How to Improve Pitch Shots in Golf

A sloppy pitch shot can turn a great drive into a frustrating bogey faster than you can say three-putt. Mastering these in-between shots - those 20 to 50 yarders - is what separates a good round from a great one. This complete guide will break down the pitching motion step-by-step, giving you a reliable system for setup, distance control, and pure contact so you can start attacking the flag with confidence.

What Exactly Is a Pitch Shot? (And How It’s Different from a Chip)

Before we go any further, let's clear up some common confusion. People often use "chip" and "pitch" interchangeably, but they are two very different shots with different goals. Understanding the difference is foundational to playing them correctly.

• A Chip Shot: Think "little shot, big roll." A chip is a low-trajectory shot used from just off the green. The ball spends minimal time in the air and most of its time rolling out like a putt. The motion is small, with very little wrist hinge, much like a putting stroke.
• A Pitch Shot: Think "big shot, little roll." A pitch is for longer shots where you need the ball to fly higher, carry over an obstacle (like a bunker or long grass), and stop relatively quickly on the green. The swing is longer than a chip shot and uses body rotation and some wrist hinge to create more height and speed.

For the rest of this guide, we'll be focused on the pitch shot - your go-to weapon from roughly 20-50 yards out.

The Foundations: Getting Your Setup Right

Most poor pitch shots can be traced back to an incorrect setup. If you can get this part right, you’re already 80% of the way to hitting a clean, crisp shot. Just like a full swing, we have a pre-shot routine, but for pitching, it's slightly modified to encourage a specific kind of contact.

1. Stance Width and Foot Placement

Your stance for a pitch shot should be narrower than it is for a full iron shot. A good guideline is to have your heels about the width of your hips or slightly narrower. This encourages your body to rotate through the shot rather than swaying side-to-side, which is a common fault.

Next, flare your lead foot (your left foot for right-handed golfers) out toward the target by about 20-30 degrees. This simple move does something incredibly helpful: it "pre-clears" your lead hip, making it much easier to rotate your body through impact. This rotation is what powers the shot and guarantees a downward strike.

2. Ball Position

For a standard, stock pitch shot, place the ball in the absolute center of your stance. This position helps you find the bottom of your swing arc at the perfect spot - striking the ball first, then taking a small patch of grass. If you want to hit the ball a little higher and with more spin, you can move it about a ball's width forward of center. If you need a lower, more piercing flight (perhaps into the wind), you can move it a ball's width back from center. But for now, just master the middle position.

3. Weight Distribution: The Secret Ingredient

This is where so many amateur golfers go wrong. For a pitch shot, you must favor your front foot. Before you even start your swing, set about 60% of your weight on your lead foot. Imagine a pressure sensor under your left foot - it should register more pressure than the right.

More importantly, this weight distribution must stay on your front foot throughout the entire swing. You are not transferring weight back and then through like in a full swing. Your entire rotation happens around that front leg. This simple key promotes a descending angle of attack, which is what allows you to make that pure, ball-first contact that makes a great pitch so satisfying.

Mastering the Pitching Motion

With a solid setup locked in, the pitching motion itself becomes much more intuitive. It’s less about hitting the ball and more about creating a rhythmic, repeatable swing that matches the shot you want to play.

The "One-Piece" Takeaway

The first move away from the ball should feel connected. Don't just pick the club up with your hands. Instead, feel like your chest, arms, and club move away together as a single unit or "triangle." Your body's rotation should be what initiates the swing. This keeps the club on a proper path and prevents the hands from getting too active, which often leads to thin or fat shots.

Distance Control: The Clock System

This is the simplest and most effective way to control your pitching distances. Think of your arm swing as the hands of a clock. By taking the club back to different "times" on the clock, you can create different swing lengths, which in turn produces different distances.

• Short Pitch (20-30 yards): Take the club back until your lead arm is at about 8 o'clock.
• Medium Pitch (30-40 yards): Swing back until your lead arm is parallel to the ground, or at 9 o'clock.
• Longer Pitch (40-50+ yards): Let your arm swing back to about 10 o'clock.

The key here is that your follow-through should mirror your backswing. If you take an 8 o'clock backswing, your follow-through should stop at about 4 o'clock. This symmetry breeds amazing consistency. It stops you from making a short backswing and then forcefully accelerating through impact - a major cause of poor strikes.

Let the Body Power the Swing

Once you reach the top of your backswing (whether it’s 8, 9, or 10 o'clock), the downswing is just a simple rotation of your body towards the target. Feel like your chest is rotating open to face the flag. Your arms and the club will simply follow this rotation.

There is no need to actively "hit" with your hands. You preset the club’s hinge in the backswing, and it is the body's rotation that delivers that clubhead back to the ball. This will feel much less powerful, but remember, we are controlling distance, not trying to smash it. The finish should be balanced, with your chest forward and nearly all your weight on that lead foot, the heel of your trail foot lifting naturally off the ground.

Drills to Dial In Your Pitching

Understanding the theory is great, but ingraining the feeling is what matters on the course. Here are a couple of my favorite drills to develop a pro-level pitching game:

Drill 1: The Towel Under the Arm

This is a classic for a reason. Grab a small golf towel and tuck it under your lead armpit (the left armpit for righties). Your goal is to hit pitch shots without the towel falling out. This forces you to keep your arm connected to your torso during the swing, promoting that "one-piece" takeaway and a body-driven motion. If your arms swing independently from your body, the towel will drop immediately. Do this drill and you'll quickly feel what true connection feels like.

Drill 2: The Landing Zone Ladder

Distance control isn’t about just pounding balls, it's about hitting your numbers. Go to the practice green and set up a "ladder" of targets. You can use towels, alignment sticks, or even just other golf balls.

• Place your first target at 20 yards.
• Place your second at 30 yards.
• Place your third at 40 yards.
• Place your fourth at 50 yards.

Start with the closest target. Your goal isn't just to get the ball near the pin, but to land it on the towel. Hit five balls to this target, then move to the next. This drill forces you to calibrate your different clock-system swings (8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, etc.) to actual, on-course yardages.

Final Thoughts

Mastering pitch shots comes down to a few core principles: a forward-leaning, athletic setup and a body-led, rhythmic swing. By focusing on a stable foundation and using a scalable "clock" system for distance, you take the guesswork out of the shot and replace it with reliable mechanics that hold up under pressure.

When you're out on the course and faced with a sidehill lie or an intimidating shot over a deep bunker, all that practice can sometimes feel hard to access. For those moments, I built Caddie AI to be your trusted on-course thought-partner. You can take a photo of your situation, describe the lie, distance, and what's in front of you, and get instant, clear advice on how to play the shot. It removes the doubt and helps you commit, turning those tricky in-between shots into scoring opportunities.