pitch and chips: no loft help please

[USA 79S]

Hi all-

every time I try to chip or pitch from less than 50 yards or so I tend to line drive the ball, usually across the green or into the bunker lip(from sand) or something like that. The ball rarely rises above 3 feet. Often after skipping across the green I walk over and then I am so paranoid about hitting another streaker that I just duff it a few feet, or worse hit right back to the original spot.

What do I need to do to get the ball to rise and fall with a half swing or less. Usually my 3/4 to full swings are not bad (considering my level of exp). Any ideas, links, etc would be appreciated.

I leave a lot of approaches 45 yds or less and really feel that if I can get on the green from here I can often 2 putt to get closer to bogey golf. Right now I am not even putting until bogey or double bogey and score a lot of 7's and 8's.

[LeftyTrevor]

I'm not saying you're doing this but when I let my hands get behind the club on my pitch shots this happens to me. I have actually switched to phils hinge and hold method recently and this has eliminated the problem for me. Also, make sure you accelerate thru impact.

[Bullitt5339]

I have also fought this problem a lot here lately, and switched to the hinge and hold method as outlined in Dave Pelz book, which I believe is the same technique Mickelson uses. It has really helped me get the ball in the air from 50 yards and under. Now I'm just working on learning my distances.

[OJsakila]

  LeftyTrevor said:

I'm not saying you're doing this but when I let my hands get behind the club on my pitch shots this happens to me. I have actually switched to phils hinge and hold method recently and this has eliminated the problem for me. Also, make sure you accelerate thru impact.

You are correct. There are

ONLY TWO THINGS that cause fat and thin shots....hands behind the clubhead and loss of spine angle....

[lcfd42]

One thing to say: "Get Phil's short game DVDs!" this will fix your problem once you implment his technique. Good Luck!

[canes113]

  USA 79S said:

The ball rarely rises above 3 feet.

Open the face and you'll get some height with your sand wedge or gap wedge from 45 yds. I always start my practice @ the range with these pitch shots.

[iacas]

  OJsakila said:

You are correct. There are

Oh brother. More of your stupid proclamations.

To the OP: check ball position, get your weight a little more on your front foot, and use the bounce of the club. We can't really say what you're doing beyond the basics until we know something specific.

[Rexx]

Agreeing with the others, a common problem is to let the left elbow point back at the left hip during the forward swing at impact. Keep that left elbow pointing just left of the target at impact. It's a good checkpoint to the hinge and hold technique.

[USA 79S]

Thanks guys, will research the hinge and hold. Seems to be the majority ruling. As for specifics iacas - sadly I don't know what I should be doing in order to know what I am doing wrong. I have lessons planned for mid march, my plan of attack is irons/wedges then driver. Then we'll see where it leads. I'll tee off with a 6 iron every hole if need be. I am not too bad at putting, read greens real well just need to learn my distance-power ratio.

[ronbo25]

  lcfd42 said:

One thing to say: "Get Phil's short game DVDs!" this will fix your problem once you implment his technique. Good Luck!

+1 for Mick's hinge and hold. My short game has never been so good. be patient thought, it is not an overnight fix.

[Jay-Bird]

stay down thru impact.

[Zeph]

Solution: Hit the ball first.

• Weight forward, but not the head
• Keep a firm left wrist, do NOT let it break down, keep it firm all the way through the ball and the finish
• Keep the weight forward and head centered through the swing
• Practice it, get comfortable with the feeling
• Hit the ball first, then the turf, try topping the ball, to find a different feeling

You can hit 50 yard pitch shots like this too, it doesn't take a huge swing to get the ball that distance. The ball will pop up, but not fly as high as it would if you timed it perfectly and got underneath the ball. However, you will create backswing, when done correctly. While the ball may look like it's going to roll too far, the backspin will break the speed. You'll also have to start target practicing. When chipping, don't think about where you want the ball to stop. Find the spot you want the ball to land for the first bounce and focus only on that spot. Looking and focusing on the flag will often make you hit it too hard and fly past the flag, maybe even the green.

Remember that if this feels strange, you are doing something different, which usually is a good thing. The firm left wrist is not easy to get down if you're used to scooping the ball, but do some real practice on never letting the wrist break.

