Before Pitching Onto The Green Do This for 5 Seconds

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Full Transcript- so you've just hit your second shot just short of the green and you've got this kind of awkward distance between 30 and 80 yards this is what we call a pitch shot it's not a chip shot it's not a full swing it's a pitch shot in this video I'm going to share with you exactly how to play this shot because it is tricky most people find here that they struggle with distance control they struggle to get a consistent strike now look my part of my game from this area was very average myself and I took a lesson from the world's greatest shotgun coach in the summer Pete Cowan and he shared with me something off camera that I've actually turned into a really really great drill that is helping golfers improve the quality of their strikes and their distance control in this video I'm going to share with you exactly what that is so that you can start to master this awkward little shot but before I get into the video look if you're new to Challenge from your first lessons of mine please consider subscribing are these videos just like this one every single week to help you improve your game plus you never have to remember a thing I'll always put a free downloadable practice guide in the description box below foreign

so if you want to learn how to pitch like that you have to be able to be good at three things the first thing you've got to be good at is landing the club in the correct spot every time the second thing is you need to realize the golf swing is a circle or an arc and at some stage in that Circle there's a low point to that Circle you need to be great at controlling the depth of that low point if it goes too low you've got the fat if it goes too high you've got the thin location of low Point too far behind your fat too far ahead too powerful the third and final thing you've got to control the arc the club swings on okay that's going to give you your direction so how do you go about doing it well let's have a look at this so the first thing you've got to recognize is this pitching is not chipping I don't want you to set up in a chipping stance I've got some great shipping videos and people have taken those videos almost like heal up and gone shipping stands and then simply just forced it and trying to force the chipping action it's not going to work we're still you come to a shot you've just hit two great shots from your full swing so you're set up in full swing I saw this with my student the other day he's got a full swing setup and what he's doing is he's singing quite wooden and he's slowing trying to slow this swing down to control the motion that's not going to work either what you need to be able to do is recognize that pitching the pitching action is a specialist action you don't stand as close to it as you would do with chipping and you don't stand as far away as you would do with a powerful full swing what you cannot have here is somewhere like a hybrid somewhere in the middle The Stance is about two to three Club widths apart okay it's from a 30 to 80 yard shot the tallest pointing outwards and if I wanted the ball to go high I might have the ball more opposite my left foot if I want it to mid flight be more middle and if I went to low flyby at the back okay but we're really talking about striking consistency the other thing that's really important with pitching unlike a full swing and much my arms are rear my triceps are really tucked in then much lower much closer to the golf ball here why because I want control when I'm in a powerful shot my arms will be more extended further away so I've got room to generate power but I don't want you to do that with pitching it the arms are just resting in here now that's pretty much it the shoulder is very important one of my faults I sometimes get my shoulders too much this way I level off the shoulders a little bit here that helps me strike down but you know what the drill I'm about to share with you kind of often negates all of this and it helps you to form a very very natural setup straight away so here's what I learned from Pete and I want to share with you because I think it could really really help so I saw Pete doing something and he explained it like this let the natural force of the club drop Let It Drop now I don't see amateur golfers doing this in fact what I'm seeing them doing is controlling the club way way too much like this okay almost like in a very stiff manner because they're scared I know you might be scared too you want to strike it I get it but you must have let the club drop under its own momentum but how do you make sure it drops in the right spot every time well the first thing I do and I've got my students to do is scratch a line either side of the golf ball and just with one hand I'm taking my lead hand I just get them to swing backwards and forwards just letting them away to the club look drop on the ground okay as they're doing it you might they start to realize oh Danny I'm dropping it back here and what their bodies do is naturally start to adjust so for instance my tendency is to have my shoulders too much here when I do that I start to hit the ground behind a golf ball too much and what happens is as they start without me even thinking as they start to try to hit the ground more on the line my shoulders naturally start to level the club's takes a much better line on the way back and through all without me even thinking okay I want you to do the same so once you get the sense of this natural force dropping then what we've got to control is now you're Landing in the correct spot we want to control now how deep it goes because you might land it on spot what and then do that so how do we make sure that we're just bruising the ground well the second thing and I didn't pick this up actually in the lesson but I picked through actually watching the video watch this I want you here I saw Pete practicing this um on the Range he was just holding the club one-handed letting the club drop and I noticed his body was just getting out of the way what does this do well when your lead shoulder just gets out of the way you simply keep the radius of the circle if this lead shoulder stays down which I see with a lot of players desperate to strike there's no room the arms start to bend you can fat it you can thin it you can do all kinds of stuff right but just letting the club drop and then the lead shoulder get out of the way it basically extends look this circle so now look we're in complete control over the circle so that's the two things we've done we've landed the club now on the correct spot we're now controlling how deep it lands how by simply just getting out of the way we just need one final thing we've got to remember that the golf swing is an arc and this was for me personally in the session was the secret sauce I see with myself and even my students I was leaning back what's happening to my shoulders here they're going backwards so I developed this little drill here just to help me I just put alignment stick under my arm and I want that alignment set to work naturally on an arc get out of the way my alignment stick painted a line that was too straight I wanted to get out of the way so I use this as a bit of a visual okay drop in the club creating the arc through the alignment stick down and then simply started to work up and around and it was as simple as that I then created this drill but a five second drill which I'll share with you in a second which I gave my students before every single shot

