The shot demands firmness and resolution.  That is what makes the Americans such fine pitchers.

  You are ready to play the stroke which is now pictured in your mind.  This mental picture of where the ball will be dropped to coast up to the hole enables you to develop a "feel" of the length of the stroke as you prepare yourself to play it.  Only one thing remains.  Play the shot without further deliberation and with conviction.

  You must now back your judgment.  It is fatal to allow yourself to become prey to last-second doubts.  Let no fear of failure enter your mind.  Watch the ball and then look momentarily at the spot where the ball lay before allowing your head to turn slowly with the easing off of the arms in the unchecked finish.

  Uncertainty will mean that you either hurry the stroke in a belated endeavor to pitch the ball further up to the hole or you quit on it through a last split-second feeling that you need to drop it shorter.

  In either case you have distorted the delivery of the club head to the ball.  This is weakness.  Make up your mind to go ahead with the stroke you have pictured.  To change the picture half-way is out of the question.

  Practice these vital approach shots, which open up the prospect of a birdie every time they are properly judged and correctly executed.  Indeed practice in this type of shot can be doubly beneficial.  You will develop a greater accuracy and confidence in your ability to attack the hole by firm, not diffident stroke-making.  And by making the correct movement away from, back to, and through the ball in this compact stroke you will consolidate your action in the hitting area, consolidation which will spread into your playing of the longer clubs.

  The high pitch-and-run is played in similar manner to the pitch shot.  The low pitch-and-run, giving less carry and more run (and usually the stroke to choose when the wind is blowing), is played with the club-face hooded, that is, with the hands more forward of the ball at address and the ball played more off the back foot.  These considerations also apply to the run-up which is played with a straighter faced club, such as a five iron, but the club used is a matter of individual choice in the light of experience.

The Perfect Golf Swing

Discover the Insider Secrets, how to hit the ball really straighter and longer than ever before!

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