Part 4 of My 8 Part Series - How Do I? - Pitch Shots

It's been a while and long overdue as I continue with my 4th installment of my 8 part series...How Do I? The purpose of this series is to give you an overview of how to hit a variety of golf shots. For beginners, this is a great way to learn some basics on proper set up, ball position etc. For more avid golfers it may serve as a refresher or a "tweak" to your current routine.

One of, if not the most important shots in golf are pitch shots. These are shots that can save us a bunch of strokes or cost us a bunch. And because 70% of all golf shots are from 100 yds or less it's crucial to devote ample practice time to pitch shots.

Pitch Shot Definition: A pitch shot should have more "air time" than it has "roll time" which is different than a chip shot.


What To Do:

1. Set up to the ball with the same ball position you use for all other iron shots.
2. Stance can be slightly more narrow than the standard shoulder width.
3. Grip the club about half way down the grip; this insures more control of the club and makes it easier to control distance.
4. It's important to keep you back swing and down swing with an even tempo. Your down swing should be slightly faster than your back swing but not by much.
5. In your set up place about 60% of you weight on you front leg (that's left leg for righties) and 40% on your back leg.
6. Swing down and through the shot and allow your club to clip the grass; this insures of getting a majority of the club face on the ball for better contact.

Things To Know: 

1. Never decelerate! It's one of the killers of a pitch shot. If your swing is moving at a slow to moderate speed the need to decelerate will be minimal. 2. Pitch shots are not full swings therefore we have to modify our swing to generate distance. If you have a certain club you like to pitch with it helps to practice swinging that club with varying length back swings. Get to know how far that club gives you when you swing it 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4. This will help you greatly in your distance control.

Keep in mind that pitch shots can be made with a variety of clubs particularly your wedges and it should also be mentioned that if your spending 50 - 75% of your time working on your driver, you'll be better served flip flopping that amount of time and devoting it to the shorter shots in golf.

Blog written by Vince Fratercangelo-Director of Instruction at VJF Golf Academy