Golf Pitching - 30 Yard Pitch Shots

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The 30 yard pitch shot is a very tough one for golfers at all levels. So what is the secret to playing this shot? Well, the first one is to never put yourself in a position where you are faced with this shot. In the 2005 British Open, Tom Watson asked Jack Nicklaus why he didn't try and drive a particular hole after Watson put his tee shot on the green. Nicklaus replied, "Because the 30 yard pitch shot isn't my best." If the best golfer in the history of the game didn't want to face this delicate shot, don't feel bad if you don't feel comfortable playing it either!

  • Chuck demonstrates several approaches to avoid chunking a 30 yard pitch shot
  • Use a hybrid with a fairly square stance, ball off the left instep, weight slightly forward, and a normal grip to carry most of the way then roll like a putt
  • The 3 wood with the same stance, setup & stroke will carry a bit less and roll more
  • With a 7 iron, the ball is a bit back, off the right big toe, to come down more sharply & fly all the way to the green
  • With the 56 or 60 wedge you want to use the bounce to avoid digging into the ground
  • Get the bounce to release down, allow the hands to release a bit, have the ball & divot up in your stance
  • The wedge is a riskier shot, more suited for playing out of the rough for the first cut


Jack Nicklaus once said that the 30-yard shot, pitch shot, is the hardest shot in all of golf.

And for a lot of golfers, they just don't have a clue on what's the best way to hit it, what's the safest way to hit it from different lies and those types of things.

And that's what we're going to talk about today.

I'm going to show you several different ways to play it.

And we're going to start out with this tight lie here.

So this is mown tight bent grass.

So it's very, very tight lie.

It's very wet.

And it's on a little bit of an upslope and slightly into the grain.

Those things spell chunk for most hammeter golfers.

So it's a very, very scary shot because they're very afraid that they're going to stick the blade of the club into the grass.

So I'm going to show you the, really what's honestly the safest place once you learn how to hit it is actually with a hybrid or a three-wood.

And there are a couple of different options.

I'm going to show you the hybrid first because I've got about say five, six yards to carry here where there's a little bit of some rough spots in there that I don't really want to try and roll the ball over.

So using my hybrid, which has about 17 degrees aloft, I can get it to actually carry almost onto the green.

I don't want it to carry that far because I want it to roll like a putt.

But basically, this is going to allow me to read the green, play the slope of the green and have a very fail safe shot because I'm never going to chunk this thing.

The only thing that could really happen is I hit it too far.

That's what happens for most people.

So that's just a matter of learning to develop the feel.

And the good thing is, because it's pretty similar to a putt, it's pretty easy to get the feel of this guy.

So the first thing, obviously, you're going to want to practice this shot on the green, on your practice green as much as you can.

But as you're coming out, you need to start to find out where your stroke bottoms out.

And this will be predicated primarily on how much weight you have forward.

You don't want a tremendous amount of weight forward.

You maybe want to be 60-40 because you don't want to hit down on the ball because that's going to, too sharply, because that's going to drive the ball on the ground, have it pop up, and then it's not going to behave correctly.

It's going to have a chance of bouncing and skidding offline.

So we want to come through fairly shallow, which is why we don't want to be way out on our left side.

The second thing is ball position.

Again, we don't want to hit way down on it.

So we don't want the ball way back like this.

This is going to cause the ball to drive straight into the ground, pop up, and bounce offline.

So we're going to come through pretty shallow.

So I'm playing this kind of off my left instep here, and with a fairly square stance.

Now, my right foot is pretty square to the line.

My left foot is slightly open.

This just allows me to get a little bit of rotation, and I don't need a lot of rotation at all.

But this allows me to freely rotate and release the club down the line here, okay?

Second thing is grip.

For a lot of golfers, they like to use their putting grip, and that's perfectly okay.

That's going to take the wrists out of it a lot more.

For a shot of this length, 30 yards is a pretty good ways.

This is going uphill most of the way.

I'm going to take my normal grip, And that's going to allow me to release my wrist just a little bit.

To get a little bit of extra pop on the ball, to get it, to carry the whole distance or roll out the whole distance.

