Best Way to Practice Your Short Pitch Shot in Golf

Confidence is of primary importance in this situation. If you are not confident, the danger is that you will change your mind while actually making the stroke and the swing will lose its rhythm. Intelligent practice with this type of shot is essential to build up confidence; this can only be done by proper step-by-step practice from the very outset.

Each practice session should consist of three series of ten shots each. To ensure success from the very start, place the first series of ten balls on a medium-low tee. You will see that when you strike the tee with a downward movement of the club head, the ball will lift enough to clear an intervening bunker. All you have to do to change the trajectory of the ball is to alter the steepness of the backswing.

When you are happy with the first series of ten, go on to the second series, this time without teeing up the balls. When you have finished this series satisfactorily, take a break before going on to the final series, which you also play without tees.

The short pitching game

The short pitch is a very useful shot to master. It is not only a stroke-saver but it also improves your ability to imagine successful results; success, as we have already said, breeds confidence. It is absolutely impossible to reach the green every time in the regulation number of shots – even for a professional playing at his best. Incorrect club choice, weather conditions, bad bounces or indifferent striking will cause the ball to miss the putting surface some time or other during the game. This, together with modern course architecture (greens tend to be more ‘protected’), will often leave you with a short pitch to play, usually over a mound or a bunker. So it is very important that you learn to approach this situation with confidence. The ability to play short pitches well will put less pressure on the rest of your game.

Remember, strike the ball first and the ground afterwards. The more height required, the earlier the break of the wrists, making the swing narrower and steeper. If you use the arms only and don’t break the wrists, the swing movement will be backwards and forwards on a low arc; this will produce too low a flight. When you bring the wrists into play, the swing becomes steeper and produces the required increase in height.