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Share Your Short Pitch (10-30 yards) Tips

KellyBo

KellyBo

Golf, Have Fun or Quit!
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I enjoyed reading the thread on chipping tips and even went out into the yard and chipped a good while yesterday trying out some of the suggestions. One of the areas I really need to practice more is the short pitch shot so tell me what techniques you use to make you consistent in these shots.
 
Seth actually gave me this tip, and I wish I remembered it more often. TURN. Whenever I hit these shots fat or thin, I realize that I didn't turn.
 
Dont be afraid to hit the ball
Ball back of the stance
Weight towards target
 
I control distance with the length of the backswing to avoid decelerating first of all. Typically favor the ball a little back, but will go as far forward as center stance. Open stance.
 
Erky said:
Seth actually gave me this tip, and I wish I remembered it more often. TURN. Whenever I hit these shots fat or thin, I realize that I didn't turn.
Click to expand...

This is key to whatever type of shot you play at this distance. so many including me sometimes forget this and end up decelerating or make some other mistake. Many of the tips people stated in the other thread apply here. Things to consider is how far you want to carry the ball, how much roll out is expected, do you have anything to carry (bunker, lots or rough, closely mown grass, pin close to fringe, lots of green to work with). The type of shot to play is personal choice, some may do bump and run, others will try to pitch high and land soft.

Practicing the shot and using different clubs to get a feel for what works best for what you want to accomplish.
 
Narrow stance, ball played in the middle or even further back to the right foot (right handed golfer), concentrate on hitting a "spot" with the pitch shot ... don't look at the flag, whether you want it to "drop & stop" (like Titleist says) or run out ... stay focused on the spot. Take the club back a short distance, waist high (that will come with practice, depending on the length of the shot) and make sure to hit through the shot and don't decelerate. Most people are afraid of hitting it hard, blading it over the green, or chunking it. "Hold off" your follow through ... the ball will fly low, bounce, check and stop if you do it right. Of course there are a lot of variables .... speed of greens, slope, spin, etc. I feel the further back I play it and the speed at which I flip my hands through the shot, the more spin I get. Don't get "married" to your favorite club for all pitches or chipping. Depending on the lie, room you have to the flag, etc. you would use different clubs. I have chipped with everything from a 7-iron to a sand wedge. A visualization drill I like to think of is tossing the ball to someone ... you know you have to throw it with a certain amount of force to throw it a certain distance ... use that the same with pitching. You know you have to hit it "THIS" hard to hit it "THAT" far. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Don't just go to the range and beat balls ... practice in your yard, school yard, etc and visualize the shot and trajectory ... it will come in handy when you need it.
 
Use big muscles over little muscles. The more you take the hands and arms out of the equation the more consistent you will be. You can use various ball positions to control trajectory but you must use the bigger muscles in your body if you want consistency
 
JB said:
Dont be afraid to hit the ball
Ball back of the stance
Weight towards target
Click to expand...
^^ This and always follow through.
 
I swing the club like I'm standing at the bottom of the ocean, i.e. dead arms swing. Use the bounce.
 
flog2424 said:
Use big muscles over little muscles. The more you take the hands and arms out of the equation the more consistent you will be. You can use various ball positions to control trajectory but you must use the bigger muscles in your body if you want consistency
Click to expand...

I was just reading the Pelz Short Game Bible about pitches inside 30 yards and saw this to reiterate what you are saying:

"The arms move with the rest of the body; they neither initiate the motion, nor add any power. The fingers and hands are dead, being used only to hold on to the club and cock the wrists. During the through-swing, keep everything synchronized as you swing through the ball. Your body rotation and short-to-long swing will produce the natural, muscle-free stability necessary for efficient and repeatable pitching."

I was taught this in lessons a couple years ago. Time to get back out there and practice it!
 
Open stance, feet closer together, ball back, weight forward. These are the things that help me with the 30-40yd pitch shot.
 
1. To help avoid the dreaded chili-dip, hit the ball more with the toe of the club on chips. (A Pelz tip that really helped me)
2. Use same swing but different lofts to hit longer chips. Don't be locked in on one loft for all chips. Use your sand, gap, pitching, 9i and 8i on progressively longer chips.
 
Remember to follow through. Don't always go hunting the pin, if there's a greater chance of a horrible miss and a difficult putt; sometimes hitting to a safer spot and a makeable putt is a better play.
 
cpljohnst said:
1. To help avoid the dreaded chili-dip, hit the ball more with the toe of the club on chips. (A Pelz tip that really helped me)
2. Use same swing but different lofts to hit longer chips. Don't be locked in on one loft for all chips. Use your sand, gap, pitching, 9i and 8i on progressively longer chips.
Click to expand...

