The pitching wedge gets some of the most action in the game of golf. This club is for full shots from the fairway and rough. It’s also for pitch shots from around the green and bunker shots.
Shooting your career’s best scores will be possible when it comes off your pitching wedge by gaining a high level of control over the ball. You’ll be on your way to playing excellent golf.
However, you can’t just walk up to the ball and swing the club. It’s not very hard to use the pitching wedge. Real improvement will be experienced only when the pitching wedge is mastered.
Pitching wedge is very important in golf. It is similar comparing to short iron mostly because of its bouncing qualities. Hitting it relies on the specific shot a player wants to play. It can be from a short distance towards the fairway which can lead to the green. It can be a chip as well.
Here is how to hit a pitching wedge
Step 1: Grip
Having a proper grip is very important. The little finger on the right-hand needs to overlap with the index finger of another hand. Then the left thumb needs to be on the handle. Make sure it is on the upright. The right hand will overlap it.
Step 2: Stance
The stance is the next crucial thing. Firstly, the ball needs to be in the middle of the feet. The player should bend the knees slightly.
Step 3: The Proper Use of Hands
Don’t relyi too much on your hands because this will drag the wedge. It will be behind for shot. Fighting the habit of pushing the hands in the front direction during a short shot is essential. That way players will be forced to make weak contact when they hit the ball.
By hinging the wrists on the backswing and then accelerating quickly while getting near the green gives the ball a great amount of loft. Turn the hands afterwards, so the clubface opens slightly and makes an in-to-out swing which is important.
Keeping the hands firm when hinging the wrist is crucial. Idle hands won’t provide any necessary control. You’ll need active hands if you want to get close to the whole.
Step 4: The Swing
The Swing is a vital part of hitting a wedge. While preparing for the backswing, the front arm needs to be locked. The left arm should be in a position where it looks like it can shake hands as if there was standing behind the player. Heads must be down.
Consequently, watching the ball with the eyes when hitting is very important. No one should look away during this process. The elbows must be tight. It needs to be close to the ribs. Doing this creates control over the club. In addition, it allows a nice close swing.
While swinging, the left-hand requires to be above, and the other hand needs to be under the club. During the backswing, the clubhead should be “open” like a door. After the swing, the clubhead needs to start to “close” as if it was a door.
The hands along with the forearms will rotate over. The pitching wedge will be flat against the golf ball in that case.
Following through the swing the club needs to be “open” door in the other direction. And then, rolling the hands because the right side will be placed above the club. Underneath the right hand, the left hand will be placed. That’s how the hand should be.
For example, the pitching wedge is used from 120 yards. The club needs to be only as far as you need it to be in approaching the green. However, if the shot is 10 yards off the green, the shot swing needs to change. It will only need a half-swing or less.
On the other hand, the swing depends on distance. A 62 degree loft will require a more significant swing than the same distance as a short swing with a 48 degree loft.
Step 5: The Hit
Striking an inch or two behind the ball to get appropriate height on the pitch is a good practice. However, one has to be careful so that no one digs in too hard and winds up hitting the divot farther than the ball.
Step 6: Follow Through
The next important thing is the follow through. Following through with your swing, it should look like the back is pulled, and the club is above the head. The hands should be high, and the clubhead should be in line with your spine.
Follow through so that you mirror your backswing. Stopping short once the ball is hit won’t get the type of backspin or cannot achieve the soft touch which was wanted with the shot.
Understanding Pitching Wedge Factors
Accordingly, before we learn to hit this iron, we’ll look into some vital information about it. Then we’ll look into some key factors that we need to consider when using the hit pitching wedge.
We will go into detailed instructions about how to grip, swing, follow on with the instrument. Then will introduce you to a lot of important shots that can be played with it. Finally, we will discuss about the importance and some misconceptions about the pitching wedge.
First, let’s look into what a pitching wedge looks like and what it can offer.
A Pitching Wedge’s Characteristics
Wedge’s clubface loft near 45-50 degrees. It can be used to hit both long and chip shots. The length of the shaft of a pitching wedge is 34-39 inches. It can have a 2 to 3 degree bounce.
They aren’t used for some balls because the bounce doesn’t encourage sliding the wedge under the ball. A bunker ball is a ball that sits in the rough and soft lies.
Likewise, a sand wedge has a relatively high bounce and many other irons usually tend to hit the earth hard. Pitching wedge is very good when it comes to fairways. They are also ideal for the fringe.
When talking about a fairway, it is a shot that goes 74-126 yards and lands gently. It can be hit using the wedge at high power. Chipping is possible as well with this pitching wedge. They’re quite versatile and one of a kind.
Essential Things to Observe when Hitting with a Pitching Wedge
Before we go into the details of how to hit a shot with a pitching wedge and what kind of shots can be played with a pitching wedge, let’s look into some key factors that we must keep in mind. By ensuring these key factors, we can get better results and performances using the hitting wedge.
Center of the Stance
When you hit a full shot with your pitching wedge, the ball has to be placed in the middle of your stance. The position of the ball will give you a great chance to hit nicely down through the shot without letting your body move awkwardly in either direction.
The wing made with a pitching wedge needs to be short because there should be little lateral movement. By simply turning the body away from the target during the backswing, then turning toward the target in the downswing and playing from a center ball position by executing this simple technique will lead to good results.
Close the Face for a Pitch and Run
When the ball rests in a clumsy position, consider closing down the face of your pitching wedge to play a pitch and run back to the target. This adds plenty of run to the shot so you can land the ball on the front edge of the green.
