Quickie Pitching Video - Golf Pitch Shot Technique

[colin007]

Pretty similar, set-up with a neutral handle and return it there at impact.  Weight will still be forward and you're "powering" it with your pivot, arms are "going along for the ride", not a lot of axis tilt.

what about there not being much or any wrist hinge?

[mvmac]

what about there not being much or any wrist hinge?

Adding some more wrist hinge allows you to add speed and hit it higher if you want.  If those guys are hitting pitches out of the rough or sand, you'll see them add more "play" with the wrists.

You can see here that Dufner is still hinging his wrists, doesn't look like the pic of Adam Scott.

[colin007]

So for some of these guys, are they thinking or feeling that their wrists stay straight with the arms even though this may not be real?

[MS256]

Adding some more wrist hinge allows you to add speed and hit it higher if you want.  If those guys are hitting pitches out of the rough or sand, you'll see them add more "play" with the wrists.

You can see here that Dufner is still hinging his wrists, doesn't look like the pic of Adam Scott.

If the forearm to shaft angle at address is changing during those swings it's probably not enough for him to even know he's doing it. Without an additional FO view there's no way to measure that angle at the top to see if it changed from address.

[mvmac]

So for some of these guys, are they thinking or feeling that their wrists stay straight with the arms even though this may not be real?

Yeah I would say it's more of a feel, there has to be some wrist hinge to hit it over 10 yards.

If the forearm to shaft angle at address is changing during those swings it's probably not enough for him to even know he's doing it. Without an additional FO view there's no way to measure that angle at the top to see if it changed from address.

Here's a good face on, from guys that teach a similar technique, they call it minimal wrist hinge.  This player may feel like he never hinges but you can see he definitely does, otherwise the club head would never get above the hands.

[Jakester23]

This might be wrong but for me I increase distance by taking the club back further or clubbing up. I tried to add club head speed but that seemed to make me inconsistent. The best part of this shot (for me at least) is how much setup affects what the ball does. Just by leaning the shaft one way or the other you can hit completely different shots with the same swing.

[MS256]

This player may feel like he never hinges but you can see he definitely does, otherwise the club head would never get above the hands.

Of course it would. The angle between the left arm and the shaft with a wedge at address is in the neighborhood of 140* for most players. If that angle was frozen solid with no possible wrist movement when the left arm gets to 9:00 o'clock the shaft is in the neighborhood of 10:00 to 10:30.

The angle simply changes from being visible from a DTL view at address to being visible from a FO view when the arm gets to 9:00 o'clock because of turn and/or arm rotation.

[Stretch]

Just my n=1 experience, but the big step forward for me in pitching was creating more of a "flat spot" at the bottom of the swing through a much shallower angle of attack. And the two keys to doing that were to get the ball further forward and the wrists more down cocked at set up. The Duffman appears to also practice the latter ...

[mvmac]

Just my n=1 experience, but the big step forward for me in pitching was creating more of a "flat spot" at the bottom of the swing through a much shallower angle of attack. And the two keys to doing that were to get the ball further forward and the wrists more down cocked at set up. The Duffman appears to also practice the latter ...

Yeah PA#2 is more zeroed out, left wrist is uncocked at address for this technique.

Of course it would. The angle between the left arm and the shaft with a wedge at address is in the neighborhood of 140* for most players. If that angle was frozen solid with no possible wrist movement when the left arm gets to 9:00 o'clock the shaft is in the neighborhood of 10:00 to 10:30.

The angle simply changes from being visible from a DTL view at address to being visible from a FO view when the arm gets to 9:00 o'clock because of turn and/or arm rotation.

I should clarify, you can get the clubhead "up" by having no wrist hinge and just bending the right arm, but that's a little weird.

Like I said above, for this method you start with the wrists more uncocked, feeling ulnar deviation and you gradually add some wrists in, radial deviation and right wrist dorsi flexion.  Another example from guys that teach it this way, standard trajectory 30 yard pitch here.  Again the feeling may be "no wrists" but not what is happening.

[mmoan2]

Check this out

Just got out to the range for the first time in about two months with one of my goals being to work on pitching with this video in mind. Funny thing is, I never realized how much my pitching motion mirrors this, almost to a tee. I expected to work on tweaking parts of my motion to match it against this and when I realized I was doing all of them anyway it made homework that much easier. Gotta love that. Two questions, though:

1) In the video, it says that you should start the forward motion while the clubhead is still ascending on the backswing. Why is that? I've always thought of my pitching motion as a "back then through" 2 part motion. First back, then through. Doing a forward motion while the backswing is not yet finished seems like a recipe to create too much inconsistency. Could you clarify that?

2) The video seems to imply that with this motion, a traditional back-of-the-stance chipping motion is unnecessary. I happen to love that shot, and probably feel more confident with it than anything else. What's the beef against it?

Thanks

[iacas]

1) In the video, it says that you should start the forward motion while the clubhead is still ascending on the backswing. Why is that? I've always thought of my pitching motion as a "back then through" 2 part motion. First back, then through. Doing a forward motion while the backswing is not yet finished seems like a recipe to create too much inconsistency. Could you clarify that?

