Taking Your Game To The Next Level

 

If you want to lower your golf  handicap you have to start hitting good pitches shots to cut strokes off your score. When your chances of attaining par are narrow, good pitch shots can be an enormous help. You can save hundreds of strokes over the course of a golf season, if you become an expert at hitting good pitch shots. You may record many more pars that you otherwise would not have gotten. Thanks to your ability to get up and down. Master the pitch shot and you improve your game magnificently.

 

 

If you want to low

But mastering the pitch shot is easier said than done. Pitches are unforgiving. There’s no room for error in accuracy or distance control. A pitch shot landing 10 to 20 feet from the hole doesn’t do much for you. To hit god pitches, you must know how to change shot trajectory to match your lie. Creating the right trajectory takes the guesswork out of hitting pitches. Eliminate the guesswork from hitting pitches and you’ll shave strokes off golf handicap.

 

Use Your Wrists
The key to controlling trajectory is in your wrists, as we tell students who take our golf lessons. You must use your wrists properly to match the lie at hand. If you fail to match shot trajectory to your lie, you’ll probably struggle getting short wedge shots close. So work on using your wrists to control height of your shot. Below are golf tips on how to use your wrists to hit high and low pitches:

When hitting a short wedge shot high,cup your left wrist on your downswing. This lifts the shot because it opens the clubface. For a guide look at the logo on your glove. You are holding it correctly if you can clearly see the logo  of your glove. A high pitch shot is used when you want to get out of a bunker or when there is little green to work with.

To hit a low pitch shot, bend your left wrist forward on your takeaway. This bowing action closes the clubface and takes loft off the club. Use the logo on your glove as a guide. If you look down and can’t see the logo, you’ve done it correctly. Use a low pitch shot when the front of the green is open or you have a lot of green to work with.

 

Ball Position Is Also Key

Ball position also helps you control shot trajectory. The further back you position the ball at address, the less loft you’ll get on your shot. The further forward you position the ball address, the more loft you’ll get on your pitches. Below is a drill we use in ou

golf instruction session to teach players how to vary shot trajectory by moving the ball back and forward at address.

Using your basic pitching stance, play three shots with the ball positioned off the heel of your forward foot. Next play three shots with the ball positioned in the middle of your stance. Finally play three shots with the ball positioned off your back foot. Use the same stance and swing for each shot. Do this repeatedly until you get comfortable hitting from the different ball positions and confident making shots from each position.

One word of caution: Make sure your head remains stationary on all three shots. It will be behind the forward ball position and ahead of the back ball position. This may seem strange at first if you’re not used to playing the ball at different address positions, but you’ll get used to it.

You can shave strokes by making accurate pitch shots. But this is easier said than done.Varying the trajectory shot is extremely important , so learn to do it right. Remember a high trajectory is used when you have to overcome an obstacle, and have little green to work with. When you have a lot of green to work with or the green is open the low trajectory is the shot to employ.

Filed under: Golf

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