Short Game Consistency And Success – Part 3

A pitch shot differs from a chip shot in a few major ways. The first is that you SHOULD cock your wrists when swinging. And the second is that your setup is a lot more like you should setup for a long shot.

Also, the characteristics of a pitch shot over a chip shot differ. A pitch shot flies longer and higher than a chip shot. And once it lands the ball normally rolls about the same or slightly shorter than the distance it flew.

But apart from those two things everything else is the same as the chip shot. So let’s start by looking at the setup needed for a pitch. To do this let’s start by looking at the golf grip needed.

I believe that with the short game you should have a neutral grip. And I believe this because with the short game you don’t need a lot of power. Having said that, there are some great short game players, e.g. John Daly and Paul Azinger who have very strong grips. But again, I would advise that you use a neutral grip like this:

And you can check this simply by setting up with your feet together and then looking down on your hands. If you can see two knuckles of your left hand then that’s a neutral grip. If you can see 3-4 knuckles that’s a strong grip. If you see 1 knuckle or no knuckles then that’s a weak grip. I suggest you have a neutral grip and that means you should see two knuckles when you look down on your left hand.

Now for a pitch shot you should have the ball positioned in the center of your stance. Also, here’s some other points that you need to be aware of when setting up for a pitch.

Your knees should be slightly flexed and your arms should be relaxed and hanging down from your shoulders. At setup you want your hands to be in front of the ball. Also, your body should be aligned parallel to the target line of your shot. The exception is your feet. Because when you turn your left foot out it will appear as though your feet are open but they aren’t. Also, you should be gripping down on the club almost near the bottom of the club.

So it’s important that when you setup to pitch you…

• grip the club with a normal, neutral grip and grip the club down the end of the grip
• position the ball in the middle of your stance
• have your feet about shoulder width apart
• angle your left foot out about 25-30 degrees and your right foot out by about 10-15 degrees
• align the club directly at where you want your ball to start
• have some flex in your knees
• position your hands so they are in front of the ball
• have your arms relatively straight
• align your shoulders, hips and knees all parallel to the starting line of your shot
• have about 60% of your weight on your left foot

OK, here is a picture summary of the pitching setup you should have….

So from a position like I’ve shown you above you’re ready to pitch. And to do this you must understand that unlike a chip shot, your hands start cocking as soon as you take the club away from the ball.

Also your hands should NOT be holding the club firm. They simply need to hold onto the club and cock the wrists. So as your backswing starts you should start to cock the wrists gradually. Now for a stock standard pitch shot you should only take the club back until the shaft is parallel with the ground.

And then you should follow-through until the clubshaft is vertical with the ground like this…

So that’s the stock standard pitch shot.

Once you’ve practiced that – and know the distances all your wedges fly on average then you should practice either a shorter or longer swing. Now I don’t recommend a lot shorter or a lot longer swing. Just a little bit….about a foot longer or shorter either side from the first pitch shot I’ve shown you.

OK, that’s the basics of pitching covered.  In the next part of this short game consistency series we’re going to look at distance wedges.

Tags: pitch, pitching