Pitching seems to be one of the toughest shots for the amateur golfer. The shot will become easy when you understand the role of the bounce. The bounce is the trailing edge of the club as you can see in the video. We can thank Gene Sarazen for inventing the bounce on the sand wedge. He designed it to help hit bunker shots and pitch shots. The bounce enables the club to slide along the ground which helps avoid chunking the ball. I actually try to hit the ground before the ball on my pitch shots and the club slides right on through and I get a high soft shot as a result. This is really helpful in deep rough when you can’t contact the ball cleanly. You can hit this shot much like a bunker shot where you hit the ground two inches behind and let the bounce slide right under the ball.
Before hitting this shot, I would recommend that you have a neutral to a slightly weak grip. The reason is that a weaker grip leads to a more open/lofted clubface which will ensure that the bounce hits the ground. Any grip that enables you to close the clubface will hurt you on a pitch shot as this will send the leading edge below the bounce resulting in the dreaded chunk. There is nothing wrong with having a grip for your full swing and another to hit short game shots.
64 degree wedges are fun but if you want to get really good at pitching, try doing it with your 3 iron as I demonstrate in the video. You need some flexibility in your hips to get as low as I do but flexible hips help your all-around golf game so start stretching. You will impress your friends pitching with a low-lofted club and it will make pitching with a lob wedge a piece of cake. Seve Ballesteros grew up with one club. It was a cut down three iron. He became known as the best short game player in the world. -jz
