3.4 The GOAT Pitch Shot
Once you've got a good "hand" on your putting and chipping, the next phase - pitching - will be your first step into the foundation of a full swing as you will learn how to rotate using your core while setting your wrist to get the club up on plane.
Once you get to the pitching stage, Things really start to reveal themselves.
About the fundamentals that you've been working on so far in your putting and chipping that are going to start to build into your full swing, and it's really going to show here.
So, I've got Tiger hitting a pitch shot on the right.
Now, He's got a little bit more of an open face because he's hitting a longer shot and wants a little more height and spin on it.
I'm hitting about a 20-yard shot here so my face is a little bit more square, but otherwise, You're going to see what you're going to learn at the second half of this video.
That these fundamentals that you've been working on are starting to flow over into your pitching stroke, which is going to flow over to your iron swing, which is going to flow over to your driver swing.
But we've got to get these things really, really on the money at this point because now this is where the rubber starts to meet the road.
And the first thing that you've got to focus on that we're going to talk about in the second half of this video is the way that the club head swings back on plane.
And must stay outside of your hands.
Now, This is going to be a challenge for most golfers at first because the club is going to want to swing way inside the hands for almost everybody.
It's almost like a universal law that most golfers struggle, with a club head going inside their hands during the swing.
So, that's what we're going to talk about in the second half of this video.
But as we go back, there's a couple of things you'll notice.
One, that the club head is going to start to track back to the inside pretty immediately.
Part of this is ball position that we're going to talk about in the second half of this video.
The ball is going to be played off your back toe for most of these shots as kind of like a basic starting point.
But from here, it's got to start working up on plane and outside your hands.
So, by the time that you're at the completion of the takeaway, Your checkpoints are that that club head is still outside your hands, and that that club face is roughly matching your spine angle, give or take a little bit.
So, you're going to start to see roughly where your spine angle is.
That's going to be roughly the angle of the club face.
As you continue to go back, you want that club to work up through your form or in Tiger's case slightly above it.
But, you know, Tiger's much, he's about five inches taller than me and very, very different builds.
So, there's going to be little variances, but what you don't want to see is that club head going underneath your form in the backswing.
That's going to lead to a lot of club face rotation in the swing.
It's going to lead to kind of chunkier shots.
It's going to be much harder to strike the ball crisp and clean.
So, You want to make sure that the club head is going through your forms.
Or like, if you're taller with a different build, like Tiger, then it may even go a little bit steeper.
But from here, We want to have a little tiny bit of shallowing because we've got to start to get back into that GDP position.
And so, we want to start working that elbow pit up, out, and away from us.
And so, the club head, if you watch in both Tiger's case and my case, there's going to be a little tiny loop like this.
And it's very, very, very subtle.
Okay, so I'm going to play this a couple times so you can start to look for it.
So, as you start to watch, so if you watch Tiger's case, You're going to see that club head just make this little tiny shallowing move right there as it starts to move back.
You'll see the same thing in my case.
It starts to drop under just a little bit, and that's getting that club to shallow out just a tiny bit.
And this is important because for those of you who have been really over the top, that's going to be a very strange sensation for you to let that arm, That trail arm start to move back into GDP so that it starts to connect your core so you can use your core for power.
Now, we don't need a lot of power on this pitch shot, obviously.
We're hitting 20 yard shots here, But we do need to start getting the sequencing and the feeling for that arm and club to begin to shallow out.
As it works back down, it's going to work back down basically on the exact same plane that you took it back.
So, you can see Tiger's is right on the top of his forearm.
Mine's right through the center of my forearm.
Again, different builds.
And then as we bring the club back down, You're going to see the club head should be right in line with your hands at this point in the swing.
And then as we come down from there, we're going to see, we want to make sure we're hitting the ball in the center of the face every single time.
So, you should feel a lot of control with your right hand.
Now, when I say control, that doesn't mean death gripping it.
There's a little bit of swinging and momentum and tempo and rhythm that happens in the pitch shot that you didn't have as much in your chipping stroke.
But you can see what you want to feel.
Is that club starting to be able to swing and feeling it in those trail hand fingers, to control that club face and control that starting line.
So, it comes out on the same line every single time.
So, Now, Let's look at a simple drill that's going to help you start to get this most important part of the swing, which is the takeaway.
Getting this club to start to go inside and up correctly.
And I'm going to give you a really simple drill to help you feel this.
So that you can start getting the club to come down perfectly on plane with a perfectly square club face.
