Low pitch shot that checks up and stops HOW?

[Mr. Desmond]

Just wanted to add one other thought.

Distance is a key to determine when to attempt his type of shot, along with the slope of the green.

Also, when green slopes away (downhill) the ball will roll out more.

An example when not to attempt would be less than 20 feet or greater than 35 yards to the pin.

20 feet to 35 yards is a comfortable distance to play.

Reason being, the shot must be hit with aggressiveness.

Level or uphill play to a level or green which slope towards the player is favorable.

Cub Rat

Less than 20 feet?

From a few feet to 15 yards, Phil M has a shot -- it's open the club and then open stance so club is square to line, play the ball in front, weight on front, break the wrists, and voila, a consistent, soft low chip.

Or you can do the soft little pitch that Mike and Erik teach

One can use a variety of shots, depending on the lie and green.

For the high spinning low pitch, it is an aggressive turn to the left on the downswing and it's tough for me to play it under 40 yards.

[David in FL]

I do find when I slightly thin a pitch it is going to spin a lot more than if I catch it normal. Issue is, when you don't plan for it, you end up flying the ball past the hole and it takes a BIG hop forward and stops. Usually that one hop can leave you a pretty good distance away.

Don't misunderstand, I absolutely agree with him.

I just want to be there the first time the average 20 hcp tries to implement it!

[saevel25]

For the high spinning low pitch, it is an aggressive turn to the left on the downswing and it's tough for me to play it under 40 yards.

I can probably get a consistent 1 hop and stop from 30 yards. Inside of that, there will be some significant roll out. I agree, the farther out the pitch the easier it is to have it check up.

Don't misunderstand, I absolutely agree with him.

I just want to be there the first time the average 20 hcp tries to implement it!

result, line drive 20 yards over the green, drops ball to try again, 10 yard short of the green

[Dave2512]

Lol yep. This is a high difficulty, low percentage shot I rarely if ever attempt. When I do it always a happy accident.

[Club Rat]

Less than 20 feet?

From a few feet to 15 yards, Phil M has a shot -- it's open the club and then open stance so club is square to line, play the ball in front, weight on front, break the wrists, and voila, a consistent, soft low chip.

Or you can do the soft little pitch that Mike and Erik teach

One can use a variety of shots, depending on the lie and green.

For the high spinning low pitch, it is an aggressive turn to the left on the downswing and it's tough for me to play it under 40 yards.

Not saying it's impossible, but for the average player a difficult task which one can certainly learn.

Other criteria certainly comes into play. Wet soft Zoysia turf is a truly a tuff experience.

Another one would be playing to an elevated green with a front pin with no green to work with from about 10 feet off the front of the green.

Very tricky and precise to pull this one off even for the best

Mike and Eric's examples are a great method and examples as you mentioned.

Good to hear from you again, Dr. Desmond

Keep up the great posts, always a pleasure to here your comments.

Club Rat

[flopster]

Almost always into an upslope is the preferred condition to play this shot or a lot of green in front and a tight lie is important.

[Jakester23]

I can probably get a consistent 1 hop and stop from 30 yards. Inside of that, there will be some significant roll out. I agree, the farther out the pitch the easier it is to have it check up.

So do you use this shot regularly and how do you hit this shot (what club technique ect...)?

[cipher]

Here comes negative cipher.  Personally, and IMO this is one of the most useless shots in all of golf.  Just sayin'  Gawd I sound like @Shorty , cept I can't write in proper English.

[Golfingdad]

Here comes negative cipher.  Personally, and IMO this is one of the most useless shots in all of golf.  Just sayin'

Agree.  I barely have a use for a standard chip shot anymore either.  I see no reason to try and get fancy with different types of shots when the pitch shot that I have learned, and have been improving upon all the time, will work in pretty much every situation.

[saevel25]

So do you use this shot regularly and how do you hit this shot (what club technique ect...)?

Don't really use it much at all. Mostly because I haven't mastered the standard pitch yet. Right now my pitching mostly consisted of first, solid contact. Second, pray it got close.

When I practicing a bit last night, I was messing around trying to hit a variety of shots. One was trying to spin the ball a lot.

club, I typically use my 56 degree wedge. I just prefer how it sits behind the ball compared to the 52 degree.

As for the swing, it would be hard to describe. For me, the finish feels more abbreviated than a normal pitch shot. After watching that video, I would agree that it feels similar to that. The hands clear fast, not hitting down on the ball aggressively, just really trying to zip the club under the ball. For me it's trying to not let the clubhead past the hands as much in the swing, with a lot of speed, but in a pitch motion.

Here comes negative cipher.  Personally, and IMO this is one of the most useless shots in all of golf.  Just sayin'  Gawd I sound like @Shorty, cept I can't write in proper English.

Pretty much. Really, I don't think I ever hit this type of shot in the past 5 years. I find majority of the time, just hitting a medium to high trajectory is good enough for a lot of the shots, depending if you want the ball to hit soft or not.

[Jakester23]

Here comes negative cipher.  Personally, and IMO this is one of the most useless shots in all of golf.  Just sayin'  Gawd I sound like @Shorty , cept I can't write in proper English.

Why's do you feel that way?

[Dave2512]

Seems like the guys that get squirrely around the greens always struggle to score well. I played with a kid a few weeks ago that tried to flop everything. If he could have got a putter on it to a hole on a flat spot in the green 15 feet away he tried to hit it 30 feet in the air to get it there. His putts coming back were longer than the insane shots he attempted. Crazy thing was when he didn't pull it off, which was never, he tossed his club in anger. I don't get it.

[Golfingdad]

Seems like the guys that get squirrely around the greens always struggle to score well. I played with a kid a few weeks ago that tried to flop everything.

LOL, that reminds me of one of my old friends.  He could be on short fairway grass and 16" off the green with the pin 20 feet away, and he'd still try and hit a flop shot.  It was hilarious.  He did it all the time too.

[cipher]

Why's do you feel that way?

Because the shot does not have a lot of forgiveness(most golfers will fat it a bunch) and it is hard for a ball to roll in the hole that stops on a bounce.

[WUTiger]

Because the shot does not have a lot of forgiveness(most golfers will fat it a bunch) and it is hard for a ball to roll on the hole that stops on a bounce.

Three years ago I was taking lessons with a new pro, and asked him to show me how to hit the shot.

"When you break 80..." he said.

[Jeremie Boop]

I was actually hitting these pretty consistently during the Erie outing. A good quality soft covered golf ball is a must for me to be able to pull it off though. I haven't been able to do it since then though, just seemed to be the only thing I could do right that day.

[Jakester23]

Three years ago I was taking lessons with a new pro, and asked him to show me how to hit the shot. "When you break 80..." he said.

Well I better head to a par 3 course ;).

[Crazycanuck44]

Three years ago I was taking lessons with a new pro, and asked him to show me how to hit the shot. "When you break 80..." he said.

Lool