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The Short Game - Downhill Pitch Shots from Rough
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Staring at a downhill pitch shot out of rough can be intimidating and may even seem hopeless. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there, and in this video, I’ll show you how to hit the perfect, lofted shot that’ll save you a ton of strokes. You’ll learn the 6 keys to hitting downhill pitch shots from the rough.
- Weaken the Left and Right Hand Grip to Hold Off Release of Face
- Use 60 Degree Wedge
- Keep Face Open With Lot of Loft
- Move Ball Back in Stance
- Match Shoulders With Slope
- Stance Open With Target
- Steeper Swing to Match Slope
Downhill shots out of the rough are a very challenging shot for most people.
They don't know how to play them and there's a specific technique that you want to use that's going to really help you get out up and down.
When you hit a shot and you short side yourself and you have a really hard time getting the ball to stop quickly.
What happens nine times out of ten is that the clubface gets hung up in the rough and gets shut down.
You take all the loft off the ball, launches across the green and you're in big trouble.
There's a specific technique that I'm going to show you now that's going to help you with this shot.
And it's a few different things you've got to know.
The first one I'm going to show you is how to set up with the clubface and your grip.
Before we get into the ball position and all those things that I'm going to show you next, we're going to get the clubface and the grip set up perfectly correct.
So the first thing you want to do is you want to weaken your left hand grip.
This is important because what you want to do is you want to be able to hold off the release of the Clubface and not get the Clubface to shut down.
And be able to hold it firm enough that you can hold it through the thickness of the rough, and the rough won't shut it down as well.
This will also give you the added benefit of having a little extra loft coming through.
So you're not worried about launching the ball off the green because the downhill slope is already going to make the loft stronger than it normally is.
It's going to make it have a tendency to want to launch across the green.
And obviously because we're short-sided here, we want to hit a short, delicate shot.
So we want to have as much loft on there as we can so of course I'm using my 60 -degree wedge.
So, what I'm going to do first, I'm going to put my left hand grip on this, maybe my normal grip.
I'm going to weaken it and then I'm going to weaken the right hand to match.
This is going to allow me to be aggressive and hold a firm, flat left wrist while holding the clubface open through the hitting area.
So I'm not worried about de-lofting the club.
The second thing is I'm going to hold the clubface open just like I would in a bunker shot.
So you can see I won't, I'm not going to square up the clubface, that's going to take loft off.
I want a lot of loft, again because of the downhill slope.
So what I'm going to do with the Clubface open and my weaker grip is then move the ball back about two-thirds of the way back in my stance.
This is where a lot of people go wrong.
They play kind of where their normal ball position would be.
They get way on their front foot, That's going to make them have a very steep angle of attack, that's going to cause the clubface to lose loft.
And so, and then they're also going to get the club dragging through the grass too long.
The reason I move the ball back in my stance is for two things.
One, I want to make sure I get the ball as relatively clean as I can.
So I do want a steep angle of attack, but I don't want to get a lot of grass in between the clubface and the ball.
So, When I move the ball back in my stance, it allows me to make sure that I'm not going to go right underneath the ball.
That's a big fear.
When you have this much loft on there is that you just slip the blade right under the ball, the ball sits there and it gets just buried under a worse life.
Moving it back is going to allow me to have a steep angle of attack and get a lot of ball.
Before the clubface starts interacting too much with the grass.
Once I've got these three things set up, weaker grip, open clubface ball back two -thirds of my stance, then I just got to worry about this stroke.
And my swing is not going to be much different than normal, except I'm not going to have a lot of body turns, it's going to be a very wristy, Handsy stroke going back?
Because I want to pick the club up to get it up off the grass and allow me to have a lot of wrist angle coming down.
So that I have some power to get the club through the thick grass.
The last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to hold off the release, I mentioned that earlier with the grip, Is, as I come through, I'm going to hold the clubface open so that it doesn't flip over on me and launch the ball across the green.
Again, I'm wanting to maintain the loft as I come through.
So let's take a look at what this is going to look like.