and look time and time again now we're getting this crisp contact so how do you turn this into something really simple you can take to a golf course all you've got to do is just you know what you've got to be one be have some courage with this but all I did was with my students is this once they've got an idea of okay I've got to see the club Landing in a certain spot I've got to imagine that little mini circle with this club then all I did was this look I got them between one-handed and really feel you see here I'm almost picking up momentum on the way through here and I'm just allowing it to go now when I personally back I can feel myself I see myself in the ground behind the golf but I also see my body going this way I feel it so now let the club just fall down look and I'm working on it and I what I love about this and I want you to uh to kind of sense with this is this the momentum that this is just beautifully creating there's no real control of the club yet there's maximum control that your body is giving the golf club okay you can also do this with your Trail land with a trail and it's slightly different here you see I've got this kind of like almost like mini triangle what I'm doing here is I'm keeping that triangle as I'm swinging but I'm still look swinging the club under momentum the difference is I'm not doing this and not kind of flicking away I'm not forcing the issue I'm allowing the club to swing with momentum and follow this Arc and you can see my body look is beautifully under control my triceps are still naturally look connected to my body but I'm allowing Natural Forces to work so you can do this before every shot you get yourself to a five second exercise let the club I sort of Pete doing is picking it up here literally fire down and literally look get out of the way simple as that and if you feel it you're hitting the wrong place just keep going until you hit it in the right place your body will naturally start to adjust what's amazing about this as well when you create this kind of natural force you create backspin the all lovely backspin that gives you that maximum control now how do you control distance let's get into that

oh so the question is that pretty consistent are they how do you control distance well if you have momentum it's so much easier to control distance you see if you're throwing a ball to some it helps throwing a ball to you yeah I've Got Rhythm in my arm it's a lot easier to oh you're there awesome a bit further swing a bit longer but there's Rhythm what I love about this and you'll feel the same is if I want to hit it short distance I just feel that Rhythm now in a shorter swing you see I'm allowing Natural Forces to work so this is a a shorter shot right I might narrow my stance just a fraction I've got two Club widths to make a narrow it just more to about a club and a half but then same principle plight look I'm going to let myself look just drop down on that ball and just pop it up there yeah now all they'll do to go longer is simply why do my stance just a fraction more but then just feel like I've got more momentum coming through and because it's rhythmical it's a lot easier to create that extra little bit of distance look that's going to now pop up and roll up to the flag so that's all you're wanting to do is once you can feel the rhythm of this there's no sudden hit there's no jerkiness there's no stiffness not only will you be able to get consistent strike and backspin but you'll be able to feel your distance control too okay so I really hope this really helps you from this area between 30 and 80 yards after you get to 80 yards when you get to if you struggle you you know people always ask me how fast should this go well at some instead you might find that this only goes a maximum of 60 well then you move to your power swing okay but if you enjoy this video make sure you give it a thumbs up but do me a favor check this video out right here go into a bit more detail on the pitching in this uh in terms of setup this one here is all about chipping remember there are two different shots so learn them both and you'll be a great next time you're out so I hope you enjoyed the video remember there's a free download practice guide in the description box below but until next week have a wonderful golfing week. 

Transcript Summery- 

So, you've just hit your second shot short of the green, landing in that tricky distance between 30 and 80 yards. This is the pitch shot, not a chip, not a full swing – it requires a specialized approach for distance control and a consistent strike.

Now, to master this shot, you need to excel in three areas. First, you must land the club in the correct spot every time. Second, understand that the golf swing is a circle or an arc, and you need to control the depth of the low point. Lastly, it's crucial to control the arc the club swings on for proper direction.

Pitching is different from chipping, so don't adopt a chipping stance. The setup should be about two to three club widths apart, with the ball position adjusted based on the desired trajectory.

What I learned from the world-renowned coach Pete Cowan is a fantastic drill. Let the natural force of the club drop. Many amateurs control the club too much, causing stiffness. To ensure it drops in the right spot, scratch lines on both sides of the ball and swing back and forth with one hand. Adjustments will naturally occur as you aim to hit the ground on the line.

Controlling how deep the club goes is crucial. Hold the club one-handed and let it drop, allowing the lead shoulder to get out of the way. This extends the circle, providing better control.

Remember, the golf swing is an arc. If your shoulders are leaning back, it affects the swing. Use an alignment stick under your arm to ensure the natural arc is maintained.

A helpful drill involves a five-second exercise before each shot. Let the club drop, get out of the way, and maintain the natural rhythm.

To control distance, embrace the momentum. It's like throwing a ball with rhythm – shorter swing for less distance, longer swing for more. With this rhythmical approach, not only will you achieve a consistent strike and backspin, but you'll also master distance control.

So, from 30 to 80 yards, let the club drop, control the depth, maintain the arc, and feel the rhythm for precise and effective pitch shots. If you enjoyed this, give it a thumbs up, and check out more in-depth tutorials on pitching and chipping. Until next week, have a fantastic time on the golf course!