Raymond Floyd's Pitching Tip

Here's a pitching tip from one of the best short gamers ever to play the game, Raymond Floyd. Do you have trouble hitting your pitch shots fat? Ray's solution may surprise you.



Instead of technical tips -- change your ball position, don't fall back on your trail foot, use the bounce on your club -- Raymond Floyd says your pitching swing is probably too short and your grip is too tight. Or, to put it in short sentences:

• Tight short swings are fast swings.
• Fast swings don't give you time to get a smooth change of direction.
• If your change of direction isn't smooth, your swing rhythm will be off and you won't make accurate contact.

And then he likens the pitch swing to an underhand softball pitch -- same flow, same rhythm, same general feel.

The short game is all about feel. If you can't feel your swing properly, all the technical work in the world won't give you that wizardry around the greens that you're looking for. You can trust Raymond Floyd here; he's one of the best.

I'm not saying you should ignore ball position, proper weight shift or using the bounce. I'm just reminding you that it's never just about technique. You've got to learn to trust your feel if you want to get better... and that's especially true in the short game.