Back, pause, and down will result in more arms/hands/wrists than pivot (body). The clubhead only really moves about an inch or two when the body pivot starts going the other direction. You may have interpreted more motion than we're advocating.

2) The video seems to imply that with this motion, a traditional back-of-the-stance chipping motion is unnecessary. I happen to love that shot, and probably feel more confident with it than anything else. What's the beef against it?

Because that's not a pitch. It engages more of the leading edge, and is more like a chip. There are certainly times and places for that shot - but this thread's about pitching, not chipping.

Here's another good thread for you to read and a video to watch: .

[mvmac]

1) In the video, it says that you should start the forward motion while the clubhead is still ascending on the backswing. Why is that? I've always thought of my pitching motion as a "back then through" 2 part motion. First back, then through. Doing a forward motion while the backswing is not yet finished seems like a recipe to create too much inconsistency. Could you clarify that?

Like Erik said you may be placing more emphasis on that feel than what is really happening.  That "floaty" feel helps the clubhead swing and allows everything to stay "soft".  A pause at the top will encourage more of a "thrust" motion, which is something you don't want when hitting pitch shots.

2) The video seems to imply that with this motion, a traditional back-of-the-stance chipping motion is unnecessary. I happen to love that shot, and probably feel more confident with it than anything else. What's the beef against it?

Like you said, that's more of a chipping procedure.  You can also "chip" with the ball forward in the stance.

[mmoan2]

Like Erik said you may be placing more emphasis on that feel than what is really happening.  That "floaty" feel helps the clubhead swing and allows everything to stay "soft".  A pause at the top will encourage more of a "thrust" motion, which is something you don't want when hitting pitch shots.

Like you said, that's more of a chipping procedure.  You can also "chip" with the ball forward in the stance.

I guess I didn't mean "pause" at the top, but just go back and through. Erik said it best when he said that I may have misinterpreted more motion than you're advocating. I probably was, and I guess I see how a split second of backswing continuing as you move forward is more fluid and less robotic. Makes sense.

As to question 2,  I think I may have misled you both when asking for feedback. The end of the video had some comment like "pitching and chipping are essentially the same motion...Many players don't truly "chip" any longer." Maybe I'm reading into things too much, but I took that to mean that you advocate using this method, with the slight tweaks you recommend such as firmer arms/wrists and shaft lean" as a preferred chipping method. I was taught to chip with a very narrow stance, feet facing forward, ball back in stance, forward shaft lean, downward strike, choose club with least amount off loft to get the job done properly (less sidespin, more reliability). I have a feeling this is kind of a poor-man's version of chipping. Let me look at your videos and let you know what I learn. Thanks

[iacas]

As to question 2,  I think I may have misled you both when asking for feedback. The end of the video had some comment like "pitching and chipping are essentially the same motion...Many players don't truly "chip" any longer." Maybe I'm reading into things too much, but I took that to mean that you advocate using this method, with the slight tweaks you recommend such as firmer arms/wrists and shaft lean" as a preferred chipping method. I was taught to chip with a very narrow stance, feet facing forward, ball back in stance, forward shaft lean, downward strike, choose club with least amount off loft to get the job done properly (less sidespin, more reliability). I have a feeling this is kind of a poor-man's version of chipping. Let me look at your videos and let you know what I learn. Thanks

To  be quick about it:

• The video is primarily about pitching (using the bounce).
• To chip (use more of the leading edge), you can use the same technique with two modifications:
  • You can put the ball back a little in your stance a little (increases downward AoA).
  • You can keep your wrists firmer on the follow through (creates/holds more shaft lean through impact).
• If you watch the video of me hitting a few shots, you'll see how I blend the backswing and the follow-through pieces.
• You can also "chitch" or "pip" like this: .

[mvmac]

[boogielicious]

That's similar to the "chitch" @JetFan1983 !

[Golfingdad]

This pitching technique is really starting to come together for me lately ... and especially for the longer shots.  I've always thought that I was a "feel" player for shorter length shots ... like the 90 yards down to 30 or 40 yards shots.  Meaning, I didn't care what the yardage was, and I didn't want to know.  I just saw it and hit it.  Now I realize that's poppycock.

Thanks to this technique, and the purchase of a laser rangefinder, I now know that my "full swing" pitch with this technique is about 40-45 yards.  I still struggle with keeping my speed up on the shorter, more delicate ones, but on these longer ones it's going really well right now.  I had one from 40 the other day that I hit to about 4", and one yesterday that I hit to about 4', and got up and down both times.

This may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but I don't know the last time that I got up and down - without having to make a real putt - from these awkward distances.

My thoughts/feels for this are:  Weight forward, hands back, and speed, speed, and more speed!! :)

[JetFan1983]

That's similar to the "chitch" @JetFan1983 !

Haha, I'm still undecided on the name -- at least for my own personal use!

You guys remember that ice cream sandwich, the chipwich? I may just call it that because, well.... chipwiches were the best back when I was ten.