Pitch with your body

For consistency, put your big muscles in control

Precision Pitching: focus on turning your body through, never on hitting with your hands.

Golf’s best short-game players possess great instincts, soft hands and an understanding that short shots are simply miniature full swings. Most of the same fundamentals apply, including keeping your body turning toward the target through impact. You need to stay connected — upper body and lower body turning in sync — especially when pitching.

Most poor pitchers are totally out of sync during the downswing. They freeze the upper body and overuse the lower body, or they get handsy in their delivery of the club to the ball. Both moves make consistently solid contact a problem.

You like to feel fluid and unhurried on your pitch shots,. That helps you synchronize your  upper body with your lower body. Want to feel as if you are pitching the ball with your big muscles — shoulders, chest, hips and thighs.

Regulate distance with the length of your backswing and trajectory through club selection and ball position. Don’t think of swinging your hands and arms slower or faster. And, above all, try to keep your torso turning through the shot.