How to get a short pitch to stop?

[sebsmash]

Ok guys, so I am currently watching the pga championship on tv and I am just enamored with the way the pros can get their pitches to stop.

All of their short shots take a few short hops and have so much backspin that they just stop.

How can I learn to do this?

Right now my plan with short pitches is to use my lob wedge and hit them up high and try to land them softly, but they still tend to roll straight by the pin and just keep going.

I think if I can get some spin on the ball so that it stops where I want it to I can seriously improve my scores.

I understand that this will be nearly impossible to do and will take a lot of practice to perfect but if someone can just tell me how to do it I am willing to put in the practice necessary.

Thank you all so much for your help,

Sebastian

[Mr. Desmond]

There are so many ways -

Use a urethane ball

Hit ball first with a descending blow - it's best to have most of your weight on the front foot.

Do not rotate the club through the ball

I could say a lot more...

[nevrino]

Also a tighter lie like fairway will generate more spin than in the semi rough. Most importantly as mr desmond said above is hitting the ball before the ground.

Edit: If you don't want to use spin you can shoot a flop shot with a high trajectory where you use the bounce of the club with an open clubface and a lot of wrists and don't hit the ball before the ground, this will also cause the ball to stop fast if it's high enough.

[inthehole]

It's amazing how little spin you can get with a distance ball compared to a tour ball. Night and day ...

[LuciusWooding]

Don't put the ball back too far in your stance. Don't expect spin off a fluffy lie. The more you hit down the more spin you generate, provided you get clean contact. Use a short backswing without much wrists and accelerate through; if you decelerate it will result in a clanky shot without much spin or height. Spin requires clubhead speed, so there's a point where you can't check it up if you're so close.

Make sure your wedges fit you as far as bounce and lie angle, since it can make a huge difference. As far as the PGA this week, they're playing on paspalum grass which is very sticky; the greens aren't nearly as fast as a US open or Augusta, so they can play a bit more aggressive shot. Many of them are complaining that they can't expect some release as they normally do, consider a few feet of rollout a good chance to hole the shot as well as a chance to see the break on the next putt.

This video can help you with 30+ yarders, any shorter than that and it's hard to fully check the ball up. You need to worry more about landing the ball in the right spot when you're within 10 yards, and urethane balls do help at short range somewhat. You'll never get that shot to work at such short range with surlyn. Grooves are nice, but keeping them clean is more important than having the newest technology. A mint condition, fresh wedge will help get more spin, but you can get the shot to work fine as long as the grooves are intact. It's mostly technique and course conditions.

[Stretch]

If you're willing to go right down the rabbit hole ...

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/2012/06/the-science-behind-superb-wedges-part-i/

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/2012/07/the-science-behind-superb-wedges-part-ii/

[Ben]

Speed and solid contact brings spin.

As small as pitch shot strokes look there is still the need to impart clubhead speed to them, if you are looking for them to check. You're flop shots aren't checking and your pitches aren't checking because you aren't fast enough.

And of course, which LuciusWooding mentioned, grass types and firmness of greens play a large roll as well.

[Pablo68]

Sometimes I inadvertantly hit one of these shots that comes out low almost like I skulled it then it hits once, then stops.

Takes the right ball (I use Pro-V) the right speed and the right contact.

I'm more amazed that some of these announcers are gushing so much over a pro when he makes these shots. They should be used to watching the best in the world hit pitch shots like that.

[Mr. Desmond]

I learned great spin from Phil Mickelson's DVD Series, and from several videos on this site.

[saevel25]

From Trackman,

For iron shots, TrackMan has seen that  spin loft (the difference between angle of attack and dynamic loft; SPIN LOFT = DYNAMIC LOFT – ANGLE OF ATTACK) remains virtually constant for a particular golfer, given club loft and club speed, no matter what the attack angle is.  This means the myth that “hitting down on the ball creates more spin” is not true.  For example, Moving the ball back in the stance generally creates a more negative attack angle, but the dynamic loft will be offset by a similar amount, resulting in an unchanged spin loft and thereby unchanged spin rate.

[mvmac]

These Paspalum greens do make a difference.  Couple good threads for you to check out on how to perform the pitching motion and engaging the bounce.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video

http://thesandtrap.com/t/60526/erik-hitting-a-few-chips-and-pitches

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by saevel25

From Trackman,

For iron shots, TrackMan has seen that  spin loft (the difference between angle of attack and dynamic loft; SPIN LOFT = DYNAMIC LOFT – ANGLE OF ATTACK) remains virtually constant for a particular golfer, given club loft and club speed, no matter what the attack angle is.  This means the myth that “hitting down on the ball creates more spin” is not true.  For example, Moving the ball back in the stance generally creates a more negative attack angle, but the dynamic loft will be offset by a similar amount, resulting in an unchanged spin loft and thereby unchanged spin rate.

You said two things - hitting down on the ball does not create more spin, and then you related that to moving the ball back in the swing - which you said doesn't change the spin rate.

How about hit ball first with a little speed and a high lofted club - that usually gives you sufficient spin to check a urethane ball.

[LuciusWooding]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

You said two things - hitting down on the ball does not create more spin, and then you related that to moving the ball back in the swing - which you said doesn't change the spin rate.

How about hit ball first with a little speed and a high lofted club - that usually gives you sufficient spin to check a urethane ball.

I think urethane balls perform so much better on these shots because it takes less force to "compress" the cover. When you're hitting from perhaps 50 yards or more, most balls will spin well enough because you're engaging the mantle layers at least, but on greenside shots and putting the urethane cover is soft and sticky enough to really engage the clubface where ionomers are not.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by LuciusWooding

I think urethane balls perform so much better on these shots because it takes less force to "compress" the cover. When you're hitting from perhaps 50 yards or more, most balls will spin well enough because you're engaging the mantle layers at least, but on greenside shots and putting the urethane cover is soft and sticky enough to really engage the clubface where ionomers are not.

Yes, and I think there is an art to hitting partials that check. MIckelson shows how and many of us know - open the club face and your stance - and you can hit the golf ball with more speed while not giving it too much energy to go forward.

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by saevel25

From Trackman,

For iron shots, TrackMan has seen that  spin loft (the difference between angle of attack and dynamic loft; SPIN LOFT = DYNAMIC LOFT – ANGLE OF ATTACK) remains virtually constant for a particular golfer, given club loft and club speed, no matter what the attack angle is.  This means the myth that “hitting down on the ball creates more spin” is not true.  For example, Moving the ball back in the stance generally creates a more negative attack angle, but the dynamic loft will be offset by a similar amount, resulting in an unchanged spin loft and thereby unchanged spin rate.

The thing about that though is that you want ball-first contact so that theres no grass between the club and the ball.  Grass is going to reduce spin and make it more difficult to predict how the ball is going to come off of the clubface.

To the OP, if you want more spin you have to hit the ball harder.  In some instances, this simply isnt an option and you may be better off to pick a landing spot on the fringe to help stop the ball or play a shot that lands short and rolls up to the hole.