With so much emphasis on putting and chipping, pitching is becoming an underappreciated but important section of your short game. But short hitters who don't make it to the greens and long players that get wild have to rely on pitching to save pars.
The very best players at pitching are at their fundamentals sound and as such have created a "feel" for distance control. I've worked pretty hard in order to improve. Here are my two big pitching tips- Make a long shoulder turn backwards and through the swing, so my big muscles are controlling everything, & let my arms stay soft. I just love how relaxed my arms can appear on film.
I can not put enough stress on the importance of a still head when regarding good ball-striking and precise iron play. However, you also need to know exactly when you can let your head with the ball.
The average player has a tendency to swing their head up & down or to the side during the swinging motion. A pushed or pulled shot will often result from having too much side motion, as they are an inability to precisely return the clubhead to the place it was at when first addressing. Up-and-down motion, even if they happen only to a small degree, will result in fat or thin shots since the relative distance from the golf ball has changed.
I always try to keep my head perfectly motionless during the swing. It moves downward a little as you strike the ball - just don't let it happen laterally. I then let it go toward the target line after striking so that it does not inhibit my follow-through.
For bunker shots of forty to fifty yds, I usually would prefer my nine iron instead of the sand wedge. In order to create that much distance but with a higher lofted club, I am likely to either strike underneath the ball and be short or catch the ball in the middle and skull it too far over the green. However, I can reach the green using a 9 iron, using the bounce from the bottom of the club to slide through the sand and with increased space for a mistake.
I like to swing the way I would using my sand wedge shot. I begin opening up my stance & clubface to the target area & gripping down on the handle of the club.Then I move the club backward along the stance line and then swinging through using an out-to-in path. My left arm is stiff when connecting - which keeps me from releasing my hands.
Usually the golf ball goes fairly low, so I allow for a little extra roll.
The very best players at pitching are at their fundamentals sound and as such have created a "feel" for distance control. I've worked pretty hard in order to improve. Here are my two big pitching tips- Make a long shoulder turn backwards and through the swing, so my big muscles are controlling everything, & let my arms stay soft. I just love how relaxed my arms can appear on film.
I can not put enough stress on the importance of a still head when regarding good ball-striking and precise iron play. However, you also need to know exactly when you can let your head with the ball.
The average player has a tendency to swing their head up & down or to the side during the swinging motion. A pushed or pulled shot will often result from having too much side motion, as they are an inability to precisely return the clubhead to the place it was at when first addressing. Up-and-down motion, even if they happen only to a small degree, will result in fat or thin shots since the relative distance from the golf ball has changed.
I always try to keep my head perfectly motionless during the swing. It moves downward a little as you strike the ball - just don't let it happen laterally. I then let it go toward the target line after striking so that it does not inhibit my follow-through.
For bunker shots of forty to fifty yds, I usually would prefer my nine iron instead of the sand wedge. In order to create that much distance but with a higher lofted club, I am likely to either strike underneath the ball and be short or catch the ball in the middle and skull it too far over the green. However, I can reach the green using a 9 iron, using the bounce from the bottom of the club to slide through the sand and with increased space for a mistake.
I like to swing the way I would using my sand wedge shot. I begin opening up my stance & clubface to the target area & gripping down on the handle of the club.Then I move the club backward along the stance line and then swinging through using an out-to-in path. My left arm is stiff when connecting - which keeps me from releasing my hands.
Usually the golf ball goes fairly low, so I allow for a little extra roll.
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