How many of you pitch on the 4:30 line? Has anyone ever commented on how flat your swing looked for a pitch shot? That you are taking it back to far to the inside? That you are rolling the club face way to open?
I was practicing my pitch shots today from about 40 yards from the practice green. I was mainly focusing on tempo and distance control. I started out hitting 10-15 feet left of the hole and was slowly dialing in on my alignment back to the right. I was also hitting them pretty flushed. About this time i was on my 20th or so ball, when a buddy of mine saw me practicing and came up to me. I guess he was observing what i was doing from a distance.
Keep in mind that my buddy is a scratch golfer and a true swinger. He swings really upright and amazes me how he hits a natural draw on his upright swing… Anyways, first thing he said was your coming back way to the inside for a pitch shot. He wanted me to take it back down the line and up very steeply. To avoid a lecture from him and me not wanting to argue on why i was going down the 4:30 line, i decided to go with him at the moment…I also wanted to see how ingrained my ABS DNA habits were coming along.
Well, it took me literally 5 minutes to take it back on his steep plane. He kept on saying man u have a bad habit of taking it back flat. He had to hold my arms and hands out to trace the line he wanted me to go back on several times. Ok so i finally got that down, now to hit the ball. First ball i hit, shanked it completely right. My face was so open, that coming down into the ball with my passive arms and hands, i didnt have a chance in hell to hit that straight. So i tried another as he watched…shanked again. He then said ok, your club face is wide open. Dont roll the face open, keep the club face squared as u take it back and only cock your wrist.
Well that took me another 5 minutes not to roll my forearms. Finally i was able to take it back without opening my club face, and was able to hit a decent pitch shot as a swinger. I can tell you this, i did not like the feeling of everything being passive. My arms and hands felt dead. Taking the club back way outside of my 4:30 line was totally awkward and uncomfortable. I then told him, let try my original swing…I hit it solid flushed. He looked at me and shrugged…and said you need to break that habit!
This proved to me, that my ABS DNA is starting to seep in more and more. For those who can disconnect themselves as a hitter and swinger at will is quite amazing to me.
John (Lag), you being able to swing and hit both effectively is crazy! I dont see how you do it!
I have heard all of those comments before too(too open, too flat, too inside)…
Lag opened up a chipping section too for later module guys, but he offers it for an additional $50 for the rest of us. I got it a few weeks ago, and I highly recommend it. It has helped me add a new dimension to my short game in terms of lower trajectory running shots, and it is 100% pure hitting.
On little pitch shots from 30 or 40, I use basically a module 1 action (deep 430, no hand travel) with the hands in as tight as possible. I can fire the hands and the pivot hard and make consistent contact if I keep the hands close and maintain bend in my left arm (right arm for right handers).
As I was reading your comments prior to getting to the above quote, I was thinking that you would shank the shot. Sounds like you may have had your shoulders still moving flat- combined with that steep inclination, passive arms and open face…not a good recipe. Also the transition piece would be going haywire in the subconscious mixing the two.
I’m having some difficulty with distance control pitching the ball as a hitter on short pitch shots…mostly going long of landing spot by a few yards so under 40 yards I usually swing to pitch, over 40 yards I hit to pitch.
I pitch with a hitters move on the 4:30 line from any distance…I practice the 40 yard shot and less about 6 hours a week…It’s not the easiest thing in the world but love to do it for some reason I can’t explain…
Executing a straight up-and-down “swinging” pitch shot is impossible if you’re using a PW that’s 5 flat. Conversly trying to hit a flat rotated pitch with a standard lie angle PW is equally impossible. Hand your buddy your wedge next time and have him demonstrate his technique to you. It should be fun to watch.
I was using my gap and sand wedge. I haven’t bent those, so they are standard. I actually got pretty good at hitting them…only bad thing is they draw a lot with a hitter swing. I will need to flatten my gap at least. Sand wedge I might leave alone. Now my irons and pw is flatten 6 degrees, and it would be very difficult to hit those upright. You would toe it everytime.
hmmmmmm… Lag can correct me here, but it I’m validating the infusion of ABS into my dna on the short shots (which is imo a good test) it needs to be with the flat clubs. No way could I hit p3/430 and move level left with a standard lie angle wedge (gap or sand) and do it wilh the same hand orientation I use on a full swing. It would be more than just a drawing traj… more like a heel heavy chunck.
On full swings with my gap and sand, it usually takes out more divot then i like. You just have to be sure to hit the ball first. If i pivot really hard on those clubs, i can get them to hook even. But usually i dont take full swings with those clubs. Better to take PW, 9i, or 8i…depending how far your out and what hazards lie in front of you. For the shorter shots, i haven’t notice any major digging of the heel. I actually dont think much about it. Only thing i do notice is the shot goes left more then i like, and its probably due to the uprightness of the wedges.
