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The Ultimate Pitching Tip

The 9 o’clock swing.

In pitching, all the basics apply: the grip, aim, setup, impact, swing plane, clubface all apply. Assuming that those are all sound, it’s time to work on distance control. One of the big factors is to develop a length of swing that controls the speed of swing and the distance. Instead of having a bunch of different lengths of swings, not to mention a bunch of different clubs, what most of us need to do is to perfect one swing length with one club.

Bad Lies: Steepen Your Angle

When you catch a bad lie in the rough, the first thing you have to understand is where the center of your stroke is. The center of the stroke is the left shoulder socket. Also understand that the swing is a circle or an arc, and the low point — or the divot — is going to be directly under that left shoulder. When the ball is sitting down in the rough, you want to position your center more forward, either by leaning on your left foot, or by positioning the ball back in your stance.

Half and Half

Here’s an effective technique to help you hit your putts without cutting across the ball or hitting it from the inside.
It starts by painting a ball half-black and half-white. Once that's done, you need to hit your putts so that you can watch the black and white going end over end without blurring. That means you’ve struck the ball cleanly.

Ultimate Driver Drill

Swoosh for more distance.

Take the driver, turn it over, hold it by the clubhead end and start making swings. You’ll be able to hear the “whipping” sound without a whole lot of effort. This is the key.

Slide-under Drill

When you’re in a bunker, you’re trying to hit the sand in the right way so that the sand pops the ball out of the bunker. But we’re programmed to hit the ball, and nobody told us how deep a divot we should take, so we have a lot of difficulty executing what the pros call the easiest shot in golf.

GOLF NEWS / POWERED BY ATHLON SPORTS

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