That Troubling Short Pitch

[jambalaya]

I'm talking about that pitch from just off the green that you have to get over the sand trap or that you have to pitch up to an elevated green. Inside 20 yards. You cannot use a chip stroke, you cannot use much shoulder turn. I can understand the chip as a putting stroke, I can understand the pitch from 40 to 60 yards which is just half a regular swing, but I am having lots of trouble with this shot. I chunk it, I skull it, I hit it too far. Is it an all arm swing, slight turn of the shoulder like a regular swing. I have had some success with simply lifting the club and swinging across and under the ball but with consistency problems. One thing I know is that it is a short stroke. Should I be coming to the inside, from the outside, what starts the action. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Ian Hancock]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

Hi Herbert,

I find with these arkward lengths the best swing is a simple one....for example I use a 60 degree and swing the same distance back and through at the same speed with a quiet lower body.....depending on distance I use the exact same swing with a 52 degree or a 47 degree wedge.

Just concentrate on a pendilum type action same distance back and through with little or no wrist action depending on distance. The less interference you have on this stroke the easier it is, then it just down to confidence that you can do it....!!!



Hope this helps


Ian.

[LowPost42]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

I'm from the school of Pelz.

Use a swing with no coil - the body moves in sync - and for 15-20 yards, use your most lofted club.

Take the club back until your hands are outside your trailing thigh - at about hip height (about 7:30 on a clock, if straight down is 6:00 and the target is 3:00, etc). Add a slight wrist cock, and swing through, releasing your hands naturally.

Good for 10-12 yards for me with a LW.

[GregJWillis]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

It's a sand bunker shot.

Feet (and hips and shoulders) aligned left of target (the more left, the higher and shorter the shot).
Clubface aligned AT the hole (or target).
Swing path is along your feet alignment. So you will not actually be swing at your target, but left of it. The face will hit the ball where it is aimed, so don't worry about that. This is the hardest thing for most to get used to. They always want to be swinging at the target, but in the high flop shots, you gain extra loft this way.
Now...your hands. They need to be setting and releasing aggressivly. But NOT a tight grip aggressive, but a full range of motion aggressive with a light grip pressure. Always keeping the hands in front of the ball through the shot and not letting the hands flip the face of the club closed and swatting that the ball where the face passes through the impact before the rest of the hands and arms get there.
In some extream cases, you have to swing very hard to get the distance and hight you want. If you open the stance a lot, there is going to be a lot of hight added to the shot, so be aware that you will have to swing harder and harder the more open your stance becomes. Sometimes all you really have to do is opent he stance 10-15 degrees to get the extra loft you need. Other times you have to go to a full 45-50 degrees...there you are swinging about as hard as you want to have the ball go 20 yards...but straight Up.

[jambalaya]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

_Use a swing with no coil - the body moves in sync_

Could you translate that for me LowPost 42? Sounds like your saying just take a normal swing only shorter.

[LowPost42]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

Sure thing. It's like a normal swing, only shorter, yes. The difference is that there's no coil - there's no 'turning the shoulders against the hips'. Instead, the hips and shoulders turn at the same time.

To get this feel, take your address position with a wedge, drop the club. "Put both hands on your hips, thumbs toward the front. Squeeze your elbows together behind your back. This will lock your upper and lower body together. Now turn back, as in your backswing, and through to a full finish. Do this as many times as it takes you to 'feel' the synchronized motion." - Dave Pelz

Feel how this is different from your regular full-power swing (where hips are kept as square to the target line as possible as your turn your shoulders to 90* to create coil and energy for the full swing).

This is what I mean by the 'no coil - all sync' swing.

[LowPost42]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

For chips - Ricky's got it dead on. Deceleration will kill a chip just as fast as loose wrists. If you're going to chip, keep the wrists firm, and accelerate through the ball. If you're like me and like to take a big backswing on a chip, then you'll also have to be like me, and stop and start over, taking a shorter backswing.

[LowPost42]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

The point of stiff wrists in the chip it to prevent flipping or scooping the shot, creating a fat chip (or worse, a thin chip). For chips, I use a putting stroke. And my putting stroke is pure pendulum - stiff wristed.

[jambalaya]

Re: That Troubling Short Pitch

Well I went out and practiced my short pitch this weekend for a couple of hours. I practiced the bunker type shot that was recommended by Greg which I had been practicing on previous weekends. I also tried the Plez method recommended by LowPost. I also practiced a slight variation of the what LowPost suggested.

I continue to get better with the "bunker" method. Am able to hit a nice high shot most of the time but struggle with consitently putting in on target. Distance control is pretty good though. The ball seems to go more left that it should rather than going in the direction the club head is facing. In other words I pull it left.

I have trouble with the Plez method. It is very hard to think about moving my hips and shoulder together with such a short backswing. If I try to control the movement with just the shoulders the swing feels really stiff and I have a tendency to top or skull the shot. I must not be doing it right but it felt ackward.

I finally just put a lot of weight on the front foot and just did controlled pedulem type movement with the shouders and arms. Mostly arms it seemed. This is what Ian suggested. This felt more relaxed and I got good results with a medium high pitch shots. I kept everything from the hips down quiet. There doesn't seem to be much of a coil because the backswing is so short.