STRUGGLING WITH HALF-WEDGE SHOTS? PERFECT YOUR PIVOT
chest as you get into your address posture with a wedge. Now make practice swings (no ball at first) while keeping the towel in place. Feel how your arms and body are unified as you swing back and through. It should feel simple and eco- nomical, with the upper part of your left arm moving across your chest in the backswing and the right arm moving along with it in the through-swing. Feel how your hands and arms are guided by the movement of your rib cage. Once you know how to pivot, you can use some wrist ac- tion, hinging and unhinging them to add touch to your shots. Then progress to hitting shots ( above ). Focus on making quality contact swing after swing. You’ll achieve that if you keep your body pivoting well past impact.
When facing a short shot that requires less than a full swing, many amateurs mistakenly try to regu- late distance with their hands and arms. There’s very little body movement. When the hands and arms take over, it’s tough to hit the ball solid, and distance control is all about quality of contact. Your focus on these half-wedge shots should be on blend- ing the movement of your hands and arms with the rotation of your torso – the pivot. Think of pitch shots as a mini ver- sion of your full swing, and in the full swing, it’s your body that governs the action, not your hands. A great drill to help improve your pivot action is to grab a bath towel and trap it under your arms and across your
54 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator