full swing an extension.of.pitch.shot

[grewamar]

Im a beginner and read a book with an interesting idea. The author posits that a full golf swing is nothing.more than an extension of a pitch shot. Do you guys agree? I hit pitch shots pretty good but I am horrible with a long-mid irons which all seem to go 120 yards. Thoughts?

[Ernest Jones]

I would strongly disagree. Extension of a chip shot? Yes. Pitch, no, not at all.

With a pitch shot you are using bounce and sorta/kinda flipping at impact which is intentionally almost fat, the bounce will cause the club to glide into and under the ball.

A chip is striking the ball with a sharp downwards blow with the leading edge striking the turf after the ball, I would say that this is a smaller version of the full swing. It also has significant forward shaft lean which is essential to the full swing.

I spent a lot of time last season working on my chipping and getting my swing bottom more forward, the result was much crisper chips with a lovely little clean clicking sound, this transferred very well to the full swing and  I saw a lot of improvement there even though my practice sessions were much more focused on chipping.

I find pitching to be very closely related to bunker shots, both of which (at least the way I play them) are kind of the anti-thesis of what you want to do in the full swing.

Short version:

Chip and full swing>>leading edge strikes down and into turf after ball, lead wrist very firm.

Pitch and sand>>turf/sand contact is all bounce and prior to ball, wrist breaks down or releases thru impact.

I'm sure some much better players will be along shortly to refine what I have said here, perhaps maybe even make some corrections but I'm pretty sure I've got this part down pretty well.

[grewamar]

Got ya. I brought this up because I played a round the other day and towards the end a horrible exhibition I relaxed and was hitting some very nice 5- and 6-irons with what felt like a pitch shot mechanic. That night I read the above mentioned swing thought and thought maybe I made a link. I appreciate the reply an looking forward to more comments

[Ernest Jones]

Relaxing is always a good thing IMO. You don't necessarily need to know what's happening mechanically to make a good shot.

[grewamar]

I agree. I was tense after not having played for awhile because of weather and towards the end I took out my trusted 7 wood and stopping caring. I hit 235+ yard drive with it right down the middle. Subsequent shot were just as good. I can't get out of my own head. I keep thinking of what todo instead of actually doing it well