So let's start out with this guy and hit a couple little shots here.

So the ball is off my instep a little bit.

I'm going to make a little stroke.

Should take the break and start to come down the hill.

Not bad.

And you'll see that that ball carried probably about five yards, ended up just behind the pin.

Now, I can do the same thing with my three wood.

Now, the three wood, my three wood has 13 degrees aloft.

It's going to come out and start rolling a lot quicker.

I don't need to make nearly as big of a stroke here, but this is really good for really long shots or if you don't need to carry it over some of the fringe that might be a little rough in spots.

With my three wood, this is going to start to roll quite a bit earlier.

Same setup, same stance, same stroke.

So that one you can see skidded along the ground the whole way, ended up in about the same, almost exactly the same spot, but flew much lower.

The 17, the hybrid, popped it up in the air just a little bit, carried a lot of the rough spots and then rolled out.

So those are two great options because they're fairly fail safe.

You don't have to worry about chunking it.

You don't have to worry about laying the sod over.

You don't have to really worry about blading it.

And it allows, because of the thick sole on the club, it allows it to kind of glide through the grass if you don't make a perfect stroke.

It's a great shot.

Now I'm going to look at hitting it with a seven iron.

This is a fairly commonly taught shot, just kind of a little bump and run shot.

The basic key for this shot, you're going to play it back in your stance just a little bit more than you did with the hybrid.

You are going to come down a little bit more sharply.

You don't have the benefit of the big wide sole to bounce along the turf here.

But we don't want to have it way back in our stance like this either.

So it's going to be kind of off my right big toe.

I'm going to have a little bit of forward shaft lean, not much.

And then this is going to be a pretty simple little stroke.

And again, I'm wanting to practice in my practice strokes brushing the turf.

I don't want to sit here and start driving down into the ground and start taking divots.

You want to try and use the bounce as best you can, but you do need to hit down on it slightly more.

Okay, so now we're going to hit this shot.

This will fly all the way onto the green and then roll out.

And so that one flew all the way onto the green, a couple yards onto the green and missed by an inch.

Okay, so that's one shot.

And then the last one is between the 56 and the 60 degree wedge.

Now this is more of a preference play.

You can do either one.

My 60 degree is ground down.

I don't really have any bounce.

If you're not real comfortable with that, use the club with a little bit more bounce.

But because this is a really tight lie, this lack of bounce allows me to catch the ball really clean and not really worry about laying the sawed over.

Because the difference is for most people when they take out their 60, they play the ball way back in the stance and they just chop down on it and have their weight way forward.

And that's a great way to chunk shots.

I don't want to chunk this, of course, so I'm going to actually learn or teach you how to use the bounce of the club.

And, of course, the bounce is behind the leading edge.

This is the leading edge.

This is the trailing edge.

The angle degree, how much lower this part is than this is what's called the bounce angle.

You want to use the bounce because if you do that, the club can never dig in the ground.

So I could never really chunk this.

Now, of course, if I get a little crazy with it, I could start to blade it.

That's why I don't have a lot of bounce on my club.

That allows me to skim through the turf.

So now what I'm going to do is start practicing making little shots and releasing the club.

And when I'm doing this, you'll notice that I'm practicing my divot quite a bit forward in my stance.

Because again, if I have it here, I'm going to start to use that leading edge and dig.

So as I'm taking my little strokes, trying to get the bounce to release down, you'll see my hands releasing just a bit.

And that's what's going to allow me to release the club down.

Now with this shot, I'd probably not do this on this type of lie because it's very wet and it's very tight.

Two things that aren't going to be in your favor for this shot.

But if I had to carry it most of the way there for this 30-yard shot, this is going to be the shot that I'm probably going to resort to.

So now I'm going to take this.

The ball's up in my stance, kind of where I had my hybrid shot, off my left instep, left big toe.

And now we're going to fly this most of the way there.

And that's what can happen if you don't catch it clean.

So I took a little bit of a divot.

And again, why I probably wouldn't hit this shot, even trying to use the bounce, I didn't hit it hard enough.

