Updated Pitching Thoughts (Copy)

This article is an update on the many pitching and chipping articles I've written over the last few years. Not much has changed since I did the Wedge Project video, but there are certain elements I have a deeper understanding about. Experience and the smart guys at PING have gone a long way towards advancing my understanding. Let's take a look...

Discussing pitching at a Three Day Golf School

• Great pitchers typically take little to no divot, flight the ball low and generate high spin rates

• Lower trajectory shots are significantly easier to gauge than higher ones

• When struck correctly lower trajectory wedge shots will almost always have more spin than higher shots

• Most golfers perform better when they deliver 45-ish degrees of loft at impact off a normal fairway. The club they use is irrelevant

• The quality of the face to ball interaction (friction) is primary in generating spin and determining the launch angle

• The quality of the lie plays a big role in determining the friction generated at impact

• Any moisture/matter that gets between the face and ball will typically decrease friction and thus increase launch angle and reduce spin. Control will be also be reduced

• I used to say that sand increases friction and that is often the case, but I've found it depends on the 'angularity' of the sand

• Cleaning the club face should be done often and with a wet towel - don't use a tee

• The primary role of grooves is to disperse moisture and matter from between the face and the ball and NOT generate spin

• Older clubs with worn down grooves will typically not spin the ball as much as a fresh wedge (all else being equal)

• Premium golf balls, when struck correctly, will always flight lower and spin more than non-premium golf balls (Urethane cover indicates a premium ball)

• The optimal technique is primarily based around managing the club to ground interaction 

• As the player alters trajectory so shall the club to ground interaction change. Lower shots with less loft will often lead to a steeper angle of attack

• Controlling what the handle does through impact is integral to controlling the club to ground interaction

• I've come to learn that there is no single ideal spin loft to generate the most spin. Each different lie, situation, golf ball and golfer would require their own unique "optimal" spin loft

• I've been a proponent of draws for pitch shots, but I've seen too many golfers have success with fades and draws to continue advocating strictly for draws

• For stock, and thus lower flighted, shots the bounce plays less of a role than you might imagine

• The worst thing to work towards with your wedge play....stay down. Please don't EVER work towards that

• I've become a big fan of 'core' distances. Depending on the amount of time you have I'd recommend practicing two or more of these 'core' distances and really taking ownership eg. 30/50/70/90 yards

• Incorporate variety and skill development into any and all forms of practice

I have found there to be a multitude of different, and somewhat unusual techniques that work well for certain individuals. A good general guideline that might help:

With the weight slightly favoring the front footy and utilizing a narrow and relatively square stance with the ball positioned centrally, be sure to keep your chest rotating through the strike in order to have the sole of the club skimming/gliding along the turf. Stay tall and keep the chest moving!

All the best.

Updated Pitching Thoughts

This article is an update on the many pitching and chipping articles I've written over the last few years. Not much has changed since I did the Wedge Project video, but there are certain elements I have a deeper understanding about. Experience and the smart guys at PING have gone a long way towards advancing my understanding. Let's take a look...

Discussing pitching at a Three Day Golf School

• Great pitchers typically take little to no divot, flight the ball low and generate high spin rates

• Lower trajectory shots are significantly easier to gauge than higher ones

• When struck correctly lower trajectory wedge shots will almost always have more spin than higher shots

• Most golfers perform better when they deliver 45-ish degrees of loft at impact off a normal fairway. The club they use is irrelevant

• The quality of the face to ball interaction (friction) is primary in generating spin and determining the launch angle

• The quality of the lie plays a big role in determining the friction generated at impact

• Any moisture/matter that gets between the face and ball will typically decrease friction and thus increase launch angle and reduce spin. Control will be also be reduced

• I used to say that sand increases friction and that is often the case, but I've found it depends on the 'angularity' of the sand

• Cleaning the club face should be done often and with a wet towel - don't use a tee

• The primary role of grooves is to disperse moisture and matter from between the face and the ball and NOT generate spin

• Older clubs with worn down grooves will typically not spin the ball as much as a fresh wedge (all else being equal)

• Premium golf balls, when struck correctly, will always flight lower and spin more than non-premium golf balls (Urethane cover indicates a premium ball)

• The optimal technique is primarily based around managing the club to ground interaction 

• As the player alters trajectory so shall the club to ground interaction change. Lower shots with less loft will often lead to a steeper angle of attack

• Controlling what the handle does through impact is integral to controlling the club to ground interaction

• I've come to learn that there is no single ideal spin loft to generate the most spin. Each different lie, situation, golf ball and golfer would require their own unique "optimal" spin loft

• I've been a proponent of draws for pitch shots, but I've seen too many golfers have success with fades and draws to continue advocating strictly for draws

• For stock, and thus lower flighted, shots the bounce plays less of a role than you might imagine

• The worst thing to work towards with your wedge play....stay down. Please don't EVER work towards that

• I've become a big fan of 'core' distances. Depending on the amount of time you have I'd recommend practicing two or more of these 'core' distances and really taking ownership eg. 30/50/70/90 yards

• Incorporate variety and skill development into any and all forms of practice

I have found there to be a multitude of different, and somewhat unusual techniques that work well for certain individuals. A good general guideline that might help:

With the weight slightly favoring the front footy and utilizing a narrow and relatively square stance with the ball positioned centrally, be sure to keep your chest rotating through the strike in order to have the sole of the club skimming/gliding along the turf. Stay tall and keep the chest moving!

All the best.