You can let it bounce and roll the rest of the way. You should also choke down slightly on the grip of the club and place the ball near the back of your stance when using this method.
Watch the Spin
Carefully watch how the ball reacts when it lands on the green early in a round. That’s because the backspin rate on shots hit with your pitching wedge is likely to be rather high. We have to observe if the ball is spinning back or taking a big bounce forward.
It will not be surprising if the ball actually does take one bounce and then start spinning back toward the front of the green. You can make the necessary adjustments to your distance control as the round moves along. You can do that by carefully watching the reaction of the ball when it lands on the green on the first couple holes.
However, if you can’t produce quality shots with your pitching wedge, you aren’t going to be a good golfer. This club is just very important. Practicing and learning all the ways of how to use your pitching wedges can make anyone a better player. It is the best ally in the battle for lower scores.
Different Kinds of Shots
There are different kind of shots that can be played with the wedge. Looking into these important types of shot will help to improve the level of golf one plays. It’s very flexible. It comes in handy playing both close and long-range shots.
Therefore, shot selection is key with this club. Playing the right shot with the right club will lead to great results on the course. They have to be executed accordingly with the right techniques and execution. Knowing these shots in details will be very helpful.
Let’s discuss a few shots that can be performed by pitching wedges. They are:
The Pitch Shot
One hundred yards from the flag, this iron is just what you require to hit the ball very high and into the soft green. Even if you’re in the fairway, first cut or the rough. It was known as the “10-iron”. It would seem logical to believe that your swing with this club should be just the same. Even if it’s not the same, it’s very close.
The player must align the pitching wedge towards the direction of the target line by keeping the ball normally in the position as it should be. And finally, the player must make the swing with a short iron assuming his or her swing is sound and it will produce solid ball contact.
However, it can be done both in the fairway and in the rough. Simply making a shorter swing would generate less power.
Opening your clubface and re-gripping the pitching wedge and aligning towards the left of the hole will give you a higher trajectory that lands softer. By using a gap wedge instead, will produce the wanted outcome as well. Likewise, using a sand wedge will make the shot hard because there will be a higher bounce.
Using the Pitching Wedge for a Flop Shot
This club can be used to hit flop shots. Nevertheless, it’s not as ideal as the higher lofted wedges such as the lob wedge.
The big idea is opening the clubface open wide, adjusting alignment, re-gripping the iron and accelerating down the ball. Flop shots should be considered for tight lies, in some cases for fluffy lies.
Using the Pitching Wedge for a Chip Shot
It comes in handy for chipping in the green places. Experimenting with different types of lofts and different clubface angles will allow you to get the desired path of the shot. Lower the angle towards the air if the iron is long.
“Hinging and holding” is recommended for chipping. It is a technique that requires the wrists to be broken during the backswing while keeping them broken during the shot. Moreover, it must continue during the follow through. Any form of iron can be effective for this method.
A pitching wedge provides a systematic structure between the two elements. One of them is a trajectory, and the other one is rollout. When off the green, it works best in almost every scenario.
The shots described can be performed with a pitching wedge. On the golf course getting the shot spot on is very important. Similarly, selecting the right wedge is aslo important.
Importance of a Pitching Wedge
While every rookie is obsessed with playing long shots such as draws, they don’t work on their short games. The short game is key to winning tours.
The pitching wedge is very important. It plays an important part in both the long and short game. Mastering the pitching wedge is key. It will drastically improve a golfer’s game and provide them with more leverage in the course.
Accordingly, different kind of shots can be played with this club. It allows various loft shots possible and chip shots as well. This adds more value to a golfer’s strategy.
The pitching wedge is a part of every great golfer’s kit, and they make amazing plays with it. Working with this club is crucial.
Misconceptions about the Pitching Wedge
There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the pitching wedge. A lot of people claim the pitching wedge isn’t useful. That’s very incorrect. Pitching wedges come handy in both long and short range shots.
Many rookies tend to work only on their long shots. They don’t practice much with the pitching wedge. As a result, they suffer from the course. They can’t land easy close-range shots. They also end up using the wrong wedge as well.
However, choosing the wrong edge will lead to miscalculation of the shot, and the ball won’t go anywhere near the whole.
The pitching wedge also requires practice. The estimation of the swing is important. The wrong amount of power can miscue the shot by a long way. Furthermore, the follow on has to be spot on with this club. Many people assume that the shot won’t be miscues with this wedge.
Rookie golfers think there aren’t any specific process of hitting with the hitting pitch. On the other hand, there are a lot of key factors that need to be observed while laying with this club. For example, the grip has to be spot on. There is a special way of gripping the club. Getting it wrong can also lead to bad play.
Our Final Thoughts
A pitching wedge is an essential tool for any golfer. It’s important for anyone to improve their short game. There are a lot of players today using the pitching wedge in a wrong way. The pitching wedge takes time to master.
It requires patience to master. There is a certain way to grip the club. The player has to swing it in a proper way using the right method. In addition, the follow on is key. Without a good follow on the ball won’t land properly.
Similarly, adjusting is key here as well. Without making adjustments while using the pitching wedge, the shots won’t work properly.
The pitching wedge is one of the most critical instruments in golf. It needs to be treated with respect and caution. Learning how to use it and mastering are keys to becoming a better golf player.
Therefore, if you aren’t working on your skills with this wedge club, it’s not too late to pick it up. Face your fears and master using the pitching wedge. It will do wonders for you on the golf course.
