The Perfect Pitch During Golf Game

If there are two common faults among the poor pitchers of this world, it is that they have their weight on the right hand side in a misguided attempt to scoop the ball into the air and that their backswing is too long and they therefore decelerate through the ball.

Concentrate on these two things and the days of poor pitching will soon belong to your previous life.

The Set Up

As you are looking for accuracy rather than power with a pitch shot, bring your feet closer together, stand a little nearer the ball and choke down on the club.

Some coaches recommend that you open your stance a little, aim left with your feet and hips, to give yourself room to swing the club through impact, but this is not strictly necessary. For the regular pitch shot, the ball should be played in the center of the stance with the weight distributed evenly between the feet.

From the amended address position, you should make your normal swing. You must focus on maintaining a fluid rhythm as you swing your arms away. As with the full swing, the arms should remain tucked into the side of the chest and not move away from the body, and the wrists should break gently, but fully.

Avoid trying to scoop the ball up into the air. Instead, trust the loft on the club face to get the ball airborne. Most pitch shots are fluffed when the golfer tries to scoop the ball into the air and inadvertently straightens their legs and/or upper body.

When this happens, it is very easy to catch the ball thin or heavy. If you can maintain your height throughout the swing, however, you stand a good chance of making crisp contact with the ball. The length of the follow through should mirror the length of the backswing.