Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
This week the Royal Golf Club's Head Teaching Professional, Chris Kelby, gives tips on sharpening your pitching
WE all remember the three-putts or the sliced drive or the topped iron shot. But what about missing the green with a simple wedge from 50 yards? How often do you practice that shot?
My guess would be rarely, if ever. How often do you need to play that shot? Several times a round probably!
This is a pretty serious shot to get wrong. Instead of setting up birdie opportunities, you'll be missing greens and struggling to make par.
Not only will bad pitching start to wear you down, it will place a huge amount of pressure on your chipping and putting. So, as well as failing to make birdies, you will also be making plenty of bogeys and worse!
Sharpen up your pitching and you'll see your scores tumbling down - more greens hit, more confidence and less of those nasty big numbers on the card.
Key tip - get armed for the job
I carry three wedges and many other professionals do the same. You need three wedges - from 100 yards in, that's where you make your score.
The three wedges that I carry have 48, 52 and 56 degrees of loft, which gives me a good spread of distances covered. Many people carry a 60 degree or lob wedge as well for shorter distances.
Once you've picked your wedges, you need to know how far each one goes. Pitching is a precise business, not hit and hope.
Pitching isn't just another full shot. You need to make a few subtle changes at address, which will influence the shape of your swing and help you become a better pitcher. You certainly don't have to muscle the ball. Accuracy, control and judgment of distance are the three key elements.
When setting up for a pitch shot, open your stance slightly whilst keeping your shoulders and hips square to the target. Keep the ball in the centre of your stance for a standard pitch and favour your left side slightly with your weight to help create the right angle of attack.
The shorter the swing you can make, the better; this will give you control, but use your shoulders and turn into the backswing no matter the length of shot you are playing.
Turn your body towards the target and make sure your head is over the ball. Relax as your hands lead the club head while you accelerate through impact.
Vary the swing for improved distance control: with three wedges in the bag and by utilising different lengths of swing you can cover all of the distances you need.
With a bit of practice you will start to get that lovely crisp ball-then-turf strike on your pitches giving you more consistency, more control and set up more birdie chances.
