This drill from Golf Digest Teaching Pro Josh Zander is one of the most unusual pitching drills I think I've ever seen. It's part of an article called Practice in the Rough, where Josh says practicing from the rough will really help your ball-striking.
The article itself focuses on maintaining connection and a grip that's firm enough to get solid contact. But this drill is just crazy! Basically you're using a 6-iron to hit a flop shot...
You'll recognize some of the techniques as those being used for certain sand shots -- opening the club face dramatically and lowering your hands much closer to the ground than usual. (Of course, this entails squatting down quite a bit as well.)
But it's the wrist action that will really get your attention. Josh wants you to "throw" the club head at impact, getting the club shaft in line with your trailing forearm. That puts your hands WA-A-A-AY behind the ball when the club head slides under the ball.
It looks very unorthodox but I can see how it would help you learn to control the club head better, to learn the difference between what it feels like when you want to use the leading edge of the sole versus the bounce. It should certainly improve your ability to play flop shots. This is the kind of shot Seve routinely practiced, and it certainly helped him become a real wizard around the greens.
And if nothing else, you can impress your friends with your newly-gained short game prowess.
And just a head's-up: I'll be traveling during the weekend so the Saturday and Sunday posts may show up a bit early or a bit late, especially on Facebook. But the posts WILL be posted, one way or the other.
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