A golf pitch shot is probably the one area that amateur golfers ignore the most. They think that it is so complicated and so they never work on it. The fact is, if you just think about doing these most important parts of the shot, it becomes very easy...and consistent.
Listen, it's so simple to make a great golf pitch shot and everyone wayyy over complicates this. As with everything I teach in golf, it all boils down to doing a couple main things very correctly. Most of the details matter very little but we get all caught up in so many minor things that we end up not paying attention to the major thing.
For a golf pitch shot. Here's the major things:
1. As still a body as you can given the distance of the swing. Again, I hear all of this advice on videos about wrist cock and proper stance and blah blah blah... Guess what? There's many ways to make a pitch shot, not just one. But they all work more consistently when the body is still. Focus on this. Work on this in your living room while watching TV. You don't even need a ball? This will pay you back in spades in lower score and yet nobody does it.
2. Hit down to make the ball go up. Now if I had a nickel for every time I saw an amateur try to "help" the ball up in the air, I'd be a millionaire. This is so common because it is counterintuitive. To hit a great golf pitch shot, you must strike the ball before the ground. If you need more loft, pull out your sand wedge or lob wedge. Don't go through all those bodily gyrations to force it. The best way to make sure this happens is to pre-load it in your setup. That means, you should be leaning on your front foot more than your back. That drops your front shoulder down and back shoulder up. As long as you keep your body still, your swing will necessarily result in a downward, correct strike on the ball.
3. Make the shot while keeping it as low as possible. In other words, you don't always need a wedge! In fact, for most amateurs, running the ball up on the green is almost always a better choice, especially if you tend to chunk it or hit it fat as they say. Pull out your 5-iron some day and chip with it anytime you don't absolutely have to put it in the air You'll be surprised.
Folks, those are the biggies. Get real good at them and then you don't even have to worry about any details. Forget about being "technically correct." Much of that stuff is for the pros. Look, you just want to break 100 or 90 right? How will you do that? By becoming as consistent as possible. Work on the big 3 in your next golf chip shot and you'll be amazed at what you can do.
Improving your golf happens with confidence
So many golfers think that the key to improving your golf is in perfecting the swing mechanics. Not even close. If you want to be on the PGA tour, well yes, you should work with a swing instructor. If you just want to break 80 or 90 or even 100, your biggest gains will come with mental tactics like increasing your confidence.
Golf Visualization: How to develop it
All the top pros say you have to "visualize" your shot before you take it. Some folks tell me that they have trouble doing this. Here's a simple way to develop this skill that you can use for any performance outcome you want to achieve
Golf iron tips: do this one thing and watch your iron game improve dramatically
Golf iron tips: the best of the best. I could write about swing planes and x-factors and checkpoints etc. But do you really think that will help your game from a short article on the swing? No. Do this one tip in this article and watch your iron game improve dramatically, no matter how you swing.
