Pitching from an Upslope

• Posted on Grant
• in Golf Fundamentals, Golf Set-up, Short Game
• on October 13, 2014
• Comments Off on Pitching from an Upslope

To achieve success when pitching from an upslope, just remember these three set-up keys:

1. Put most of your weight on your trailing foot. Placing most of your weight on your trailing foot allows your clubhead to swing up the slope instead of dig into it.

2. Lean the shaft away from the target: Leaning the shaft away from the target also promotes a swing that sends the clubhead along the slope instead of into it.

In the picture below, I am holding my pitching wedge at the angle I would play off of an upslope and my lob wedge at the angle I would play from a flat lie. Notice how the pitching wedge and the lob wedge have the same effective loft in this picture.

3. Take a club with less loft: In this example the upslope is steep enough for me to take a pitching wedge instead of the lob wedge that I would have normally used for this length of shot. If I use my lob wedge, the ball will take off at too steep of an angle and will not get to the green.

Taking my pitching wedge for this shot allows me to take a normal swing and trust the effective loft of the pitching wedge to send the ball all the way onto the green.

Next time you are pitching from an upslope just remember these three set-up keys. The correct set-up makes it a simple shot!

GB