Ball two-thirds of the way back in my stance.
Stance is open to the target, it's about 35 degrees or so roughly, that's a comfort thing.
Clubface open, laying back, weaker grip, And then, as I go back, I'm going to pick the club up relatively sharply and then come down and hold off the release of the club.
That ball comes out very nice and soft even though I'm on a pretty severe downhill lie.
The ball came out really nice and gentle and I've got a good shot at getting up and down for par.
So again, just work on your setup.
One thing I didn't mention there is your spine angle.
Typically you're going to want to try and match your spine with the slope.
Because I'm playing the ball back in my stance I'm not going to get it that severe.
So you'll notice that when the ball is back my spine angle is not exactly matching the slope.
That may be contrary to what you hear a lot.
But again, because the ball position and the way.
I'm holding off the release of the club and because I'm moving it back in my stance, I don't want to be this far forward.
Again, I'm trying to maintain loft.
If I get really steep on it, I'm going to come down even steeper, with a more steep angle of attack, and that's going to take more loft off.
So those are the keys to hitting a perfect short-sided downhill shot out of the rough.
They don't know how to play them and there's a specific technique that you want to use that's going to really help you get out up and down.
When you hit a shot and you short side yourself and you have a really hard time getting the ball to stop quickly.
What happens nine times out of ten is that the clubface gets hung up in the rough and gets shut down.
You take all the loft off the ball, launches across the green and you're in big trouble.
There's a specific technique that I'm going to show you now that's going to help you with this shot.
And it's a few different things you've got to know.
The first one I'm going to show you is how to set up with the clubface and your grip.
Before we get into the ball position and all those things that I'm going to show you next, we're going to get the clubface and the grip set up perfectly correct.
So the first thing you want to do is you want to weaken your left hand grip.
This is important because what you want to do is you want to be able to hold off the release of the Clubface and not get the Clubface to shut down.
And be able to hold it firm enough that you can hold it through the thickness of the rough, and the rough won't shut it down as well.
This will also give you the added benefit of having a little extra loft coming through.
So you're not worried about launching the ball off the green because the downhill slope is already going to make the loft stronger than it normally is.
It's going to make it have a tendency to want to launch across the green.
And obviously because we're short-sided here, we want to hit a short, delicate shot.
So we want to have as much loft on there as we can so of course I'm using my 60 -degree wedge.
So, what I'm going to do first, I'm going to put my left hand grip on this, maybe my normal grip.
I'm going to weaken it and then I'm going to weaken the right hand to match.
This is going to allow me to be aggressive and hold a firm, flat left wrist while holding the clubface open through the hitting area.
So I'm not worried about de-lofting the club.
The second thing is I'm going to hold the clubface open just like I would in a bunker shot.
So you can see I won't, I'm not going to square up the clubface, that's going to take loft off.
I want a lot of loft, again because of the downhill slope.
So what I'm going to do with the Clubface open and my weaker grip is then move the ball back about two-thirds of the way back in my stance.
This is where a lot of people go wrong.
They play kind of where their normal ball position would be.
They get way on their front foot, That's going to make them have a very steep angle of attack, that's going to cause the clubface to lose loft.
And so, and then they're also going to get the club dragging through the grass too long.
The reason I move the ball back in my stance is for two things.
One, I want to make sure I get the ball as relatively clean as I can.
So I do want a steep angle of attack, but I don't want to get a lot of grass in between the clubface and the ball.
So, When I move the ball back in my stance, it allows me to make sure that I'm not going to go right underneath the ball.
That's a big fear.
When you have this much loft on there is that you just slip the blade right under the ball, the ball sits there and it gets just buried under a worse life.
Moving it back is going to allow me to have a steep angle of attack and get a lot of ball.
Before the clubface starts interacting too much with the grass.
Once I've got these three things set up, weaker grip, open clubface ball back two -thirds of my stance, then I just got to worry about this stroke.
And my swing is not going to be much different than normal, except I'm not going to have a lot of body turns, it's going to be a very wristy, Handsy stroke going back?
