Making the pitch
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from September 2002.
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Added to this, as many golfers may be aware, chipping and pitching nearly always go hand in hand. So she
decided to combine the lessons on that date.
Kerry also drove home the need to have a good short game saying, "You drive for show, putt for dough (do$)".
With that in mind I knew I had to concentrate on my short game. So I decided to give pitching the good college try.
What are pitch shots?
They are generally longer than chip shots;
Making the pitch
"Golf is amazing on so many levels."
so, as you might expect, you need to make a longer swing, which introduces wrist action into the equation.
This shot is all about feel. Experts refer to the pitch shot as the "inbetween shot". If you make the everyday full swing the ball will go too far and the half is never easy especially if all you want to do is whack the ball good and hard. Believe me there is something almost cathartic about hitting that ball as hard as you can. For a split second it's just you and the ball and all of life's little stresses melt away.
Golf is amazing on so many levels. It is a game of coordination, rhythm and having a smooth buttery swing. Jerki-
ness will not do. I kept remembering Kerry's saying - you drive for show but you putt for dough.
While I might not be as good as pitching as I am at putting I'm not half bad. And it was great to feel as if I had some control again. I had gained the confidence back that I had lost in the chipping lesson. I had not quite reached the sense of invincibility I had achieved with putting, but I was back in the drivers seat again.
Remember, in golf as in almost everything you do, you get better by doing; you don't get better by doing nothing.
In a series of articles Sunrise Family Golf Centre golf pro Kerry
Maher will explain some basic golf principles. Kerry is also the head coach for Cayman national junior golf team. This week Kerry works on the pitch shot.
The pitch shot is used when you need your golf ball to go high in the air and land near the hole. This shot is used when you need to go over a sand bunker for example.
The stance: The set up is the same as the chipping; your feet are 10 inches apart and open to the target. Your body being open to the target refers to your shoulders, hips and feet line. Pull your left foot back from the target line so your body is facing the target. Your weight should be 80 per cent on your left foot. Your ball should be positioned just off your right foot. Finally your hands should be set ahead of the ball.
The only real difference between the "chip shot" and the "pitch shot" is the club you choose. To pitch you use a wedge - the wedge generally has a PW on the club head for pitching wedge or the sand wedge (SW).
What does the swing look like for the pitch shot?
You want to make a
mini swing. This is when you rotate the club back by simply moving your hands, wrist and forearms until the shaft of the club is horizontal to the ground and the toe of the club is pointing up and then through to the other side of the body until the club is again in it's horizontal position.
If you want to hit the ball 10 yards further you make your swing a little longer. Make sure your back swing is the same length as your follow through, this way your rhythm never changes. Make sure the club head is accelerating smoothly through the ball.
By Tara Bush
