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.

Playing bad lies is all about experimentation, seeing what works and what doesn’t.  You’ve got to find this out for yourself and the only way to do it is by practicing and keep changing your approach until you get the results you’re looking for.

So in summary, practice your pitching out of bad lies and keep doing so until you can play the shots with some confidence.  When you can do this you’ll notice a big difference on the golf course, not only in your pitch shot making but also in your confidence levels.

If you’re very inconsistent at pitching here’s a drill that will help your distance control when you pitch.

To do this pitching drill simply place objects at 10 yard spaces starting 10 yards away from you.  So place an object at 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards, 50 yards etc.

Once this is setup then choose a club you normally pitch with and pitch just one ball to each object.  Don’t hit two balls to the same object because you don’t get two chances on the golf course do you?  Start this pitching drill by hitting to the closest object then hit to the next object and the next, and so on.  But after a while of doing this mix up where you want your ball to finish when you pitch.

Doing this over and over again will help you to assimilate how far you have to swing back and through to hit your ball consistently certain distances when pitching.  This of course will greatly improve your pitching consistency on the course as long as you can easily and quickly tell distances from your ball to your target.  I suggest to help you with your pitching consistency you have a notebook with easily identifiable objects on the course that easily tells you how far you are to the green.

Having information on how far it is to your target will greatly help you in your confidence over a pitch shot. Because you will be able to associate a certain distance to what you’ve practiced on the range when you have done this pitching drill.

The critical factor in determining whether a pitch shot is a success from bare lies is whether or not you contact the ball first.  If you DON’T contact the ball first when you pitch from a hard pan lie then who knows where the ball is going to end up.

Now the first critical fundamental to success from hard pan lies is where you position the ball in your stance.  And because you want to ensure you contact the ball first I suggest you position the ball no further forward than the center of your stance. But experiment because you may find greater success having the ball further back than this.  Your aim when hitting off hard pan should be to contact the ball first with a slightly downward blow.

As with all pitch and chip shots, make sure you position your hands ahead of the clubhead and just swing normally.  Also, if you can help it, don’t use a sand wedge or a 60 degree wedge from bare lies because unless you are deadly accurate the flange will bounce off the hard ground and may result in a horrible skulled shot.

If you have to use one of these clubs from a bare lie then you have to be absolutely precise with the contact of club and ball.  For this reason it makes good sense to practice chipping, pitching and full shots from bare lies to sharpen up your skills.

Finally….when you pitch from a hard pan lie and get the ball and club contact just right with a downward blow you will get so much spin on the ball it’s amazing.  As long as you hit the ball first you can really attack these shots once you have some confidence, and that confidence will come with practice, so go to it.

Most golfers don’t realize that their is basically three major games in golf…

• The Long Game
• The Short Game
• The Putting Game

Very few golfers are equally good in all three categories.  And the reason for this is golfers often try to transfer over aspects of the game that they are good at to other games.

For example, you have a good long game.  Now all golfers who have a good long game also have a very good one piece take-away.  This one piece take-away is great for the long shots. But for pitching it’s not so good,  because when you pitch you need to have a much more up and down action with the club, instead of the sweeping rounded action that you have with long shots.

Now here is a great drill that will teach you the correct pitching motion.

Simply setup to a pitch shot but put an old shaft or umbrella just inside the line you should swing back along and angle this on the same angle as your club at setup.

Umbrella Pitch Setup

Once you’ve got this setup all you have to do is swing by simply hinging your wrists up so that the club is on the same plane that it was at address.

Pitch Swing - Half-way Back

And then swing through on this same plane as well.

Pitch Swing - Half-way Through

Now let me show you the difference between this move and what you are probably doing on your long shots.

Long Game Take-Away

Do you see the big difference?

For the pitch shots you must have a more up and down action and for longer shots you should have a more rounded action.  So get out there and practice these two things because it will improve your pitching greatly.  Plus also realize that it’s a different game when you have a pitch shot, so you can’t use the same technique as you do with long shots.  Try this new approach.  After some practice you’ll love the results.