30(ish) yard pitch, tight lie, soggy ground

~QQ~

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
436
Reaction score
280
Location
San Diego, CA
Handicap
9.4
How do you get crisp contact? When I hit these it's a big chunk. The grass is completely unforgiving due to the moisture so any bit behind the ball and I'm dead. I'd have no problem with a full swing in these situations, it's that partial swing.:angry:
 
I flubbed a couple of these shots a month ago - then I practiced how to hit it afterwards. I move away from the ball, open it for more bounce, and come in as shallow as possible ... and pray.
 
Depending on the shot I will also club down a bit, put ball a hair back and pop it toward green. I hate this type of shot so I will be off little help....following though

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
Cleveland Smart Sole wedge !
 
Weight forward on your left foot, hands must stay ahead of clubhead even after impact. Most golfers who can’t execute this shot consistently have too much hand/arm/wrist motion and don’t have enough rotation with their torso and shoulders. I like to feel like my hands and arms are doing almost nothing and I’m using my torso to hit the shot.

There are plenty of training aids that can help with this such as the Callaway Chip Stix. I bought one to teach my daughter proper technique inside of 40 yards and it helped her master the correct motion very quickly.
 
Use the bounce Luke!

Open the blade, get the shaft nearly vertical and return it to that position on the way through.
 
Good thoughts here. How about more on club choice. My 60 degree has the most bounce. But i also like the idea of grabbing a 7 iron, just don't practice it that much.

I have always used my pitching wedge for the shots. Haven't opened the face but I might try that.
 
Yep, can't get too armsy on this shot - turn on that front foot, arms close to body, and just turn, that should shallow out the club and if you are relaxed, swing should be wide and shallow.
 
Good thoughts here. How about more on club choice. My 60 degree has the most bounce. But i also like the idea of grabbing a 7 iron, just don't practice it that much.

I have always used my pitching wedge for the shots. Haven't opened the face but I might try that.

Try some practice swings and see how the grass responds. I had a situation the other day where I thought I'd do what I described: open the blade, use the bounce, keep the handle neutral.

However, when I took practice swings, they were constantly chunky. I then grabbed a PW and tried a putting stroke. Same thing. Any time I interacted with the grass, it was chunky.

I made the determination the slope and the grain of the grass growing into me was making this an extremely difficult pitch or chip. If I failed to make a perfect ball-first strike, I was going chunk it. I grabbed my putter, hit the ball pretty hard and got it to about 5 feet and made the putt for the up-and-down.
 
Weight on my front foot, keep my body still, ball at back foot, feet 2 club lengths apart, club handle in the center of my body, be real sure to strike the ball and ground at the same time in a decending blow, and most importantly,.. I use my sand wedge only. My 58 with 8 degrees of bounce is so easy to put right under the ball, but my 56 with 13 degrees of bounce is impossible to miss this shot with.

Whiskey
 
We actually had Drew (Titleist wedge guy) do a little segment about shots like this in the Titleist wedge Live Update thread back in March.

But essentially he said to set the ball middle of your stance, grab your highest bounce wedge and swing it like a putting stroke. As bob Vokey would say “bounce is your friend” and this set up will help use lots of bounce.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top