Because I want to pick the club up to get it up off the grass and allow me to have a lot of wrist angle coming down.
So that I have some power to get the club through the thick grass.
The last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to hold off the release, I mentioned that earlier with the grip, Is, as I come through, I'm going to hold the clubface open so that it doesn't flip over on me and launch the ball across the green.
Again, I'm wanting to maintain the loft as I come through.
So let's take a look at what this is going to look like.
Ball two-thirds of the way back in my stance.
Stance is open to the target, it's about 35 degrees or so roughly, that's a comfort thing.
Clubface open, laying back, weaker grip, And then, as I go back, I'm going to pick the club up relatively sharply and then come down and hold off the release of the club.
That ball comes out very nice and soft even though I'm on a pretty severe downhill lie.
The ball came out really nice and gentle and I've got a good shot at getting up and down for par.
So again, just work on your setup.
One thing I didn't mention there is your spine angle.
Typically you're going to want to try and match your spine with the slope.
Because I'm playing the ball back in my stance I'm not going to get it that severe.
So you'll notice that when the ball is back my spine angle is not exactly matching the slope.
That may be contrary to what you hear a lot.
But again, because the ball position and the way.
I'm holding off the release of the club and because I'm moving it back in my stance, I don't want to be this far forward.
Again, I'm trying to maintain loft.
If I get really steep on it, I'm going to come down even steeper, with a more steep angle of attack, and that's going to take more loft off.
So those are the keys to hitting a perfect short-sided downhill shot out of the rough.
1.1 The Most Important Video You'll Watch - Learning
1.2 Introduction to The GOAT Code
1.3 The GOAT Delivery Position (GDP)
1.4 The GOAT Grip
1.5 The GOAT Setup
1.6 GOAT Ball Position
1.7 Trail Hand Putting Drill
1.8 Tiger Woods Tee Drill
1.9 Add Lead Hand to Putting Stroke
1.10 Skills Assessment Challenge: Putting
4.1 Core Activation - Chair Drill
4.2 Core Activation - Medicine Ball Throws
4.3 Core Activation - Slam Ball
4.4 Core Activation - Punching Bag Power
4.5 20 Yard Wedge Shot Basics
4.6 Skills Assessment Challenge: 20 Yard Shots
4.7 40 Yard Wedge Shots - The Magic!
4.8 GOAT Power Sequence
4.9 The GOAT Drill
4.10 How to Increase Hand Speed - J Release
4.11 The Importance of the Waggle for Speed
4.12 How the Lead Side Works for Power
4.13 Magic of Supination
4.14 80 Yard Shots - Down the Line
4.15 80 yd Shots - Face On
4.16 Tiger Woods 80 yd Face On Reference Video
4.17 How to Coil Around the Trail Leg
4.18 GOAT Backswing
4.19 Rotation & Footwork
4.20 GOAT Downswing - The Whip Effect
4.21 The GOAT 9 to 3 Drill
4.22 160 yd Shots - GOAT Speed Sequence
4.23 Instant Over the Top Cure
Webinar 1: The Core
Webinar 2: Core Power & Putting
Webinar 3 - Compression & Clubface Control
Webinar 4 - Fascia & Effortless Power
Webinar 5: The GOAT Hands Webinar
Q-n-A Webinar 1: May 7
Q-n-A Webinar 2: May 14
Q-n-A Webinar 3: May 21
Q-n-A Webinar 4: May 28
Q-n-A Webinar 5: June 4
Q-n-A Webinar 6: June 11
Q-n-A Webinar 7: June 18
Q-n-A Webinar 8: June 25
Is Tiger Woods Golf Swing a Baseball Swing? Pt. 1 of 3
Throw the Club or Push the Club? Pt 2 of 3
Squish the Bug for Effortless Power - Pt 3 of 3
The GOAT Release
The GOAT Release Intro - Endless Conveyor Belt
GOAT Code Secret to Effortless Power - Pt 1 of 4
GOAT Code Effortless Power - Head Movement - Pt 2 of 4
GOAT Code Effortless Power - Using Your Head - Pt 3 of 4
GOAT Code Effortless Power - Take it to the Course - Pt 4 of 4
Creating Torque in the Swing - Pt 1 of 3
Creating Torque in the Golf Swing - Pt 2
Creating Torque - The Magic Pill for the Feel - Pt 3
Bryan's Journey - Introduction
How Bryan's Letting RotarySwing PAY For Itself
Phase 1 - Putting
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Putting
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Putting 2nd Review
Bryan's Journey - The Tiger Tee Drill And An Easier Way
Bryan's Journey - 2 Handed Putting 1st Review
Bryan's Journey - FINAL Two Handed Putting Review
Bryan's Journey - Putting Assessment Test
Phase 2 - Chipping
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Chipping - Baseline And Hidden Errors
Bryan's Journey - Trail Hand Chipping - Improvements And New Errors
Bryan's Journey - Two Handed Chipping - Good Stuff Happening Here
Bryan's Journey - Chipping Assessment PASSED!
