How to master the long pitch shot

With GolfPunk Instruction Sensation Maria Verchenova

Words: Maria Verchenova Photography: David Corbett & Tim Southwell

It's a nasty business the long pitch shot. Can make the best of us look like complete berks. But cast aside your fears, Maria Verchenova is here to put us straight...

The long pitch shot: Shot On Location at PGA Catalunya

Hi, Maria here. So we’ve hit our approach shot a little short and we’re faced with a tricky distance, about 40-50 yards. I’m going to show you how to hit a pitch shot which is around 40 or so metres. As you can see we have a lot of green to work with so we need to use that to our advantage.

You have two club options with this shot, you can either hit the ball with a 52 or you can hit it with a pitching wedge. Obviously with the 52 the ball is going to fly a little bit higher and have a little bit more spin and the pitch and wedge is going to roll. So it’s up to you which club you play but you need to practice both of them.

1) The technique is pretty much the same, the ball should be in the middle of your stance, put your weight evenly on both feet.

2) Just swing with your shoulders, and swing through. Try to make the hands as quiet as possible.

3) You need to pick a spot on the green you want the ball to pitch on to. If you’re using the pitching wedge you might want that spot to be just before the green or just on it, as the ball will have a lower trajectory and run out towards the flag more than a 52.

4) Make sure you get through the ball. If you use the 52 you want to focus on a point on the green closer to the pin as the ball will go higher, bite more and get more spin. It’s amazing how, just focussing on that spot really hard, will help you get up and down more often.