How to Pitch Within 10 Feet of the Hole
By Steve Silverman
Learning how to pitch the ball is one of the biggest keys to improving your score in golf. A pitch shot requires a deft touch and a good feel for the ball on the face of the club. Using a pitching wedge, a gap wedge and a lob wedge will all help the golfer get close to the hole when the golfer is less than 100 yards away from the flag stick.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Use your pitching wedge when you are 80 to 100 yards from the hole. If you have a clean lie on the fairway and your ball is sitting high, take about a 3/4 swing with your wedge and make sure you have a full follow through. The ball should fly high in the air and the follow through will help you get backspin on the ball that will help it stop shortly after it hits the green.
Use your gap wedge when you are 50 to 80 yards from the hole. A gap wedge has more loft than a standard pitching wedge and it is better to use on the shorter shots. A 3/4 swing is once again called for from that distance, and a full follow through will get the ball to stop almost where it lands and possibly roll backwards. So if you hit your pitch a few feet above the hole, it could roll right back down to it.
Take your lob wedge when you are less than 50 yards from the flagstick. The lob wedge will have a loft of between 56 and 64 degrees, and it has the ability to spin the ball backwards when struck correctly. This club will not offer much distance, but it gets excellent height and will land the ball softly.
Open your shoulders if you are hitting a pitch-and-run shot. This is different from a standard pitch because it will hit and roll toward the green, while a pitch will hit and stick. A pitch-and-run is a bit easier to master, but a well-struck pitch shot is a more advanced shot that will help you get closer to the hole with greater consistency.
Tips & Warnings
Go to the driving range to master the different wedges. While a pitching wedge, gap wedge and lob wedge are similar, there are subtle differences that require touch and control on the part of the golfer. The best way to master the pitch shot is through practice and experience.
A full follow-through is needed to get backspin on the ball with the pitching wedges.
Go to the driving range to master the different wedges. While a pitching wedge, gap wedge and lob wedge are similar, there are subtle differences that require touch and control on the part of the golfer. The best way to master the pitch shot is through practice and experience.
A full follow-through is needed to get backspin on the ball with the pitching wedges.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
