Re: 3 skills and Pitching

hi gassim
i dont use 3 skills but i do use a system that keeps the club face open through the impact zone. i do think if you use 3 skills then if you water down the system by playing different shots say in your short game then you might find other parts of your game suffer, i think i would stick with all parts of 3 skills for a bit longer , i take it you have not been using it long. i think the secret of any system is sticking with it through thick and thin till you get the results you are aiming for, i know i wasted many years chopping and changing in the hope of finding the secret before i settled on just one system that worked for me and it was one i had tried before but did not give it long enough.
stay with it and give it a chance, it it don't work for you then revert to using the system the pro showed you for chipping. best of luck.
bill

Re: 3 skills and Pitching

Hi Mo,

You are right mate, there is a difference when chipping, you still hit down for the sweetspot but then there are two variancies........


If you try this, stand 20 yds from a green:

Chip holding the face open the ball will check up and stop.

Play the same shot but with some slight rotation you will see the ball pitch and then just roll out.

I know this because it was Liam last lesson with Staffordshire, I often wondered myself how pros seem to get so much roll when chipping.

Ian.

Re: 3 skills and Pitching

Here are my thoughts about this.

The first skill, hitting down into the ball with the sweet spot of the club, seems to me to be relevant to any iron shot, whether it's a full swing, a pitch, or a chip. The second skill, squaring the club face at impact, is relevant to every shot, even putting. The third skill, having the club face open before impact and closing it through the impact zone, is about achieving "effortless power," i.e., imparting more momentum to the ball without swinging harder.

The third skill seems to me to be irrelevant to pitching and chipping. These shots are not about power; they are about control and accuracy. So I think it makes sense to forget about skill 3 when pitching and chipping. Moreover, skill 3 involves fairly precise timing, which means that if your timing is a bit off, accuracy will suffer. That's the last thing you want when chipping and pitching.

Stan Utley, in The Art of the Short Game, claims that chips and pitches are just scaled-down versions of the full swing. He teaches pros. I'm a high-handicapper. I worked with Utley's approach for the first half of the summer, after reading about it here. I wasn't satisfied with the results. I've gone back to a more "conventional" approach.

For chipping, I use a putting stroke, with the ball back in my stance so that I hit down into it. Opening and closing of the club face are kept to a minimum (they can't be completely eliminated) and there's little or no leg and hip movement. It's just a matter of choosing which club to use. I tend to go with a 9i, but I'll use an 8i or PW or even GW when it seems like a good idea. I'm satisfied enough with this method that I have no plans to change it. I practice this method and I think it's a good one.

For pitching, I just open my stance and put a bit more weight on the front foot (I have my weight forward in the setup with my irons anyway; this just exaggerates it a bit). After a lot of experimentation I've settled on my GW for most pitches. Utley recommends the SW but I find I have more "touch" with the GW. I like the one-club approach to pitching. I think the open stance helps to keep the club face square longer. My pitching isn't as accurate as I'd like it to be yet, but I feel I'm making progress with it, now that I've settled on a method I like.

Re: 3 skills and Pitching

There are two ways to pitch the ball, with or without wrist rotation.

With rotation: This is where you wish to impart high backspin to the ball to stop it quickly

Without rotation: This is played like a long chip and used where you wish the ball to land without much spin. Where you want it to roll on after landing or in the case of a high lob shot to land softly and stop.

I would recommend "Dave Pelz Short Game Bible" as an excellent reference book for pitching, chipping and sand shots.