Wedges: Friction and Trajectory

The other day during a Three Day Golf School I hit four demonstration pitch shots for my students. My intent was to repeat the same shot in each attempt, with the only difference being how I manipulated the amount of friction between the club face and the ball.

The amount of loft I was able to deliver for each of the four shots was between 44.3º and 45.3º - the best I've been able to do! The interesting part is that the launch angles ranged from 30.4º tall the way up to 40.0º. How does that happen?

The Four Shots

The reasons why the launch angles are different is something that too few golfers (and coaches) understand and while I've written on this before it's a mission of mine to get the good word out. My intent was to carry each shot 50 yards and they are all played in the same fashion, with the same club except for shot 4.

Shot 1 - clean, dry club face and a clean, dry range ball. Spin rate - 6246 rpm. Launch is a respectable 32.1º

Shot 2 - clean, wet club face and a clean, wet range ball. Spin rate - 2782 rpm. Launch is a whopping 40º

Shot 3 - clean, dry club face and a clean, dry premium ball. Spin rate 6923 rpm. Launch is the lowest at 30.4º

Shot 4 - clean, dry grooveless club face and a clean, dry range ball. Spin rate is 5837 rpm. Launch is decent at 33.6º

I must mention that in order to 'manage' the friction between the club face and the ball each of these shots is played off a tee so as to eliminate grass and outside matter from interfering.

While the loft is maintained the launch, spin rate and peak height can be greatly influenced by the amount of friction generated between the club face and the ball. The moral of the story here is that the best pitchers in the world hit low launching, high spinning shots when the conditions allow. There is more at play than simply the loft at impact determining the launch angle. As you can tell friction plays a massive role too. It is my hope that in understanding this you will be less likely to try and 'fix' something that isn't broken. Hope this helps and thanks for reading!

Luke Donald

Hitting Up on the Driver

I often conduct this demonstration for my Three Day Golf students where I hit back to back shots and attempt to illustrate the value of hitting up on the driver and what it could mean to their tee shots. For good measure I also throw in a little fade versus draw at the same time. 

My intent is to maintain a similar club speed from one swing to the next and if possible strike the ball in a similar location on the club face. As you'll see this was an occasion where I managed to get pretty close...

This TrackMan screenshot illustrates the first shot where the idea was to hit down and across the target line, imparting a low launching and fading ball flight...

The First Shot

This TrackMan screenshot illustrates the follow-up shot where the plan was to deliver the club head to the ball with it traveling up and outward, imparting a higher launch and gentle draw to the ball flight...

The Second Shot

Let's take a deeper look to see what some of the important differences are between these two interesting shots:

1. Attack Angle - The 9.1º difference is the primary reason why the second shot traveled significantly further than the initial attempt. This was achieved with a change in tee height, address position and intent.
2. Club Path - The almost 14º difference here will generally lead to a huge change in ball flight curvature. My findings have shown that when it comes to shot shape the club path plays a primary role.
3. Launch Angle - The old adage of 'hit down to make the ball go up' takes a beating here as the shot hit with an ascending strike launches significantly higher.
4. Club Speed - Nothing much to see here other than to verify that the club head for each shot is traveling at virtually identical speeds.
5. Ball Speed - Another interesting nugget here is that while the carry and total distances are significantly different there is very little difference in the ball speed from shot to shot.
6. Carry - Wow! That's amazing isn't it? While impact location for the second shot was slightly higher on the face (and a hint more toward the toe) which might lend to slightly longer carry distance the direction the club head was traveling (up and out) is the primary difference maker here.
7. Total - As you might imagine the increase in total distance follows suit along with the increase in carry distance.

I know we could all benefit from a gain in almost 30 yards off the tee. And keep in mind that's at the same speed and with the same club! No need to hit the gym or shop for a new driver. This video gives some insight into what's required to affect the changes you've seen in this demonstration...

Thanks for reading/watching. If you need hands-on help with your game I'd love to host you in Savannah at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort for either a lesson or a Three Day Golf School. Email terri(at)andrewricegolf.com for details.

Trajectory Tricks

The loft on the clubface at impact is largely responsible for the launch of the ball. When it comes to wedge play friction also plays a significant role in determining the launch angle, but the purpose of this article is to share an idea to help you improve the loft you deliver to the ball at impact.

Most of us will either hit the ball overly high or too low. This video illustrates a simple drill to get you to feel what you need to feel in order to grasp what is required to deliver either more, or less, loft.

For the high ball hitters:

• Using a pitching wedge get set up with a narrow stance
• Position the ball off the tip of your front foot
• Feel the handle or butt of the club travel a long way forward into impact
• It’s not easy but do all you can to hit low launchers

For the low ball hitters like me:

• Stick with the PW and a narrow stance
• The ball should be in line with the tip of your back foot
• In the downswing you’ll feel the clubhead swinging a ton. The clubhead should feel like it outraces the hands
• This will feel scoopy and that’s a good thing

Notice where my hands are just post impact in the image below - the low ball hitters need the hands less forward while the high ball hitters need to sense how much more forward they need to be…

It’s never easy making changes as they always feel so uncomfortable. Let’s get away from associating discomfort with ‘wrong’ as you work towards improvement. I know this exercise seems like it’s the opposite of what it should be, but as the task becomes more challenging (which this one is) we have no choice but to adapt.

The good news is that this drill applies directly to your long game too, so don’t be afraid to incorporate a few of these drills with those full swings too.

Thanks for checking in and I hope this helps you to enjoy your golf a little more.