So now I'm going to have to hit this a little bit harder and fly it most of the way there.

So that's a big risky shot.

I know it scares a lot of golfers.

It's one that you would really more want to play out of the rough or the first cut.

You don't necessarily want to hit it off tight lines unless the ground's really firm and you don't have a lot of other things working against you.

You can see out of the other shots, the hybrids and the seven irons and three woods, they all ended up really close to the hole without a lot of work.

This requires that you hit the shot perfectly.

And unless you have perfect turf conditions, I wouldn't suggest it.

So go back to the hybrid, the three wood, and then maybe the seven iron if you've got more that you've got to carry.

And of course you can hit eight, nine wedge.

But only go to the 60 in these circumstances when you absolutely have to, when you have to carry it most of the way there, when you have to fly it over something because it's the biggest, it's the most high risk shot for most golfers.

you you you

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Bernie
Can you choke down on the hybrid or 3 wood in order to get closer to the ball. If so, what adjustments need to be made??? Thanks
August 27, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Bernard. You can choke down. Just make sure you the club shaft doesn't stay in too flat of a position. You will need to get slightly closer which will raise the hands a touch. Which will sole the bottom of the face better versus being too toed up.
August 27, 2020
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Blake
Hi, RJ. I played golf! Much improved long game, thanks to you. But my pitch shot doesn't go that far - even with a six-iron, maybe 40-50 yards. And out of deep rough (DEEP after long shut down and rain) - hard to get out. What shot do I need from further out and from deep rough? Tell me and then I can send you some new videos to review. Thanks!
May 6, 2020
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Well, the biggest things that throw off a shot in deep rough are sliding under the ball, water drops on the grass killing the spin, and blades of grass slowing down the club face or moving it off line. So, you're going to want the club head moving through the grass as little as possible. Thus, you want to really hit down and through on it, steep angle of attack, but you need to have a higher lofted club to get the ball out of the grass quicker. Address the ball at the height that the ball is sitting at, providing it doesn't cause you to move the ball. This should help you get the ball out quick and minimize the time that the club head is affected by the grass. There's a video for flighting wedges that will give you similar techniques to what you'd want to use. Pitch shots aren't designed to go to far. Typically shots around the green. However, if you need to hit a half shot, you can use the flighted wedge technique for shots 100 yards and in or you can get about 80% of your typically distance by using the 9-3 drill but adding a little wrist and elbow cocking for lag after the takeaway portion of the swing, but you have to be careful to not have an inside takeaway because with that short of a swing, it's hard to make any compensations mid-swing, technique has to be spot on.
May 7, 2020
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Blake
Thanks RJ! I couldn’t find any videos using the term “flighted wedge.” Can you give me the name of the video(s) you referred you?
May 7, 2020
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
How to hit a wedge shot | Penetrating Wedge Shots
May 8, 2020
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Ronan
hi, Are you looking for a landing point to play this shot? Ronan
April 23, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ronan. Yes, you are looking for the landing spot and visualizing how it will roll out to the pin from there.
April 23, 2019
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Tram
When playing pitch shot, most of the time the ball flies to the left. I need some clarifications on the motion of the pitch: 1)At impact, is there need of post up like in full swing? 2)It seems there is two ways to pitch. One is to glide the club face under the ball to get a lot of spin but the ball goes shorter. The second is to hit with very tiny angle of attack to get more distance but less spin. For me , I hit about 30y at 11o’clock for the 2nd but only 15y for the 1st method. 3) About release in pitching, do we follow release like in full swing which can keep ball straight. 4) Head position, do we he have to keep back of Tha ball. We need your recommendation to get consistency in the pitching shot. Thank you very much.
February 7, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Tram. You don't need a very aggressive post like in a full swing. But, there will be a small clearing of the hips. Yes, you can slide under for spin, or try to hit it sharper to fly lower. You will follow the release like in a full swing. However, when you tend to get more of a penetrating wedge, or wanting to flight it lower. You will tend to release it more with the body and the hands will be quieter. Head movement should still be pretty minimal and you don't want to drive it ahead of the ball. But, when going much lower and the buttons ahead. You will be a little more on top of the ball (Penetrating Wedge Video).
February 8, 2019
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Brian
