Sandy LaBauve is one of the world's best beginner, junior and women's instructors. She is listed as one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and is Founder and Creative Consultant for the LPGA Junior Girls Golf Club.
Master the Golf Swing for a Medium Pitch Shot
Medium-Trajectory Golf Pitch Setup
I am practicing my bread-and-butter shot, the medium-trajectory pitch, and I want you to see it from behind the line because you can really see the arc that I am making with this golf swing. This is a mini version of your full swing so it is a great shot for you to practice.
When I set up for this shot, because the ball is in the center and I am balanced slightly to the left, my backswing is going to be a little longer than my through-swing. That is because I am traveling a little bit down as I'm hitting the shot and then finishing here to the left. It is very important that the handle of my golf club finishes here by my left pocket. I am going to hold the finish so that you can see where it is in this swing. The finish is lower than the backswing.
Importance of the Medium Pitch Shot
I can not stress enough how important this shot is. I am hitting down and through it, it is not a fast-paced shot, it is a very accurate shot. When I take this shot and try to hit longer pitch-and-runs or medium pitch shots all I am thinking about is taking a little bigger swing and my through-swing also grows with it. I like to think it terms of where my hands are relative to my body. I will practice shots where I am pocket high. I will try to take my hands back to my right pocket and then finish. Then I put a distance to that. I then will hit some shots where I go back to my bust, I will take my hands all the way back to my busts, make a swing and hold the finish and then I am going to hit another shot like that and get a distance for that. So I might be working with 20- and 40-yard medium pitch shots. This way when I go on the golf course and I am looking at a distance wedge, I say how far am, I can know if that is a pocket shot, a bust shot or a shoulder shot and I can select the right shot that I need for the situation. Hitting distance wedge shots is huge, it can really help your score. We certainly have a lot of them as we get closer to the green.
Practice this medium pitch shot, it will help your iron game, it will help your short game and it will really help your score.
About the Instructor
Sandy LaBauve
Kierland Golf Club
15636 N. Clubgate Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Tel: 480-922-9283
15636 N. Clubgate Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Tel: 480-922-9283