short pitch shots from 50 yards in

[leehutchinson]

Hello there,

Im struggling with pitch shots from 50 yards in, either low or high flight. Im wanting a sure fire method of getting close from that distance. Has anybody got any easy to remember drills/methods that will help.

Thanks

Lee.

[Scragger63]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

G'Day Lee...

Brian makes reference to arguably the most respected short game coach going about at the moment, Dave Pelz, in his post on another thread here.

Have a read through the Chilli Dip thread and there is a link in Brian's post there that should help you...

Cheers

[LowPost42]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

I agree. While Pelz's approach is quite mechanical (the guy is a scientist, after all), it's quite sound, and when practiced, produces results.

[Kumabjorn]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

I bought both books and studied them like a vicar studies The Bible, but have found that I've become too robotlike in my short game. I always enjoyed the short game because it rewards imagination, touch, bravery and initiative but I'm close to loosing my fascination with it. I would love it if Seve Ballesteros wrote a book on the short game, probably only way I will find my old enthusiasm again.

[GoNavy]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

Hello there,

Im struggling with pitch shots from 50 yards in, either low or high flight. Im wanting a sure fire method of getting close from that distance. Has anybody got any easy to remember drills/methods that will help.

Thanks

Lee.

There is only one method I know for getting good at these type shots. Get a BIG bag of golf balls, find an open area or practice green and practice. That's it, no rocket science to it. It is the same thing every single pro and low handicap player on the planet had to do, and few if any ameturs do.

[Robert O' Keeffe]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

What I find important for this shot is the ball position. Playing it off the heel (like driver) with a sand wedge is the key for me. If you play around with ball position from this distance you will find a solution

[takinitdeep]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

Hello there,

Im struggling with pitch shots from 50 yards in, either low or high flight. Im wanting a sure fire method of getting close from that distance. Has anybody got any easy to remember drills/methods that will help.

Thanks

Lee.

Even after all these years, I still practice the short game 50% of the time.
High shot that lands soft: play the ball forward of center and/or open the clubface a little. Use a lob wedge or sand wedge depending on distance or type of lie. Open the stance, hands ahead and allow your shoulders to rock back and then down to the ball-keeping light grip pressure and hands ahead at impact. Stay down on the shot don't try to help it. Hit down to make the ball go up.
Lower shot that bounces a few times then checks:
Using anything from 7 iron to sand wedge depending on distance and lie, play the ball back of center, use the same swing as above with light grip pressure and hit down on the ball. Stay down with the shot.
Very simple, we make it too hard.

[jambalaya]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

Explain exactly what is happening for you on those shots. Do they usually come up short? Do you hit a lot of fat shots or a lot of thin shots? Is the trajectory low or high? Is it a distance problem or is it usually off line? Tell us how you set up for a short pitch shot? There is always more than one answer to what may be wrong. Practice is great but you need to have basic fundementals in mind before starting to practice. Anybody can sit there and hit a bunch of balls and eventually groove a swing to get it close during the course of the practice but I think you need some objecvtives and swing thoughts in mind before you start.

[tenaciousdee]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

I think I may be having the same problem. Please let me know. I can hit my wedge but I can't hit it very far.
My lob and 54* only go half as far as I am wanting and am always coming up short. I have seen Pelz's Golf Academy show for pitch shots from 40 yards in. I can do that most of the time.

My prob as I said earlier is I can't get maximum distance (90-100)using those clubs on command. Is this asking too much?

Waiting with bated breath

Tenacious Dee

[jambalaya]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

I think I may be having the same problem. Please let me know. I can hit my wedge but I can't hit it very far.
My lob and 54* only go half as far as I am wanting and am always coming up short. I have seen Pelz's Golf Academy show for pitch shots from 40 yards in. I can do that most of the time.

My prob as I said earlier is I can't get maximum distance (90-100)using those clubs on command. Is this asking too much?

Waiting with bated breath

Tenacious Dee

The answer to that is usually that you are coming into the ball on a shallow angle. You should be hitting down on the ball with a steeper angle and taking a very solid divot. Make sure your hands are coming through first and therefore maitaining the angle you had at set up. Look carefully at your ball position. I am sure Pelz probably talked about those things but check to make sure you are doing them right.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

Maybe I missed it, but i am thinking nothing has been posted about width of stance. Is it possible that if a person were to use too wide of a stance, that they might not be able to swing into the ball at the required steeper angle for the clubs being discussed? GJS

[BrianW]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

Is Lee still out there, does he need any more help?

[jambalaya]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

Maybe I missed it, but i am thinking nothing has been posted about width of stance. Is it possible that if a person were to use too wide of a stance, that they might not be able to swing into the ball at the required steeper angle for the clubs being discussed? GJS

Sure. A narrow stance promotes a steeper angle. One should have a narrower stance, slightly open on the short pitches. Putting most of one's wieght on the front foot also helps getting that steeper angle.

[GreeBoman]

Re: short pitch shots from 50 yards in

problem is that with the wedges the harder you hit them 1 of two things usually happens
1) you make a good hard swing and the ball goes a little bit farther but travels higher
2) you loose all rhythm and timing and cast into the ball resulting in a weak shot.

If you cant get the PW to go 100 then use a 9 iron.
Your swing and your scores will thank you for it.