Chipping and Pitching Struggles

Lately I've been struggling a bit with my chipping and pitching. I've felt like it's been a challenge to make clean contact consistently from poor lies and tight lies. Basically, if the ball isn't sitting up perfectly, my confidence hasn't been too high lately.

So, tonight I spent some time on some short game and found a small, simple thought that really seemed to help.

Through a few drills, I learned that I was shifting my upper body center laterally in my swing. This means that my body was sliding off the ball to the right, making it really difficult for me to get the club back to the ball consistently...especially on important or delicate shots.

The solution was pretty basic - quiet my body during the swing. 

My focus was on 100% rotation rather than allowing my body to slide laterally - like turning in a barrel.

I took a little extra time in setup to be sure that my alignment was good, and the ball positioned correctly. Before taking the club back, my focus shifted to my chest or sternum. I tried to feel like my core was turning without shifting position.

Whether reality or not, the feeling I had was that the club was moving around my body in a perfect circle and the club was bottoming out in the same place every time.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with different lies and shots to test myself.

So, next time you're out working on your chipping and pitching, give that thought a try if you're having trouble making consistent contact - a quieter body with more rotation rather than sliding.

Hope that helps!