[luckyluke699]

  Bullitt5339 said:

I have also fought this problem a lot here lately, and switched to the hinge and hold method as outlined in Dave Pelz book, which I believe is the same technique Mickelson uses. It has really helped me get the ball in the air from 50 yards and under. Now I'm just working on learning my distances.

+1 for the above! Dave Pelz's short game bible - cracking book.

If you are less than 50 yards you shouldn't really need full swings I'd have thought? Shorter swings make for easier shots I have found (though more knowledgeable/experienced membrs please correct me if this is wrong) with less chance of fatting/thinning the ball!

[Zeph]

No doubt about that. The shorter swing we make, the greater chance we have of a good impact. With a little hinge and release, you can hit the ball far with a short backswing.

[ks8829]

This is cause from hitting too low on the grooves of your wedges or thin. If you hit the ball in the middle of your wedges face the loft would create the lift you are searching for. Theres a simple solution, visualize a circle and your goal is to hit the ball just slight before the bottom of the arc of the circle to make solid contact with the center of the wedge face. You are currently hitting slightly pass the bottom of the arc in the circle or on the raise, thus causing the low line drive.

The causes of this is your backswing. If you watch your current backswing on your chip or pitch shots when you take your practice swings just before you hit the ball, you will notice that you are brushing the grass behind the ball. The solution is to be aware of this visually and find solutions to prevent this from happening.

These are someways to prevent this shots

1) take your backswing on its natural arc upwards without swaying, another words visualize the circle again and visualize your backswing as the circle and do not deviate from the circle on the backswing
2) by putting most of your weight on the forward foot this will help you create the right backswing arc without swaying.
3) Your wrist position is important, you can try rotating naturally as your bring the club back so that when the club is hip high the wedge face is perpendicular to the target, this position is natural and the club will return square to the ball.
4) keep a loose grip and relaxed grip and rotate with your shoulders and not with just your hands, your hands are just hanging on for the ride and your shoulder turn is the engine.
5) I hope you find success in these simple hints, have a good player with a good short game watch your chip and they can spot and make some easy corrections for you.

I just focus on my short game and this has help elevate my entire game. The backswing is the key and something that you can translate and improve your entire golf swing, even the swing with your driver.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Probably too flippy with the hands. I also see golfers that try to hit the ball high with the open stance and clubface, and then manage to swing the club behind them anyway. That can also cause the pitch rocket because it bottoms out the club too abruptly. If youre going to open your stance, then swing down the toe line and dont drag the club behind you with the hands. Ive read a couple of mentions of hinge and hold, and that seems to be a good tactic. I dont know if i do that or not, but my pictch shot is mostly a body move. I set the club quickly and swing it back along the toe line. The move back is a body turn around my front leg. I keep my wrist angle cocked through impact and swing the club down and through to get to the ball, no release. My hands and arms dont really do much on a typical pitch. Kind of like a bunker shot. If i need more than 50 yds on a pitch ill just choke down and take a half swing.

[Fatphil]

  ronbo25 said:

+1 for Mick's hinge and hold. My short game has never been so good. be patient thought, it is not an overnight fix.

both points are excellent...sorry to agree with ronbo here but it ain't easy. Hitting a 60* wedge 30-40 yds encompasses all the wrist movements of a full swing with WAY less margin for error. If u hinge and release a degree or two with a driver no big deal...with a lob wedge you just bladed it over the green.

so don't feel too bad, this is not an easy shot to learn and most of us hate to practice it cause you look like a total tool blading shot after shot over the practice green.

[Scott_K]

I'm reading Stan Utley's "The Art of the Short Game" and finding some pretty good info. I've always played the open stance, open face and kind of cut across the ball from around the 50 yard mark. His approach with the weight on the front foot, pivoting and having little movement in the grip is very interesting to me (seems like most of you know this already). One of the problems that kind of shows up out of no where with the open stance method is an ugly shank. Utley's method seems to take that out of the equation....at least in theory. I'm dying to try this out because there's only so much chipping n pitching I can do indoors without breaking something.

I can't comment too much on hinge and hold, but from what I know about it, I do it with uphill pitch shots and I'm pretty consistent with it. I have a bunch of different wedge shots I use that I've learned over the years by trial and error.