lack of distance with my pitching wedge

Question
I have played golf at a high level(shot my age 56 times already)but I still have a great deal of trouble with my higher irons and getting distance out of them..I will have a short pitch to a green(75 yds plus)and never seem to hit the ball close..weight shift? ball to far forward,I have tried them all..please advise and thank you  so much

Answer
Hi Dan:

Need a little more info than that Dan.  First off, let me say the Pitching wedge is not designed for distance.  There is nothing wrong with taking a 9 iron, choking it an inch or two and hitting the shot with a 3/4 swing.  If you are an advanced player, you should know how to hit that shot.  But in reference to your question about not getting distance from your pitching wedge, I would offer this.  First, let's check the basics.  Ball position should be middle of stance to slightly back of center.  Weight should be slightly on left side.  Most of the time when asked this same question, the golfer is adding loft to the club at the bottom of the swing in an attempt to lift the ball into the air.  I know you probably are not thinking that or trying to do that if you're a good player, but it happens and you won't feel it.  Instead, if you properly strike a shot solid, the shaft of the club should be leaning forward towards the target which in turn would actually deloft the club.....the exact opposite of adding loft at impact.  So, I would start off by having you hit 50 yard pitch shots as low as you possibly can hit them.  What would the club have to look like at impact if you were to hit the ball solid but very low.  The clubface would have to be delofted and the only way to do that is to use your arms more through impact instead of your hands.  Once the hands try to throw the clubhead at the ball, the angle of the shaft moves backwards, away from the target, adding loft to the club.  Results are high shots with no distance that always come up short.  As the club is swinging through impact, the logo on your glove should be rotating down towards the ground and turning over.  That controls the face.  I would have you hit a lot of hooks and a lot of low hooks in practice.  Picture what you would have to do with the clubface and the shaft to produce the opposite of what you are getting?  So hit some shots real low for a while Dan, then work up to a 3/4 swing.  If the picture in your head is to have the ball come off the face lower, then you'll be on the right track.  Let me know how you do.  Oh, by the way, when was the last time you had the loft of the pitching wedge checked?  You might want to go get a few degrees of loft taken off the wedge and see what happens.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member