Pitching/Chipping From Hard Pan

[cruzthepug]

Lately I've been having problems when I end up in areas where the grass is thin. The muni where I play the most has several areas where they have problems keeping grass and I always seem to find these spots. Shots where I can take a full swing it's usually not a problem, it's the touch shots that get bladed/chili dipped. And once I make a bad shot it gets in my head for the rest of the day and leads to several more bad shots. These shot are usually under 50yds and I've tried using anything from a Sw to a 7-iron and somtimes the shot is descent , but more times than not they aren't.

I've got a lesson this morning and I'm going to ask about this, but how do you guys play this shot? Any tips?

[imtomtomim]

I lean the shaft forward more to try to bring the leading edge of the club closer to the ground to get past some of the bounce on the sole of the club.  From there, I just make sure I hit the ball and don't skim it off the ground because the club will bounce up too aggressively.  Expect a lower shot to come out.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by imtomtomim

I lean the shaft forward more to try to bring the leading edge of the club closer to the ground to get past some of the bounce on the sole of the club.  From there, I just make sure I hit the ball and don't skim it off the ground because the club will bounce up too aggressively.  Expect a lower shot to come out.

What tomtom said.

I can add

Keep the leading edge square to the target (opening up adds bounce)

Keep hands in front of the ball as you make contact

Keep your weight on the front foot during the swing

As with every shot --

Try to keep your head still during the swing.

Turn, don't sway.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by imtomtomim

I lean the shaft forward more to try to bring the leading edge of the club closer to the ground to get past some of the bounce on the sole of the club.  From there, I just make sure I hit the ball and don't skim it off the ground because the club will bounce up too aggressively.  Expect a lower shot to come out.

I prefer to do the opposite, truthfully. Play more of a pitch shot and let the bounce slide along the ground. You don't have to be nearly as precise.

[cruzthepug]

Originally Posted by iacas

I prefer to do the opposite, truthfully. Play more of a pitch shot and let the bounce slide along the ground. You don't have to be nearly as precise.

I assume your playing this shot with a SW or LW?

My instructor kinda agreed with the other posts. I'm going out as a single this afternoon and try some different shots around the greens to see which works best for me.

Thanks

[iacas]

Originally Posted by cruzthepug

I assume your playing this shot with a SW or LW?

Yep.

You can hit "pitch" shots (using the bounce) off concrete. The margin of error is a lot larger.

[Spyder]

I also lean the shaft forward with the ball center stance. I transfer about 70% of my weight forward and choke down on the SW. A soft shot like this will usually send my ball extremely high and land at what looks like a dead, soft, straight-fall 50-60 yards. Usually when I'm beyond my target I will get 5-10ft of spin as well as I'm swinging faster. When I choke down I also open my stance slightly. Just remember that everyone is different, so try what an instructor tells you first. If you have no luck... on to the next one (try something else).

In extreme head-wind I'll just use the above setup and choke down a PW and be soft with it.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

This is a very foreign idea to me, as someone who tries (somewhat successfully) to use forward weight and forward shaft lean to make sure the leading edge gets underneath the ball.  How do avoid bouncing the blade of the club into the equator of the ball?

-Andrew

Originally Posted by iacas

Yep.

You can hit "pitch" shots (using the bounce) off concrete. The margin of error is a lot larger.

[sean_miller]

Practice. For a true hardpan lie I'd prefer to raise the heel off the ground and play the ball out toward the toe or play a low spinner. Still takes practice though.

Originally Posted by Open-Faced Club Sandwedge

This is a very foreign idea to me, as someone who tries (somewhat successfully) to use forward weight and forward shaft lean to make sure the leading edge gets underneath the ball.  How do avoid bouncing the blade of the club into the equator of the ball?

-Andrew

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Open-Faced Club Sandwedge

This is a very foreign idea to me, as someone who tries (somewhat successfully) to use forward weight and forward shaft lean to make sure the leading edge gets underneath the ball.  How do avoid bouncing the blade of the club into the equator of the ball?

As sean_miller said, "practice."

Also, the center of the ball is 0.84 inches above the ground. You can "use bounce" and still get "under" the ball just fine.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by iacas

As sean_miller said, "practice."

Also, the center of the ball is 0.84 inches above the ground. You can "use bounce" and still get "under" the ball just fine.

Good clip to check out on technique to use in engaging the bounce

[lumpuckeroo]

Originally Posted by imtomtomim

I lean the shaft forward more to try to bring the leading edge of the club closer to the ground to get past some of the bounce on the sole of the club.  From there, I just make sure I hit the ball and don't skim it off the ground because the club will bounce up too aggressively.  Expect a lower shot to come out.

Same for me, one other absolute must, keep your head down, lifting your head is a sure way to blade the ball.

[Caphenning]

Our muni course in a small N.Tx (when I lived there) town had a lot of what you described. I'd move down my grip a bit and do Ok. I don't know if it was more of a mental fix or physical one, but it did help my consistency playing off the baked clay.

[jerryleal]

A club with little to no bounce helps.. a pitching wedge as opposed to a sand wedge- or better yet a bump and run with an 8 iron. An inside of the line hooking type of back swing with a low follow through- and although the temptation is to play the ball back in the stance to get the ball first-you have to be careful as this de-lofts the club- which you probably don't want to do -so keep the ball in the middle of the stance. A light grip as always, knees bent, weight slightly forward- and confidence never hurts-that's my two cents ( maybe that was three).

[Ernest Jones]

A club with little to no bounce helps.. a pitching wedge as opposed to a sand wedge- or better yet a bump and run with an 8 iron. An inside of the line hooking type of back swing with a low follow through- and although the temptation is to play the ball back in the stance to get the ball first-you have to be careful as this de-lofts the club- which you probably don't want to do -so keep the ball in the middle of the stance. A light grip as always, knees bent, weight slightly forward- and confidence never hurts-that's my two cents ( maybe that was three).

How about a club with a lot of bounce so it can glide underneath and pop it up high and soft? Plus the more bounce the more you can get away with in terms of mishits. If I'm using a low bounce pitching wedge on hard pan and I hit it a little fat I'll stub it and all sorts of bad stuff can happen but if I err on the thin side I'm asking for trouble too because thin probably means over the green. Add a little (or a lot!) of bounce to the equation and I suddenly have a much larger margin for error.

[mvmac]

A club with little to no bounce helps.. a pitching wedge as opposed to a sand wedge- or better yet a bump and run with an 8 iron. An inside of the line hooking type of back swing with a low follow through- and although the temptation is to play the ball back in the stance to get the ball first-you have to be careful as this de-lofts the club- which you probably don't want to do -so keep the ball in the middle of the stance. A light grip as always, knees bent, weight slightly forward- and confidence never hurts-that's my two cents ( maybe that was three).

Hi, welcome to the site, like Ernest said, bounce gives you a greater margin of error.  Check out this thread http://thesandtrap.com/t/57874/my-edel-wedges-or-super-bounce-and-why-its-good-for-you-or-the-sweet-spot-is-finally-in-the-right-place

[inthehole]

I"m no pro, but for hardpan, I like to try to pinch it - use alot of lag & expose the leading edge.    If i use bounce, it's a mess - blade city.     It requires a perfect ball strike from hardpan, but pinching it seems to be the way to go (for me)

[dchoye]

from hard pan Im not a bounce lover . i rather do the bump/run option.

If the turf was soft then i would consider lob/chip technique with the bounce

otherwise i like to deloft the blade and bump from 30 yards out.

If im closer and its possible to use a putter, I would consider that too