W
L
PITCHING
by Tom Atkinson, PGA Pro - Heswall Golf Club
Pitching, the pro’s bread and butter. They hit
it long and then pitch it close. You can also
pitch it close but you will need to practice.
If you watched the Masters earlier this month you will
have noticed how good the distance control was.
The experienced pro’s were pitching it exact yardages
to best use the huge slopes on the greens.
When you work on your pitching the most important
number is the carry distance, not the total distance.
Why if you know exactly how far away the hole is?
Because of changing conditions, one of the beauties
of golf is having to adapt to what’s in front of you.
A 70 yard pitch in the winter is likely to have to carry
70 yards. That same pitch in the summer may only
need to fly 50 yards, as there will be more bounce
and roll once it lands.
Work on 3 concrete yardages and get a suitable club
and swing for those. For me, these yardages are 50, 70
and 85 yards. I know exactly how to carry the ball to
these numbers, if I have 60, I can adapt my swing by
feel, the same goes for 90 and so on and so forth.
The pitching swing doesn’t need to be complicated,
I teach the pitch shot as a ‘hinge and hold’. Play the
ball from just in front of your sternum, turn away with
your trunk, hinge the wrists sufficiently for the leverage
needed and then hold that shape through the ball.
For lessons or more information on availability:
Tom Atkinson PGA
Head Golf Professional
Heswall Golf Club
Wirral, Ch60 8Pb
01513427431
www.heswallgolfshop.com
@heswallgolfshop
82 wirrallife.com