Pitching problems

I REALLY need some help with my pitching, Ive always had a very strong short game until now. My chipping is fine its my pitching, half of my shots are going right.....way right. It is without a doubt the freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life, I cant intentionally do it! I try opening my club face, hitting it thin and swinging to an outside path and still cant duplicate the horrible off to the right shot. I set up in the standard open position with the ball lined up with my right foot(right handed), hands in front of the ball and close to the body and ball position in a natural distance from me. Ive tried keeping the left arm totally straight, slight bend, keeping the clubface closed, hitting down everything! This has never happened to me before until just recently. Is Dave Pelz around??

hi
how far are you trying to pitch.
bill

I start noticing problems at 25 yards.

Sounds like a shank, or decelerating then scooping without releasing.

I do tend to get scoopy but I tried hitting down on the ball and it still flew right on me and I always accelerate through the ball. Like I said originally its really freaky. Nothing last forever, I think its in my head now. Thanks for the comments looking forward to more.

hi
try keping the right elbow against the right hip on back swing and downswing too.
it keeps the club in a tight plane.
bill

Hi
It definately sounds like you have a mild case of the shanks. Speaking from personal experience there cannot be a more destructive shot in golf than the shank. It can strike anybody, tour pro's , low handicappers and begginers, nobody is immune. It has even lead to some people giving up the game completely.
There are a number of reasons why the shank occurs:
* our weight falls forward onto our toes during the downswing.
* severe out-to-in swing path with an open clubface
* Even a simple thing like gripping the club too tightly can lead us to shank.

The Cure.
Place a ball on the ground and a couple of inches indside it, place another ball.
Take your set up and address the outside ball, be aware of your posture, alignment and grip( don't grip too tightly ).
Take your backswing and on the way down i want you to focus on and hit the inside ball .
Once you can hit the inside ball without striking other you will have cured your shanks for good.
Incorporate this drill into the start of your prctice sessions and i guarentee the shanks will never return.
This is also an excellent drill for people who slice the ball becuase it stops you from swinging out-to-in, the main cuase of a slice.

As a kwick fix on the course, try addressing the ball more towards to toe of the clubface, but i stress this is only a kwik fix.

Good luck

aft

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

A very common thing I notice with golfers is the shorter the shot the closer they stand to the ball at address, which crowds them and there hands have to go out and around their hips and cause them to shank. Make sure you have at least a fist between your right hip at address and the butt end of the club. Always look to set up first and if that dont work then change your swing.

Thanks for all the help everyone, Ive fixed it. As quick as it came its gone, I went out in the back yard and fixed my problem, I wasnt accelerating through the ball. Im using a much shorter backswing and accelerating all the way through and beyond impact. Its amazing how online and accurate I am now! Thanks again.