The Art of Pitching From The Fairway

The majority of golfers are only concerned with improving their distance off the tee and controlling their driver. So they go to the practice range and practice their drives and nothing else. The fact is that the majority of shots in a round of golf are from within 100 yards from the green so they should be practicing more their short game. You can in fact lower your handicap by mastering your pitching than you could by increasing your drives by a few yards.

Mastering the art of pitching can lower your handicap. With a good pitch you can take 2 strokes instead of 3 by pitching next to the pin. Learning to pitch accurately from the fairway is imperative to improving your game but it requires good distance control which is difficult to achieve, even for a Golf Swing Guru!

Pitching Sequence

To perform a winning pitch shot you need to position the ball in the center of your stance as you want to get under the ball and put it in the air. Position your feet closer together, with an open stance, and with more weight on your left foot. Then aim the club face at the target and make certain you hit the ball with a perfectly square clubface. The length of your backswing will decide the distance the ball will fly - it could be waist height, shoulder height or a full swing. Hit the ball with a crisp, downward stroke to ensure ball then turf contact.

Even if you feet are in an open position, aim the club faceat the target, just as if your feet were parallel. When you open your stance you are shortening your backswing; also, you can choke down on the grip which will also reduce your backswing but it will give you more control. Release the clubhead openly through impact and then move smoothly into your follow through position.

Select a Club for Pitching

Some golfers mistakenly use too many different clubs for several distances. For shots up to 100 yards you could successfully use a full sand wedge, pitching wedge, or you could even use a 7, 8, or 9-iron by adjusting your backswing. But there's no need to complicate things; the best strategy is to select a distance that you are comfortable with and one club that you can always use to go that distance.

For example, let's say that you are an expert at hitting the ball 95 yards with an 9 iron and using a shoulder height backswing. The scheme is that you use this distance as your pitching zone. If you hit a wayward drive on a par-4 you will want to hit the ball out to the fairway so that your ball ends up in your pitching zone. If you have practiced sufficiently you will be able to get the ball close enough to the flag to give yourself an opportunity of saving par. A similar thing can happen on a par 5; instead of going for the green in 2two which is a difficult shot, you should hit a smaller club to your pitching zone which still gives you a chance of birdie.

Practice your Pitching Distances

Obviously, there will be lots of times that you will be faced with an approach shot of somewhere between 30 and 95 yards. In these situations you will have to learn your pitching distances. Yet again, it's a good idea to select 1 club that you can dominate and adjust the length of your backswing for each distance. You will want to practice this many times until you can calculate the distances time after time. Pitching and chipping are more about control and touch but it is exceedingly important because you can reduce your score a great deal with a great short game. Just remember to practice your putting and The Simple Swing as well!