Absolutely depends on what I have in front of me and if I am working with fairway and alot of green. I have used a 7 iron to bump and run a few chips, but have used a wedge if I need it to land softly ( or hope to I should say).

I tend to use a slightly open stance, keep a majority of my weight on my front foot and really commit to the shot.
 
A big difference for me this year was to keep my hands in front of the club head. It keeps me from trying to 'flip' my wrists through the ball at impact. I actually generate a higher ball flight and more back spin as a result, because it promotes striking down on the ball.

~Rock
 
cpljohnst said:
1. To help avoid the dreaded chili-dip, hit the ball more with the toe of the club on chips. (A Pelz tip that really helped me)
2. Use same swing but different lofts to hit longer chips. Don't be locked in on one loft for all chips. Use your sand, gap, pitching, 9i and 8i on progressively longer chips.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I practiced yesterday and I really liked it. Now I am practicing pitch shots inside 30 yards and am looking for tips on that. I've already been out there practicing things that have been suggested and it's working great. I think I'll put some towels down for 10, 20 and 30 yard targets. :)
 
One other thing that comes to mind is that I pick a small spot as my landing area and then take a couple practice swings looking at it. Then I just try to think about only that spot.
 
I focus on making a short back swing and following through the ball completely. I'm trying to end up with a small divot just in front of where the ball sat.
 
flog2424 said:
Use big muscles over little muscles. The more you take the hands and arms out of the equation the more consistent you will be. You can use various ball positions to control trajectory but you must use the bigger muscles in your body if you want consistency
Click to expand...

This is what I absolutely struggle with the most. I'll blade/shank one around the green, and I know I just flipped my wrists at it.
 
Keep your hands moving through contact.
 
KellyBo said:
I was just reading the Pelz Short Game Bible about pitches inside 30 yards and saw this to reiterate what you are saying:

"The arms move with the rest of the body; they neither initiate the motion, nor add any power. The fingers and hands are dead, being used only to hold on to the club and cock the wrists. During the through-swing, keep everything synchronized as you swing through the ball. Your body rotation and short-to-long swing will produce the natural, muscle-free stability necessary for efficient and repeatable pitching."

I was taught this in lessons a couple years ago. Time to get back out there and practice it!
Click to expand...

This, along with learning to use the bounce of the club has changed my chipping and pitching completely. I play every shot from below my left breast pocket unlike many here who play it back (r. handed) and vary the width of my stance. Using the bounce adds so much margin for error.
 
LordByron said:
This, along with learning to use the bounce of the club has changed my chipping and pitching completely. I play every shot from below my left breast pocket unlike many here who play it back (r. handed) and vary the width of my stance. Using the bounce adds so much margin for error.
Click to expand...

I've seen a variety of suggestions for ball position. Pelz says middle of stance with forward foot turned toward the target. My son plays it like you do and has great success. I guess it's something I'll just have to experiment with.
 
I struggle shortening the back swing on pitches when I grip it normal.

I have learned that if I choke down on the club alot, it really helps me shorten the back swing for some odd reason. I also open up my stance and shoulders and that is something that I started doing naturally for some reason.

On short pitches, this is what I tell myself.

1. Ball in back of stance
2. Do not be afraid to hit through the ball
3. Weight a touch forward
4. Leave the club face open on follow through
 
#1 for me is to ALWAYS accelerate through the ball. You can control the backswing to control the distance, but you always have to hit through the ball. That doesn't mean you have to swing hard. Whatever your swing pace is for the shot, just make sure the point when you hit the ball is the fastest part of it. The moment you let up on the downswing, bad things happen.

#2 is practice, practice, practice. You can have all the good technique in the world and hit the ball crisp every time, but if your swing doesn't know the difference between a 20 yard shot and a 30 yard shot it won't matter. It all comes down to feel with the short ones. The best place to get the feel is to practice.
 
The 10-30 yard pitch is something I'm actually decent at... I play this shot mostly setup like a chip (feet closer together and slightly open stance, weight forward) but I do have the ball in middle or slightly forward in stance unless I want it to run out more, or a very fluffy lie, then a bit back in stance, and I don't setup with hands as forward as a chip. I prefer my highest lofted wedge (58) for this distance range. Club back to parallel with ground with some wrist hinge then a very smooth swing moving the body with little to no arms involved and let the club catch up to hands at impact but never get in front of hands, with a decent but fairly short follow through. I love this kind of shot and practice it a lot. Distance control, since I use mostly the 58 always, is done by feel and speed of swing. From a decent lie I can usually put 7 out of 10 balls within 3 feet of target.

A good training tip I heard (can't remember where, some youtube video probably) is to play a game where you practice this with 11 balls. After pitching all 11, you take the closest 5 and furthest 5 away, and the remaining ball becomes your "average ball". Try to beat your average... makes practice a bit more fun and adds a bit a pressure.
 
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