Hi Craig, what would be the main cause of me diving at the ball on the downswing on short chip and pitch shots? It's a short of yip/collapse before impact. Using Chucks methodology If I could identify the cause I could try doing the opposite to correct it. Feels like because there is no torque on the way back I am trying to hit it rather than collect on the way down back through.
January 7, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Brian. Take a look at Master the Golf Chipping Stroke Video. That should clear up the issue. If not, report back to me.
January 7, 2019
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Wyatt
Although I'm in total agreement with using the hybrid as the video shows, our club has a large number of steep fronts to the greens which seems more suited to the 55-60 deg shot. However, I so consistently hit the pitch slightly fat; my own opinion is I overwork the shoulders, but I'm interested in your opinion regarding how to pick the ball cleanly.
June 24, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Wyatt. Take a look at Perfect Pitch Shot Setup and Master the Golf Chipping Stroke. Both will talk about he causes of the fat shot.
June 25, 2018
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Anders
If you hit a 50 yards pitch shot, do you setup with axis tilt or just weight forward to hit slightly more down?
June 20, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Anders. Yes, there will be a small amount of axis tilt.
June 20, 2018
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Anthony
I am having a problem with my grip pressure in the short game. I am virtually keeping the right hand out of the shot. However, from time to time either the left or right hand will increase pressure dramatically on the downswing causing a fat and very frustrating shot. Is there any advise you can give which will enable me to improve this situation. I have watched the video re grip lightly with two fingers of the left hand and virtually leave right hand off but I still find the increased pressure creeps in!! Of course I have been holding my clubs like a vice for 30+ years!!
March 7, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Anthony. The increase is grip pressure is a tough one too battle. Try some of Chris's tips in the 3 Quick Tips to Fix Your Chipping to help get over the chunk hump.
March 7, 2018
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Dennis
Would it be okay to take chipping and pitching practice to my winter practice sessions to reinforce setup, weight transfer and the 9 to 3 swing while I'm learning the rest of the RST material? Or will I be taking the chance of back sliding into old habits by hitting balls too soon at this point and overloading the learning process?
February 1, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dennis. No worries working on the short game in the meantime as long as good principles are applied.
February 2, 2018
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Dennis
Thanks Craig! We have 25/40/55/70/85 yd slanted targets at the heated range I go to in the winter. Results from just setup and 9 to 3 along with tips in this section are amazing! Each target is about 2' high and 3-4' wide. I'm on target, either hitting or coming within 1' of either side 80% of the time. I've been working this winter on adjusting my backswing distance and staying with one club for all those distances (my lob wedge). What's RST's opinion on using partial backswings versus full backswings at varying speed/velocity? Is there a video on this subject? Thanks!
February 3, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dennis. I can't think of a video. However, sticking with the same club and varying your rotation/pace is a great way to get those wedge shots down. I don't want you getting to the point where the backswing is really short and big aggressive body through. But, with a balance and blend. All okay. Similar to the Penetrating Wedge Shot Video.
February 5, 2018
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Anthony
How does this pitch shot differ from the full swing with regard to the rotation of the torso moving the club? In the video there seems to be little rotation but more action with the shoulders and arms.
December 28, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Anthony. The pitch shot will be more body rotational versus full arms/hands release because it isn't a power shot. Less face rotation and a little more of a body release.
December 28, 2017
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Piergiorgio
Hi guys, a question now for the "hardpan" in late November in wet european weather: very little "wintery" grass, over a soft, almost muddy ground...40 yards off the green and, why not, with a bunker in between to carry...what is the best club and shot option?
November 20, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Piergriorgio. The goal is to not dig the leading edge too much in the ground. I would practice a very shallow angle of attack with a half pitch shot type motion. You may try a select few clubs to get the proper height and carry. Sort of like hitting a long bunker shot just shaving the top of the ground.
November 20, 2017
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Justin
For the wedge , you mentioning practicing the divot forward in tour stance but can you confirm that when you're using the bounce you hit the turf first and let the club glide under the ball?
August 7, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Justin. The club will be gliding through the turf, but you still want ball contact first.
November 20, 2017
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Michael
