2
For the pitch, the ball should be played slightly forward of the middle of the stance. On the swing, lever your wrists so that the clubhead will rise higher than your knees
on the backswing.
You should pitch the ball
with your highest lofted club,
which is typically your sand
or lob wedge.
C O M M O N C L U B C H O I C E : 7-iron
through Lob Wedge
SETUP: Move hands down the grip to
shorten the shaft. Stand closer to the
ball than normal so the shaft is more
vertical. Play ball in the middle of stance.
Hands are slightly ahead to lean the shaft
toward the target. Weight will favor the
lead foot.
THE STROKE: To promote a low shot,
use very little wrist action and body turn,
although don’t totally restrict either. When
chipping, always keep clubhead lower
than your knees on both the backswing
and forward-swing. Try to get the sole of
the club to brush the grass under the ball
while keeping the hands slightly ahead
through impact.
vsga.org
SHOT 2: THE PITCH
We pitch the ball when, for whatever
reason, we decide that a low trajectory
shot will not get the ball close to the
hole. Most of the time, you will be far-
ther away from the green or have to go
over something like a bunker, so a low
shot either won’t get to the green or
won’t stop near the hole location once
it gets rolling. You should pitch the ball
with your highest lofted club, which is
typically your sand or lob wedge.
COMMON CLUB CHOICE: Sand or
Lob Wedge
SETUP: Ball position slightly forward
of middle. Hands will be even with the
ball. Weight evenly distributed left
to right.
THE STROKE: To promote a high, short
shot you will now need to lever your wrists
so that the clubhead will rise higher than
your knees on the backswing. There will
be body rotation in the swing. A good
thought for many is to feel like your body
and arms are synched up, and moving
together, which is unlike the full swing,
where we try to feel the upper- and
lower-body stretch more against each
other. Feel the sole of the club bounce
on the turf as it gets to the bottom of the
swing arc.
COMMON FAULTS
The most common fault that I see in
the both shots starts with playing the
ball too far back in the stance with
the hands too far ahead. This puts the
leading edge of the club far too much
in play. In that instance, the common
result is to “skull” it over the green, and
the compensation is to chunk the next
one. When we have the proper amount
of shaft lean at impact, the club will
bounce, not dig.
To summarize, decide what trajectory
is best for the shot first, then use the setup
to help promote that type of shot, and
enjoy hitting it closer to the hole.
Eric Layton is the Director of Instruction
at The Country Club of Virginia in
Richmond.
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