Pitching & Sand Wedge help please !!

need a bit of assistance if poss please, knowing how cack my short game is lately, went to the driving range to work on smaller irons tonight for saturdays trip out, been proving a bit tough on my pitching wedge which i seem to really let myself down on and practice as i may, it still not working, in my lesson i was told to play the pitching wedge from the back foot or just outside the back foot, and ultimately depending on how hard i drive back depends on how far i hit the ball or what sort of loft i get on it, the problems i have are... 1 - feels too uncomfortable and almost like i am twisting my body back to play my shot, after 5 or 6 strokes really takes its toll on my back (i'm 6ft1") dunno if thats anything to do with it ? 2 - when i play the shot, doesnt matter how hard or soft i hit it, its doesnt loft just rolls for ages almost like i am topping the ball, not lifting head or bending elbow, i'm keeping my head down and drawing back as normal to 1/2 to 1/4 draw just for a simple 20-25 yrd chip but either goes too far of falls short ? 3 - find myself stabbing at the pw & sw to get any sort of reasonable height, am i too rigid ???

any comments greatly received...Tim

Tim, I can understand what you're going through as I've (hopefully) just come out of the same problem, to such an extent that I had to play my chip shots using my right hand only or putting: fats, outright tops, double hits etc... the whole lot. It was so frustrating being 10-15 yds from the green and taking 4+ to get down from there. Here's how I got it to a workable state, it's a framework that can be built upon and refined once you have your confidence back (I don't profess it to be gospel and some may say it's bull shit but it worked for me). 1) Don't practice off mats for this type of shot, get on the grass. 2) Ball position: I could get just as bad a result if I had it off my back foot or central, I don't think that was the issue with me, though I think we can discount playing off inside the left heel. if you're playing outside the back foot that may account for the low trajectory. I think more importantly keep your hands forward of the ball. 3) Think of this shot as the only moving parts are your arms, start off with, not breaking the wrists throughout the whole stroke don't break your wrists after the strike or there's a chance you'll hit the ball again on your follow through (thanks to Steve Martin for that one) think of a triangle shape and keep that shape. 4) You may think you are keeping your head still and the rest of the body but ask someone else to look and check if you actually are. 5) Don't be afraid of the follow through (in my case a subconcious yip, arising from thins going through the green, meant I ended up stabbing) remember we're not trying fancy flop shots, just a simple swing through the same plane, the club should not be slowing down at point of strike. 6) Try this with the same lengh of backswin, same tempo on your 7 iron upwards and get aa feel for how much the ball carries and rolls with each club. There's no reason why lower clubs cannot be used ie two feet of fluffy stutt to negotiate with a lot of green can be dealt with a 3 iron.
7) I'm afraid there's no shortcut, practise and practice. You'll soon be getting those priceless 'up and downs'. Good luck.

I had real problems with my chip shots around the green. I was using cheap s/w and p/w which had broad bases which tend to bounce a lot. The wide base means it is easier to do a full or half shot and easier to get out of bunkers but make delicate shots tough as you can easily thin it or duff it. I then inherited my husbands vokey wedges - a 58 and a 52 and it has made an enormous difference. I have slowed down my swing and increased the arc for all my chip shots. This makes it easier to get the 'feel' of the shot. The grooves also create more spin on the ball - they tend to nip the ball so it stops much more quickly on the green. I did have to work quite hard on my bunker shots though but they are starting to come right.

Tim, for what it's worth, I was given some advice which has worked well for me whilst I learn and practice my short game - if all else fails, keep your weight on your front leg and hands in front of the club head when chipping onto the green. Also, don't be afraid t try a 7 iron particularly when you've got green to play with - more like a putting stroke, but if you can ge the feel right, it's a really easy way to get near the pin for an up and down.

thanks for the advice all, couldnt get on internet last night to read comments, and game didnt exactly go according to plan today either, will be practicing a few of the methods in the next couple of days to see which give a better result, most appreciated all..Tim

Tim, you should check out this feature on golfshake too:

http://www.golfshake.com/news/view/3105/iPhone_Short_Game_App.html

Gary Smith is a short game specialist that coaches the England amateur squad, and is a top rated lecturer to PGA pros.

If you don't have an iPhone or iPad, worth making the trip to see him in Reading or Bristol.

right, its either me or my pitching wedge and me are just not ever going to get on, i have tried 4 different techniques using the wedge....option 1, feet close together ball in centre of feet just moving arms keeping wrists straight ie pendulum motion, keep double hitting the ball twice even on the follow through, went for option 2, feet slightly apart, ball @ back foot, again pendulum motion keeping my triangle still double hitting, option 3, feet again slightly apart ball at the back foot still, 1/2 draw back turning wrist on pull back to 9pm position and club face @ 12pm on the follow through ball either smashes too far or too short doesnt matter how i seem to hit it be it fast or slow, AAAGGGHHHHH so bloody frustrating, is it me or am i just not getting this game ??....!

Tim, try keeping your hands in front of the ball and don't break your wrists. Don't slow down your swing into the shot, if you're doing that you may be subconciously having too long a backswing. Try this: place ball and practice your swing, just outside the ball until you get the ryhtmn, when you're ready step ino the ball and see what happens.

patrick, thanks for the advice, gritted teeth tonight and went for it again on the green in front of my house (with an audience of teenagers) think i have finally got the drift of it, ended up standing with feet approx 1 1/2 ft apart, ball in centre of feet and using sweeping motion of club keeping wrists rigid, stuck bucket 20 yrds to start with in front of me and did 20 balls to bucket, nothing to ambitious just aimed and stuck, once i got the feel of the swing and rough guess on club draw back it was hitting close if not right at the bucket with some reasonable height on the chip, the odd double hit but nowhere near where it was before, did this for approx 4 times at 20yrd then moved bucket back a further 10yrds, again same result odd dodgy one but other than that most on target and even managed a few from the long grass, those that finished short i stepped in and tried small chips on these to the bucket, started getting a bit more confident and even got one in the bucket, now to transfer to course if weather plays fair, methinks practice, practice, practice still applies to this though but happier with results than what i was the other day, so top man thanks for the advice.

update on chipping practice, have been sticking to the sweep method and things have improved greatly, me, 50 balls and a brolly & bucket have become close mates and have even managed to put a few in them both from 20,30 & 40yrds, consistently straight and with height, still sticking to the dustbin lid target area and watching about how many are falling short, all in all a marked improvement, now just for the golf course next week !!!

Well done Tim, I bet you now think 'what was all that about?'

Well done Tim, I bet you now think 'what was all that about?'