30 Yard Pitch Shot

30 Yard Pitch Shots

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The 30 yard pitch shot is a very tough one for golfers at all levels. So what is the secret to playing this shot? Well, the first one is to never put yourself in a position where you are faced with this shot. In the 2005 British Open, Tom Watson asked Jack Nicklaus why he didn't try and drive a particular hole after Watson put his tee shot on the green. Nicklaus replied, "Because the 30 yard pitch shot isn't my best." If the best golfer in the history of the game didn't want to face this delicate shot, don't feel bad if you don't feel comfortable playing it either!

There are many ways to play this shot, from using a putter to a lob wedge, but I always like to keep things simple and play the shot that gives me the greatest margin of error. Playing this shot also requires a plan and a goal. The first goal is that no matter what, our next shot will be with the putter. So many shots are given up by high handicap golfers from these simple little pitch shots because they try and pull off a low percentage shot. The "in thing" to do these days is to reach straight for the 60 degree lob wedge and fly it all the way to the hole with a lot of spin. It's pretty to watch but is the lowest percentage shot apart from a full on flop shot to play in this situation.

As I mentioned, our first goal is to get this ball on the green so that the next shot is taken with our most accurate club in the bag, the putter. Part of our plan is to figure out what club in our bag gives us the greatest margin of error to get this shot close to the hole while still meeting goal number one of making absolutely certain that the ball will end up on the green. If the green is open up front, meaning there are no hazards such as water or sand, playing a lower shot with a less lofted club gives us the most room to make a mistake. In this short video clip, I hit two shots to the hole from 30 yards away. The first one is with a 58* wedge and the second is with my normal 48* pitching wedge. I used these two clubs so that I could clearly demonstrate the differences in the two shots and how the ball behaves on the green when hit with either club. In the first shot, you can clearly see from the face on view that I make a longer swing and the ball takes off on a much higher trajectory. The ball lands softer with more spin and checks up with our releasing much. On the second shot, you can see that swing is more compact so that it is easier to control the club and that the ball takes off on a lower trajectory. When it lands just short of the front edge of the green it fully releases and runs to the hole. Both shots ended up close, but the majority of the time I would take the less lofted club because the worst case scenario is that I get tentative making the longer swing with the lob wedge and decelerate on the downswing and hit the shot fat. If I do that, I'm faced with the exact same shot only a couple yards closer. A miss with the less lofted club would be more likely to end up closer even if it was hit a little heavy and if hit a little long, it still leaves me on the green with a chance to putt to save my par.

VIDEO SCREEN SHOTS

Take a look at some screenshots from the video clip. The pictures on the left are of the shot with the 58 degree wedge and the right are with the 48 degree wedge. Note how much more compact and shorter a swing I have to make to get the same result. Obviously, the shorter our swing is the easier it is to keep under control and when it comes to the short game, precision is the name of the game.

At impact you can already see how much higher a trajectory the 58 degree wedge has started out, again, making it more difficult to control. Think of it this way, if you were going to throw a dart at a dart board that was on the ground, would you throw it straight up in the air to try and hit the bullseye or would you take a more direct route?

The difference in trajectory for the 48 degree wedge is exactly half that of my 58 degree wedge. If you hit one hundred balls from the same spot, which do you think will get the majority closer to the hole? My money is on the less lofted club and PGA Tour players also abide by this rule. For the majority of their pitch shots, Tour players try and land the ball about a quarter of the distance from the flag on the green and let it release the other three fourths of the way to the hole so the ball acts more like a putt. Don't always go for the glory shot that you may only have a one in ten chance at getting it close. Play it smart and get the ball on the green first and go make your putt, your score will thank you for it.

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