One Club for All Pitch Shots or Various Clubs?

[KevinBlake]

Would you recommend practising pitch shots with various clubs [eg 7 iron upwards] or would you stick to playing pitch shots with a single club, would there be an advantage in learning to do pitch shots with various clubs?

[StuM]

I'm not the most qualified but my opinion would be to practice multiple clubs since you may want some shots to rollout more than others.   Naturally you could work out a few different swings with the same club but that has been harder for me than just changing the club.

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 2/15/2021 at 3:55 PM, KevinBlake said:

Would you recommend practising pitch shots with various clubs [eg 7 iron upwards] or would you stick to playing pitch shots with a single club, would there be an advantage in learning to do pitch shots with various clubs?

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Personally, I would only hit pitch shots with P-Wedge down to L-wedge.

For chipping, on the other hand, I'll go all the way up through 6 iron depending on the situation. 

[klineka]

  On 2/15/2021 at 3:55 PM, KevinBlake said:

Would you recommend practising pitch shots with various clubs [eg 7 iron upwards] or would you stick to playing pitch shots with a single club

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I would recommend learning and practicing pitch shots with your dedicated wedges like gap wedge, sand wedge, lob wedge.

I cant remember a time I've ever hit a pitch shot with a 7,8,9 irons. Chip shots yes, but not pitch shots. 

  On 2/15/2021 at 3:55 PM, KevinBlake said:

would there be an advantage in learning to do pitch shots with various clubs?

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Yes. A pitch shot with a gap wedge will fly lower with more roll than a pitch shot with a lob wedge. If you learn the proper technique you can make the same swing and have 3 different trajectories simply by changing which club you choose. Over time you will likely gravitate towards one or two wedges you are most comfortable with for pitch shots, but it's good to practice with multiple IMO.

 

[saevel25]

  On 2/15/2021 at 3:55 PM, KevinBlake said:

Would you recommend practising pitch shots with various clubs [eg 7 iron upwards] or would you stick to playing pitch shots with a single club, would there be an advantage in learning to do pitch shots with various clubs?

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I pitch with three wedges 99% of the time. I can adapt and pitch with other irons as well. Each wedge gives a different trajectory that I want to know. For short game I like to visualize the shot more than focus on mechanics. I need to see the shot a few times beforehand to know.

its like if I am in the trees, I know which club can stay under the lowest branch because I’ve seen the trajectory of my irons hundreds of time. I try to hit as many shots with a stock swing versus trying to manipulate a shot. 

[KevinBlake]

  On 2/15/2021 at 4:36 PM, klineka said:

I would recommend learning and practicing pitch shots with your dedicated wedges like gap wedge, sand wedge, lob wedge.

I cant remember a time I've ever hit a pitch shot with a 7,8,9 irons. Chip shots yes, but not pitch shots. 

Yes. A pitch shot with a gap wedge will fly lower with more roll than a pitch shot with a lob wedge. If you learn the proper technique you can make the same swing and have 3 different trajectories simply by changing which club you choose. Over time you will likely gravitate towards one or two wedges you are most comfortable with for pitch shots, but it's good to practice with multiple IMO.

 

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Thanks, one more question: what situations would you recommend using a pitch shot instead of a chip shot - would it just be when you don't want the ball to roll much? 

[saevel25]

  On 2/15/2021 at 5:03 PM, KevinBlake said:

Thanks, one more question: what situations would you recommend using a pitch shot instead of a chip shot - would it just be when you don't want the ball to roll much? 

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You can make a pitch shot roll out.

I use a pitching motion 95% of the time. It gives the most leeway for mistakes. 

[StuM]

  On 2/15/2021 at 5:03 PM, KevinBlake said:

Thanks, one more question: what situations would you recommend using a pitch shot instead of a chip shot - would it just be when you don't want the ball to roll much? 

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For me it is primarily about the roll.  If I am short-sided I pitch hoping to stop the ball close to the hole.  If Pin is far side of the green more often than not I chip and let it roll.  Of course, you need to take hazards, etc. into account.  If it is downhill and there is risk of rolling off the far side (either another shot to get back up on the green or worse, roll into a hazard, I will pitch.  My #1 goal is to get the putter in my hand.

 

[iacas]

  On 2/15/2021 at 5:03 PM, KevinBlake said:

Thanks, one more question: what situations would you recommend using a pitch shot instead of a chip shot - would it just be when you don't want the ball to roll much? 