Phase 3 - Pitching
9 Days to AMAZING Ball Striking!
9 Days To Amazing Golf Ball Striking - Intro
Day 1: Impact Control
Day 2: Hitting Low Shots
Day 3: Hitting High Shots
Day 4: How to Hit the Draw
Day 5: How to Hit the Fade
Day 6: High and Low Fade
Day 7: High and Low Draw
Day 8: How to Shape the Driver
Day 9: 9 Ball Shot Shaping Drill
Cheat Sheets for Faster Learning
RSA Introduction
My SECRET Consistency Routine
How to Shallow the Golf Club
Master the Golf Transition
Core Rotation - Left Arm - Club - RSA
RSA Full Swing Kaboodle
RSA Heavy Club Training Program
RSA Overspeed Program
9 to 3 Drill Program for RSA
RSA Power Release Program
Chuck Quinton Live Lessons
How to Shallow Your Hands During Transition
Straighten and Lengthen Your Tee Shots w/ the Driver
How Tiger, Rory & Ernie Use Their Hips for Power
How to Shallow Your Golf Swing Fast and Easy - Live Lesson
Live Lesson - How to Stop Losing Tush Line & Boost Consistency
Why Your Lead Leg Doesn't Straighten at Impact
Do You Start Backswing w/ Hips or Shoulders?
Why You Can't Stop Overusing Your Arms in the Golf Swing
Former Mac O'Grady Student Saves Back Learning DEAD Drill
How to Fix Your Over the Top Move - Live Lesson
Learn What REALLY Matters Most for Effortless Power - Live Lesson
Restore the Athleticism in Your Swing Like this Former NFL QB
Pro Secret #3 - Swing Easy, Hit Hard
The #1 Reason Golfers Are Inconsistent and How to Fix it Permanently
Making Your Golf Swing Feel Natural w/ Baseball Drill - Live Lesson
How to Add Effortless Power Using Your Lower Body
Simple Fix to Make a Full Shoulder Turn
How to Fix Trail Leg Straightening in Backswing
Live Lesson - How to Fix Your Arms by Fixing Your Legs in the Backswing
Should You Restrict Your Hip Turn in the Backswing?
4 Steps to Sequencing the Golf Downswing - Live Lesson
How to Decelerate Your Hips for Effortless Power
Why You DON'T Pull the Butt of the Club Toward the Ball
GOAT Code Power Program
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 1 - Activation
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 2 - Technique
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 3 - Explosiveness
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 4 - Advanced Power
GOAT Code Power Program - Step 5 - Kettlebell
RotarySwing Clinic
Clinic - RST History
Clinic - Problems with Golf Instruction
Clinic - Fundamentals
RotarySwing Clinic - Learning
Clinic - Setup
Clinic - Downswing & Release
Clinic - Lag
Clinic - The Takeaway
Clinic - The Backswing
Clinic - Connecting to Your Core
Clinic - Follow Through
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