120 yard pitch shot video

Graeme McDowell explains the fundamental techniques required to effectively play the 120 yard pitch shot

120 yard pitch shot video

I am going to show you how I have two shots for key pitching yardages. Remember, your wedges are your scoring clubs and to get the ball close in different weather and ground conditions, and when attacking different pin locations, you need to have more than one option in your armoury.

I have one full swing shot with more loft that goes higher and stops quicker, and one slightly shorter swing shot with less loft than flies lower and spins less.

There are three factors I use to control the distance of my wedge shots: the loft of my wedge, how far up or down the grip I set my hands and how far back my arm swing goes.

I need to stress that you really don’t want to change your rhythm in any way, shape or form to hit different yardages.

I don’t like seeing guys taking a long backswing and then decelerating into impact, that’s certainly not the way to do it.

I’ll show you how to hit one yardage with two clubs by keeping your rhythm the same and controlling distance through the length of the swing and the loft.

From 120 yards, I either hit my 52˚ gap wedge or my 48˚ pitching wedge depending on the conditions and the pin position.

With my gap wedge, it will need to be a flat-out shot. There isn’t a huge amount of specific technique to this, it’s really just a normal shot, but it is important to point out that this is maybe not my most accurate shot, and its certainly not my most controlled.

It’s not a great option in the wind because with the extra clubhead speed comes more spin, and that can cause the ball to balloon.

But to a front pin or when I need spin to hold the green, this is my best option. Otherwise I’ll move down into my 48˚ and go for a shorter, more controlled swing, gripping down the shaft by an inch. That will produce a better flight that’s more under control with a little less spin