Want to know the secret to scoring well? It’s simple. Play well from 100 yards and in. Take a look at the pros. They may miss the fairway or hit a wayward 3-wood, but they’re deadly from 100 yards in. This is golf’s scoring zone. It’s where the rubber meets the road.  If you’re serious about chopping strokes off your golf handicap—and maybe break 90 or 80 in the process—master play from 100 yards and in.

But to score well from 100 yards and in, you must stick it close. That turns three strokes into two. Do this often enough and you’ll find yourself penciling in more pars and birdies on your card—maybe even an eagle of two. How do you stick shots close? Let’s start with hitting low, medium, and high pitch shots. The key to nailing these pitches is your setup mechanics. That’s why we emphasize them in golf instruction sessions. Below are some golf tips on hitting these three shots.

Hitting A Low Pitch

Low pitches are ideal for uphill shots, shots to a back pin, or shots needing roll. The shot travels straight and low, hits and rolls. The clubs of choice for a low pitch is a 9-iron or a pitching wedge. These clubs have less bounce, are easier to hit crisply, and generate backspin to get the ball rolling. Avoid the sand wedge, especially with a tight lie. The sand wedge’s bounce can cause you to scuff the ground behind the ball.

To hit low pitches, adjust your setup so everything is parallel to the target. This means aiming your shoulders two to three feet left of target (right for left-handers), and your feet another foot or so to the left. By squaring up like this, you’re more likely to hit the ball flush and get the ball to travel low.  Stand closer to the ball, play it back in your stance, and limit wrist rotation. Lean the shaft toward the target and keep it that way throughout the shot.

Hitting A Medium Pitch

Medium pitches are great for middle pin placements. They fly somewhat higher than low pitches, but have some roll. The club of choice for medium pitches is the sand wedge. But gap or lob wedges work well, too. In fact, we encourage students in golf lessons to experiment. Practice with all three until you get a good feel for the height and roll each club produces.

When setting up, open up your stance but keep the clubface square to the target. Also narrow your stance to steepen your angle into the ball. Opening your stance sometimes makes it hard to find the “middle” ball position. But play the ball directly below your sternum, and no matter how far you open your stance, the ball is still in the middle. Hit this shot about three quarters of the way to the hole and let it roll the rest of the way.

Hitting It High

The lob is great for tight pins. This shot is dicey, which is why we encourage students in golf instruction session to practice it first. High pitches call for an accelerating and descending blow, which some golfers have a hard time pulling off.

Start by narrowing and opening your feet and shoulders. Then open your clubface so it’s facing the target. Grip the club with the clubface open first before setting up. How far do you open the clubface? Trial and error tells you. Also, play the ball forward in your stance and stand a little further away from the ball. If you really want to pop it up, lean the shaft away from the target slightly.

The swing for all three pitches is basically the same. Keep your hands in front of the ball through impact and limit the hands’ release after contact to promote better spin and directional control. Setup mechanics are the secret to pitching it close. Nail those with the help of our golf tips and you’ll shave strokes off your golf handicap.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 9th, 2011 at 11:35 am and is filed under Golf Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.