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You're going to get a wide variety of answers there… because not everyone defines "pitch" and "chip the same way. I can "pitch" an 8I and it will roll out really far. Especially if the green slopes away from me or something.

[Roblar]

Practice? Sure - practice everything! But when you play...

...a while back, I was really struggling to hit my 58.  So I decided to commit to it for a year whenever I played. Unless a shot absolutely required something different, I just hit 58 whenever I got close to the green.  Ugly at first, but now I'm a lot more comfortable with the 58.  Not saying it's a good plan, but it helped me learn to hit a club that I had been avoiding, and it helped me learn to hit it a variety of situations. I did the same thing with my 52 and 54 (not for a full year though). Recently, I've been trying to work with clubs up through my 7-iron near the green. But I haven't fully committed to that yet.

That said, I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn - you'd be much better off listening to someone who knows what they're talking about!

[deadon500]

95 out of a 100 I use  a 9 iron......

[TourSpoon]

I primarily use my 54* degree SW for most standard pitch shots. When I need to account for uphill or a slightly tighter lie I drop to a 50*. Lately I have found some myself in a few bare lies short sided that I even gear down to a 8 iron and hit a bump and run instead of getting too cute. So the short answer is to learn the a reliable pitching technique and a play with standard face, cut, front of stance and back, then grab some different clubs and hit some shots. Once you get a feel for it, you can get really creative. The other day I had a shot 30 yards into the green from a bare lie under a tree limb to an elevated green. I hit a back foot 8 iron pitch that hit into the hill and toppled on the green. I had never hit that shot before but I had a putt that saved my par. 

[Darkfrog]

I hit chip shots with the irons in my set, generally 7-PW, but I have chipped with a 4-iron before. Sometimes I will also chip with a hybrid (at least I think it's a chip) if the ball is in rough near the green and sitting in the grass in a way that I feel like I need a little pop to get the ball going. I rarely hit pitch shots with the irons in my set - something about the way the clubs are shaped that doesn't give me confidence for this shot.

I usually hit pitches and chips with my 50 degree wedge, probably 50/50 breakdown.

I use my 55 degree wedge and 60 degree wedge almost exclusively for pitch shots.

[Esox]

Over the years I have chipped in with an 8 iron far more than any other club in the bag. It just fits for me (Using old school club lofts) for most bump and run shots. And for some reason I will eschew the 9 iron and go straight to the PW if I need a bit more carry. But pitching in is a different game, and my club mix in the bag is considerably different than it was 20-40 years ago when I ( and most golfers)had a pitching wedge and a sand wedge, Period.  usually like a 48 degree pitch and 54 degree sand iron. Now I usually carry 46, 50, 54  & 58 degree wedges, with the bounce varying from with the 54 always being high bounce and the lob wedge being mid or low bounce for hard sand and hardpan. To me in the two most lofted wedges  grind is important, because they are the ones I will open up around the green to manufacture shots, whilst the pitch and gap wedges are used with a square face.

[Rippy_72]

I generally pitch with my sand wedge although I will pitch with less lofted clubs if it makes sense.  For instance, if the landing area for a pitch is the upslope and there is a flat area before the upslope and especially if there is a downslope leading to that flat area.  This is about managing misses.  If you fly the SW too far, it lands on the plateau (where the pin is) and you are toast.  If you select the right club, say a 9 iron or pw, and land it in the flat area, you would bounce a few times and hopefully snuggle up to the hole.  If you do not hit the 9 iron well enough, it will land on the downslope and it probably will still roll up the slope and rest on the plateau.  Maybe TMI or cowardly but if greens are fast with a lot of swales and hills, it can make a lot of sense.  Of course, one can always chip.

[ghalfaire]

First of all I have to say I concur the definition of Chip and Pitch is not precise and therefore some caution reading advice is advised.  I personally, and I'm not a pro, I never pitch a ball if there is a viable chip shot possible.  Hitting high lofted clubs off of tight lies with less than a full swing isn't something I do well.   Much easier, for me anyway, to just let the ball run if that is possible.  I try to use different clubs, normally a 6I to PW, depending upon distance and conditions, as this seems to allow me to use the same swing thought, more or less anyway.  I find this easier to do than adjusting the swing using a single club for all chips.  So, my advice is, pick a shot you're confident you can do, not what you think you ought to do.