
as in the full swing your aim and alignment are very important in pitching, the clubface will be aimed at the target. Your
shoulders will be aligned parallel left of the target.
Please note the feet can be slightly open (slightly left), the shoulders
must be aligned. The clubface could also be set open for a higher pitch.
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How do
we create a slightly steeper swing?
By reducing the turn of the body and promoting more of an arms swing.
This
is achieved at address, as a narrow stance will reduce the turn of the body in the back swing. The less turn the steeper the
angle of the swing will be, the shoulders will have minimal turn in the back swing the arms will swing equal distance back
and through.
While allowing for the body to turn with the arms-swing to balanced finish.
The arms swing the
same distance through that they went back
we do not flip the club head up through impact, in order for
the ball to get air-borne.
We contact the ball at the bottom of the swing arc for it to become air-borne.
The
ball position for a pitch shot is between left foot and the center of the stance.
Grip Pressure
The pressure
of the grip should be very light throughout the swing. The pitch is a feel shot; we get better feel with less pressure in
the hands the club is held gently in the fingertips.
How do
we control the distance of a pitch shot?
Two ways, from the strength of the hip pivot, or the length of the swing. Use
one or both of these to determine the distance of the pitch shot.
We do not go too far back for a short shot, which
would cause us to decelerate on the down swing. The pitch is a smooth even tempo pendulum swing.
A longer pitch shot
will also stop quicker as, the longer swing will create more height as well as more distance.
Where
should we aim the pitch shot?
Please
remember that the ball is going to roll after hitting the green.
Practice you’re pitching from various distances
to a target to find the length the ball will roll, remember the higher we hit the ball the less roll we will get.
Ideally
we land the ball safely on the green before the pin and allow for the ball to roll to the cup.
Tap it in walk to the next
hole!
Once we have
the technique we need to spend time practicing our distance control. There is no magic wand or formula to follow; in order
to create feels for distance other than practice.
We want you to under stand the importance of pitching, let’s
give you an example!
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If we could
give you 20 yards extra distance on your driver shot how much lower would your scores be?
Maybe no lower, maybe 1 or 2
shots a round
Now what
if every time you were 60 yards out from the green you hit your next shot to 1 foot and tapped in the putt. How many shots
would that save you?
5, 10 or even 20. Practice this please!
When you are at the practice pitching green try to
play a game that adds a little pressure and focus into your session, to make your time more productive and fun.
Take
two golf balls out of your golf bag throw them down next to the green. Pick out one of the pins and knock both balls to it.
Pick
the balls up throw them to another area. Pick another pin; pitch the balls to that pin and so on.
Play as many holes
as you have time for and try to set a goal for your session,
E.g. 3 balls
within 1 foot of the pin.
Hole 2 pitches
then I can go out to play, whatever your goal is.
Try to improve your goal with each practice session.
Eventually
you will be so good at pitching that your goal may be to hole out 7-10 shots before hitting a bucket of golf balls!
Practice
should be game like, realistic, focused and fun!
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