Once you're ready to move up to the pitching stroke, You should have a lot of great feel in your trail hand for controlling that club face and for your stroke.
Because what we're going to work on now is going to build on that.
And if you don't have those fundamentals down, this is going to be a big challenge and a struggle for you.
And that's why we're going to start with the most important drill first, which is learning how to keep that club head moving correctly outside your hands.
That's one of the things that Tiger's always been the best stat and keeping that club moving properly on plane, keeping the club from getting stuck inside and keeping it outside of his hands.
And that's something that almost every amateur golfer on the planet struggles with.
So you're going to start to learn how to feel how to set your wrists properly.
And this is going to start building into other parts of your game, including your full swings.
This is very important, But you have to have a good sense of control with that club face first before you're ready to start attempting these pitch shots.
So what you're going to do at first is just set up something to the side of you.
And I'm going to show you, basically, I set it up, basically the edge of the bag here is about in line with the middle of my foot or my ankle.
You can use a foam roller, a bag stand, a small child, whatever you've got handy to start keeping you from taking this club and whacking it inside, especially if you're using small children.
So as you're going back, What you're going to find is that most golfers aren't really sure where that club's supposed to go and how they're supposed to be taking it back.
But what you're going to find is that as you begin to, from a proper setup position, you start to rotate your torso back, you're going to need to start to set the wrist up.
And you're going to want to make sure that club face is remaining pretty square to where it started, which is going to feel closed if you're used to fanning the face open.
And if you're used to taking the club way inside, that's probably what you're doing is you're starting to let your wrists roll.
And that's a lot of times that comes from pushing from this lead side and dumping the club inside.
That's what happens.
What you're going to feel with your trail hand, as you go back and you begin to turn, you're going to start to hinge the wrist up.
The club's going to feel quite steep for most of you, if again, you're used to bringing the club around inside.
And that's why having something like this next to your body is going to give you a reminder to not rip the club inside.
You're going to have to feel the club had your wrist going up while the face is staying square.
So you're not opening the face at this point, you're hinging it back.
Obviously, there's some wrist cock as well.
But if you just cocked your wrist, that would make your lead wrist kind of cock like this.
And there's a point in the time for that.
But for your basic chipping stroke, as you start to hinge, we want this lead wrist to start to flatten out a little bit.
And that's going to help us have a very stable wrist going into the hitting area, because you don't want that wrist to be flipping as we're hitting these pitch shots.
So as you're looking at it from face on, as I go back, as my wrist starts to hinge, this wrist starts to flatten out so that when I come down, I've got a nice flat wrist.
And this happens earlier in the pitch stroke than it does in a full swing, because we just don't have that much time to flatten out the swing.
So you're actually taking out some of the wrist extension at setup, Because you're adding a little forward press, and that little, that forward press takes out some wrist extension.
And then as you go back, you're taking out a little bit more.
And that's helping the club work up to stay on plane.
And then it's going to make it very easy to come down on top of the ball.
So this is going to be your first and perhaps your most important drill is getting the club to start working up and then starting to, and you do once you get the club to go up, you don't want to just whack it over the top, of course.
So once you get the club to go up, you're going to have a little bit of a shallowing move to get back into that GDP position.
So you don't want to make sure, you know, you don't want your arm to be internally rotated like this, Because then it's going to make it really easy for this arm to bend and the wrist to rip the club inside.
So make sure you've got that arm set out, the elbow pit out away from you.
As you go back, keep it in that supinated position and set your wrist up.
And that's as you come down, There's going to be just that tiny bit of shallowing move as your core and everything begins to help lead the club back down.
You're going to make sure that elbow pit is still staying out until long after the strike.
So show you what this looks like.
So you're just going to go back.
I'm going to move this more in the way.
So it's a little bit more challenging.
So I'm, you know, my weight's more towards the balls of my feet here, so I can move pretty athletically.
And I'm going to get my wrist to cock the club up.
You're going to, you're not going to want to start to just extend your arms out right away.
That's another way that you're going to kind of cheat at this drill.
So another little trick is to place a ball just outside of where your ball is at setup.
And so if you start to take the club outside like that, you're going to hit it or you're even your eyes will see if you pick it up over it, you'll start to see that it's your club's going too far outside.
The club's going to work back to the inside of that ball while your body is rotating and the wrist is going up.
So those are the two things you're balancing out here is, you know, Your upper body rotating while your wrist is cocking the club up to keep it from going too far inside.
So as you're doing these drills, just little shots, these are going to be about a 20 yard shot or so.
