KPJ’s Cardiogolf Game Improvement Program
Monday-Pitching Basics
Tuesday-Pitching Faults and Fixes
Wednesday-Pitching Distance Control
Today-Thursday-Pitching Variations
Friday-Pitching Practice
Pitching Variations
Bare Lie
SET-UP
When the ball rests of bare ground you need the right shape swing to create solid contact. The tighter the lie, the sharper the blow must descend into the ball; think of this as a V-shaped swing. A V-shaped swing contacts the ball before the ground using a short “hit and hold” action. Take a narrow stance with the ball positioned towards your back foot, weight favoring your front side. Lean the shaft toward the target. This set-up promotes a downward descending blow.
BACKSWING
Hinge your wrists immediately to start your backswing. Hinging the wrists creates the steep arc needed for hitting down sharply.
On a bare lie-think "v"
DOWNSWING
Although your weight started on your front leg, you will still want to start your downswing with a slight bump toward the target with your lower body. Simple let the club drop down towards the ball keeping the hands ahead of the clubhead striking down on the ball at impact. Keep the grip end of the club ahead of the ball through impact. Abbreviate your follow-through. Do not attempt to lift the ball up off the ground, if you do, you increase your chances of bouncing the sole of the club off the ground and into the back of the ball, producing a shot that runs too far.
Fluffy Lie
SET-UP
The thicker the lie, the shallower the clubhead must approach the ball: think of this as a U-shaped swing. To make a shallower swing, open your stance and body to the target, positioning the ball just forward of center. The clubface should be slightly open to the target to increase the shot’s height. The clubshaft is vertical, while your head and upper body tilt away from the target. You weight is evenly distributed. This setup will produce a high, soft-landing shot.
BACKSWING
Swing the club back with your arms, keeping your wrists firm. A wide backswing will create a shallow angle of attack on the ball making it easier for the club to slide through the grass and under the ball.
DOWNSWING
As the club starts down, hold the upper body back and tilted away from the target to keep clubface open through impact. The clubhead should contact the grass an inch or so behind the ball. Your follow-through should be as long or longer than your backswing.
On a fluffy lie-think "u"
On-Course Exercise–
Most of the time when practice, we select premier lies. This is fine to practice your technique, but every once in a while you should practice in bad lies so that you don’t freak out when you have a bad lie on the golf coures.
Off-Course Exercise-
Pilates has a very specific focus on strengthen the abdomen or core, which is exceptionally beneficial to anyone looking to improve their golf swing. Pilates works from the idea that once you strengthen your core, everything else follows. Here are a few basic Pilates exercises that can help you improve your golf swing. This routine can be used as a pre-round warm up or as post-round recovery cool down and can be incorporated into your daily routine to help you build strength and stamina. Click here to watch a short video
Find out your golf personality
Is anybody reading this? Email your questions and comments-Karen@golffitness-magazine.com
Coming Up this Week…
Friday-Pitching Practice
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