Pitching with the 60

[Williamevanl]

This is really just a basic how should I pitch the ball question. I was having a lot of success early in the season but It seems to have fallen apart on me. I play the shot with an open stance nuetral/weak grip and I try to let my hands lag a ways behind my upper body.

Early on in the season I was getting a little bit of a push high flying spinny shot but now I'm duffing, thinning. I can't figure out what I want to do. I have a lot of success chipping with my 56 with the ball back in my stance and very little wrist hinge and I think that somehow bled into my pitching stroke. So I notice now that the ball is kind of far back in my stance and I don't hinge much which could be a problem. If I move the ball up further I find it hard to get my body/hands in front of the ball and the clubface behind it.

It really causes problems on tight lies, I got a 7 on a par three recently after toeing a shot 30 yards short and just duffing around the green with the lob wedge. I want a high flying spinny shot, how do I do it?

[ks8829]

keep the backswing so that you hinge with your wrist without taking the club any further than the length of your left arm. If you focus on this you can not hit the ball thin or fat.

keep your feet together slightly bent and keep your hands slightly ahead of the club, starting with the ball further back in your stance, this will help build confidence with solid contact and you can slowly move the ball in the middle with a slight open club face, but start with a square club face.

with some practice you will begin to consider a 64 degree wedge like Phil.

This exerecise will build confidence with contact with all your irons, fairway woods and driver. Remember your first goal is solid consistent contact and then you can work on distance control and finally the direction.

[bunkerputt]

This is really just a basic how should I pitch the ball question. I was having a lot of success early in the season but It seems to have fallen apart on me. I play the shot with an open stance nuetral/weak grip and I try to let my hands lag a ways behind my upper body.

1. Make sure your desire for a high flying spinny shot is realistic. If it's flying high enough, why do you need it spinny? Also, you can't always spin the ball. The lie will dictate how much spin you can impart. If you have a clean and tight lie, you can spin it a lot. If not, think more about trajectory to control your landing. To spin it, just open the club a bit so the leading edge pinches the bottom of the golf ball and the loft adds some extra spin, make sure that ball is a 3-piece ball and your grooves are sharp, and hit down on it with authority. Also make sure you hit the sweet spot. Those ingredients are all it takes to spin it, and that's how every pro does it. 2. If you are letting your hands lag a ways behind your upper body, where is your upper body? Is it still closed to the target line at impact, or has it opened already? If it's already open and your weight is forward, you will have to cast the club to get at the ball, otherwise you'll whiff it. This will cause you to thin it a lot and give you a lot of problems on tight lies. It seems like a better thought is to imagine dragging the club through the shot like a wet mop. The mop head will stay way behind because it is really heavy. The way you ensure this is by not decelerating. If you keep your velocity constant through the shot, the club head cannot catch up to your hands until later when you turn them around your body. But make sure you aren't inadvertently creating power here. A good way to develop some pitching consistency is to #1, not hinge the wrists as much (~75 degrees or so instead of ~90), and #2 use your body pivot to swing the club. Imagine your arms are anesthetized from the shoulders down. This will help with both #1 and #2 and keep your body turning. Then practice practice practice...

[Williamevanl]

Thanks for the help, I watched some videos of pros hitting pitch shots and I noticed something immediately. They don't seem to be releasing or flipping the club like I was. I hit pitch shots today where I just held ~90 degree angle between my arm and the club shaft and it worked wonderfully. I don't even try to release the club but rather just hold the angle. I don't think I ever did it that way in the past but trying to let my hands lag behind my body and in front of the club face was the closest thing to it.

So I think I get it, cock wrist + backswing, hold wristcock and turn through the shot = high spinny lob shots. That was easy to fix now back to swingplane stuff

I guess I thought there was a lot more wrist action in the pitch shot. But the video of tiger pitching on youtube shows that there is hardly any at all. I wish I had the time to figure out how to link that. :P

[mc0388]

keep the backswing so that you hinge with your wrist without taking the club any further than the length of your left arm. If you focus on this you can not hit the ball thin or fat.

Yep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CalBoomer]

Thanks for the help, I watched some videos of pros hitting pitch shots and I noticed something immediately. They don't seem to be releasing or flipping the club like I was. I hit pitch shots today where I just held ~90 degree angle between my arm and the club shaft and it worked wonderfully. I don't even try to release the club but rather just hold the angle. I don't think I ever did it that way in the past but trying to let my hands lag behind my body and in front of the club face was the closest thing to it.

To make it even more simple, start the swing with your wrists already mildly cocked and maintain the angle throughout. I think of it like hitting a chip, only with the ball in the middle of my stance and a wider swing. You will also find that the higher you finish, the further the ball goes. Just never release the wrists.