And get a feel for that club, shallowing back out and controlling that club face through the strike with your trail hand.
So you start getting to the point where the ball is starting to fly the same way every time.
If you find that you're having a hard time controlling the starting line, so the ball is kind of starting right on one left on one, you're doing something with that face like fanning it open.
You want to make sure you want to, you want a very stable, quiet club face through this, through a pitching shot.
So you're not fanning it open.
You're not taking it back too shut.
You're just simply going back, hinging up, shallowing coming down with that little GDP position, and then a solid strike controlling with that trail hand.
And this will start to build into these longer wedge shots that we're going to work on next.
From the face on view, A little setup tip for you to get the basics of this shot to make it really simple and give yourself a really good shot.
Getting up and down more often.
Start with the ball off of your big toe, with your feet pretty close together and your stance a little bit open.
And then you can start to manipulate the club face a little bit from there.
So rather than moving the ball position a lot, which you absolutely can once you get comfortable with this, Start with it in the same spot and then start to open the club face if you need a little bit higher trajectory.
Or you can keep it more square to hit a little bit flatter shot or you need a little more roll.
But don't mess around too much with ball position at first.
Get a feel for hitting the same shot over and over and over again so that you have a sense of control of that club face.
Because this is your first big step towards swinging more like the goat.
And so it's going to be a lot more challenging as you start having to use your wrist set.
And the chipping stroke, we don't really have a lot of wrist set.
It's not a lot of movement.
It's just starting to get a sense of that club face control.
But here, Now we're starting to have a golf swing and now we're starting to have some wrist set.
And we need some momentum and some rhythm, and some tempo, and some flow, and some nice, gentle movement between our feet.
And so if you start messing around with ball position too much before you start with, Before you get really comfortable with this basic stroke, and you're and you're still ripping the club inside, it's going to make things way too complicated.
So make it really simple on yourself.
Just have it right off your big toe, give or take a little bit, find a spot that's comfortable and then make sure from there you've got all your setup fundamentals.
This elbow pit out, arm supinated, proper strong grip with that trail hand.
Work on keeping the club outside the bag as you go back.
And then as you come through, you're going to have a little bit of de -lofting because you're going, your hands are still going to be leading and you're going to also add a little bit of forward press.
That forward press helps, sets the extension in the trail hand to give you something to be able to release coming down.
So a nice little forward press to start everything back will help get everything really dialed in and start paying attention to the little details.
You've got to video your swing at this point.
It's an absolute mandatory fundamental.
If you're not videoing your swing and you're just relying on the results, well you can ship it with the club way inside, way outside and still get good results, but it's not going to help you build into a proper full swing.
So make sure you're videoing and uploading your swing for review.
So we can take a look.
Because you'll save yourself tons of time and headache.
Because just getting the club to stay outside of your hands will be a big, big challenge.
And And it may take several hours just to get to the first one, where you can feel that it's normal to keep the club outside your hands.
So pressure is going to be, you know, pretty favorable on the left side, but you can, you can do a little bit of both here.
I like to start maybe 60, 40 on the left, but as I go back, I do make a little weight shift and then another little weight shift left, but it's really, really small, really, really small.
It's a very subtle thing, not something that's even really worth talking about too much at this, at this point, unless you find that you're hitting a lot of shots fat, Then you're probably starting with too much weight on your trail foot.
And the club's going to bounce into the ground first and then bounce up into the ball and you're going to hit a really, a lot of really crappy shots.
So there is a little tiny bit of rhythm and flow and weight shift to get your pressure to go back to the lead side as you're doing this.
So just try to start feeling athletic with it.
And one of the things I like to do with the pitch shot to help you with that is I like to take little tiny steps, not necessarily you don't have to hit balls with it, but just getting a feel for taking a little step to the left as I come through.
So I was kind of, as I'm going back, I lift my foot and that's going to make it to where I naturally I'm going to fall into that left side and then start coming through from there.
And it'll help you stop getting, especially if you're hitting a lot of fat shots, you're using too much wrist action.
Your body's not synced up.
You're not using your core very well.
And that's one of the things you're going to start to feel a lot more, especially even just a 20 yard pitch shot.
You're going to start to use your core more because obviously you're making a bigger shoulder turn, and it's the core that's turning your shoulders, of course.
So just start getting a basic feel, you know, starting up with all the same similar fundamentals that I just talked about.
And you'll be able to start hitting really good, simple pitch shots and hit them nice and solid and straight every time.
Joey
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