I really like this video but most of the courses have heavy rough that may have to navigate first. Can you tell me where I can see a video of this type of shot with varying yardages from heavy lies.
September 3, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. Heavy lies will be in the Wedge Play section and uneven in the Specialty Shots section.
September 4, 2016
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Jeff
I found the title of this video a bit misleading. A better title, it seems, From 30 yds Chip, Don't Pitch. But the information is spot on. Interestingly, I find that few instructors advocate using a pitching wedge for anything besides a full shot. When I was young all there was was a pitching wedge which I used for everything, unless I needed quick loft or I was in the sand. I wore a hole in my pitching wedge. I think people don't use pitching wedges for short game because the sole on most pitching wedges are designed for full shots, unless you have a player's club or you get something like a 48 degree off the wedge rack.
June 21, 2016
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Micah (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Jeff. it's always easier to predict a balls path traveling on the ground than it is in the air. I'm with you on the pitching wedge. A lot of amateurs think that just because they are close to the hole, they need to use high loft. Using a lower lofted club makes working the greens almost effortless and it really becomes and putt with loft.
October 8, 2016
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Emil
I would like to ask you for an article/video on the usage of chip, pitch and wedge shots - depending on distance and others conditions.
April 25, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Emil. Take a look at the Chipping Section. You will see the Ladder Drill for Distance and How to Chip Club Selection. I will let the team know you would like an all encompassing video. Pitch Shots will typically be 30 to 50 yards. Wedge shots around 60 to 120.
April 25, 2016
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Emil
Thanks. Looking forward to the video/article.
April 25, 2016
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Loran
If I have about seventy yards or so to the pin and I want the ball to land softly on the green, which club do I use?
May 21, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Loan. Typically, a higher lofted wedge around 58 to 60 Degrees.
May 21, 2015
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Greg
Does Chuck have dorsi flexion with the left wrist in this shot with the left hand on the follow through or is the release abrupt but similar to the full swing release?
April 12, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Greg. It depends on which one you are referring too. If you want to loft it a bit more with a touch of spin. The release will tend to have more dorsi flexion. The fairway wood or bump/run will tend to keep the lead wrist more quiet and on the rotational side versus adding cupping.
April 14, 2015
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Christian
Those are great suggestions for that type of situation. I have seen people take out their wedges and try to fly it there, where I am more of a bump and run guy. I will need to practice my hybrid.
February 12, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Keeping it on the ground can eliminate a lot of variables that can go wrong in the short pitch. A lot easier to hole them out more frequently too.
February 13, 2015
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Robert
All Videos for the past several weeks will not play properly. all of them pause multiple times maybe 50 throughout each video and the screen freezes. Any suggestions
December 19, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Robert. Are you using Chrome or Firefox as your browser? If you are, try clearing your cookies or history. If you continue to struggle with the issue. Please use the link below for Customer Support. They will be happy to help.
December 20, 2014
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ron
Chuck - I have developed a bad case of the pitching yips. I have gone from an excellent short game to stumping short pitch shots, blading, shanking and even double hitting some pitch shots. I can make good contact when using only one hand, either left or right, (I am right handed), but when I have two hands on the club I am a mess. Help!!!!!
September 27, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ron. Keep using the lead hand (left hand). You are more than likely forcing body motion and/or flipping it with the right. Take a look at the Proper Pitch Technique Video in this Section. You want it nice and balanced. Get a good lead arm swing and barely use the trail side.
September 27, 2014
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mike
Why should a person use a seven iron instead of a 60 degree wedge? I watched the how to hit proper wedge shots video and it talks about using a 60 degree wedge and getting underneath the ball. Isn't this shot in the range of a typical pitch shot around the green? Does it all depend on the lie and how short the grass is?
April 11, 2014
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Mike, every shot can be just a bit different and can be dependent on what sort of conditions you are facing. We outline a series of shots on here so that you can increase the total number of shots you have available for each shot so that you can get the ball up and in more frequently.
April 14, 2014

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