I never want to hit the ball fat again.

Playing today, I chunked two pitches in a row as a group waiting to play through looked on and it was so embarrassing. My round went downhill after that, but that's another story.

When it comes to short pitches (basically anything where I can't chip or take a full swing), I seem to chunk it a lot of the times. I do a lot of practicing off mats at the range (unfortunately I don't have much else of a choice) and fair well with the same distances doing that, but when hitting off the grass, I chunk it much more often than I would like. Obviously, the mats aren't an accurate source of feedback.

My chipping has been great, and full swing is coming along nicely, but I've been struggling with this. I try to remember to keep my weight on my left foot and not get flippy, but I still run into trouble a lot of the time.

Should I think about shallowing out my plane? Is a divot imperative in pitching or hitting short irons? Is it possible to have success in "picking it clean" when using wedges?

Chipping tricks of the trade:

* Look at the FRONT of the ball, not the back. This allows the center of your swing to be more in a position to allow the ball to be struck first, not behind it.
* Never break your wrists. Use a putting stroke.
* Place the ball position forward to regulate hight and carry and back to guarentee clean contact but lower the flight.
* Use the MINIMUM amount of hight on every chip. In other words, pick a landing area that is clean and flat and AS CLOSE TO YOU as possible, and pick the club and ball position to get the ball to land there.
* PW = 1/2, 7I = 1/3. What this means is that a PW will fly 1/2 the distance and run the other 1/2. The 7I will fly 1/3 the distance and run the other 2/3.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Thanks for that, Greg, but my trouble has been with pitching, not chipping.

Sorry about that. Pitching tricks:

* Soft hands on the club. Let the feel of the club dropping straight down with the simple force of gravity do the accerlarating for you, not your hands trying to speed up the swing.

* Regulate hight and carry like a bunker shot: The more you open your stance, the higher it will go and carry. Always keep the blade square to your target, but open your feet-hips-shoulders to the open angle. Swing down that angle...so basically you will setup and swing way left of your target. Don't worry, your blade AT your target will cause the ball to go TO the target with lots of hight and spin.

* Place the ball position forward only if you have a good lie. Deep rough or grass behind the ball will cause the club to catch and decelerate a lot...chunks will be the result. So get the club ON the ball quickly by putting the ball position in the middle.

* Take a short backswing, but a big followthrough. This allows the hands to take over and increase the angle of attack a bit more, and it also emphasizes good acceleration at impact.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Here is an interesting article on focusing on a golf ball
http://www.golfdigest.com/instructio...1quieteye.html

The study is about putting, but I think it's transferable to any shot. Good putters look at one single spot in back of their golf ball and also focus in very clear spot at target. This helps eye - hand coordination.

I think it might be good to keep your gaze at the ball, but you can imaging your swing to go through the ball and follow hit a spot in front of your ball?

Hannu