FAULT NO.54 Pitching - poor plane = poor shots

With your pitch shots, your objective is to achieve pinpoint accuracy. That's why swinging the club on the correct plane is so important from short range. So small is your margin for error on this short swing, that the only way you can guarantee making good contact is to swing the club down into the ball on the correct path and angle. For a pitch, that angle will tend to be fairly steep. After all, you're using one of the most upright clubs in the bag.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of players who fail to appreciate this. A common error is taking the clubhead back severely inside and around the body, then repeating that motion through the ball and on into the follow-through. The result of this poor path and plane is that the clubhead is on line for only a very short time - if at all - drastically reducing the chances of (a) solid contact being made, and (b) the shot being on line.

FIX NO.54
Club on line for solid pitches

Once you are comfortable with the setup described in Fix No.53, work on making your swing plane more upright. As you turn and move the club away from the ball, allow your wrists to hinge up (don't just simply lift your arms). Sense that the shaft moves fairly vertically, both on the way back and on the way through.

With practice, you should feel that the club is much more on line approaching impact as your body turns through the shot. Work on achieving a solid ball-turf contact, and aim to make your follow-through a virtual mirror-image of your backswing position. Think about a smooth rhythm, too. That's important on pitch shots.

To ensure you get your pitch swing on the right plane, try this drill. Set up for a normal pitch shot then stick an umbrella (or an old shaft) in the ground about two feet outside your right foot, in line with your right heel (1). Place another one the same distance outside your left foot, again keeping it in line with your heel. Then swing the club without touching either of the two umbrellas (2, 3). As you swing back, hinge your wrists and try to set the club on its end so that the grip points down towards the ground. Do the same in the follow-through.

Once you have the knack of this, hit a few shots. Don't concern yourself with a particular target initially, simply work on hitting the ball solidly. Pretty soon you'll notice a big difference in the quality of your strike, and you can then focus on direction and distance.