Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice teachers and players have dispensed in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we revisit Ken Venturi’s tips for hitting spinning pitch shots from our August 1981 issue. For unlimited access to the full GOLF Magazine digital archive, join InsideGOLF today; you’ll enjoy $140 of value for only $39.99/year.
Lots of things have changed in golf over the last 40-plus years. However, being able to control the ball with a wedge has remained a premium skill.
For as long as the game has been played, the short game has been a crucial skill. Hitting high bombs might wow the crowds, but saving par with a wedge is a skill that will always be en vogue.
Being able to control the spin on your pitches is a key ingredient in the short-game formula. If you’re looking to put more spin on your pitch shots around the greens, check out the tips below from 1964 U.S. Open champ Ken Venturi.
Nothing excites a tournament gallery as much as a pitch shot that skips by the pin, checks and then spins back near the hole. But a well nipped pitch — that is, one hit very crisply with a lot of spin — is much more than a simple crowd pleaser. For a good player, or a player who wants to be good, the ability to put a lot of “stop” on the ball is a must. The more spin you put on the ball, the more control you will have over the shot and the situation.
Let’s say you have to pitch over a creek to a pin cut close to the front of the green. If you can’t spin the ball, you have to try to drop the ball right by the hole. If you’re short, you’re wet. If you’re strong, you’re a long way from the hole. But if you can spin the ball, you can pitch deeper into the green and work the ball back toward the hole without flirting with the water.
Some of the skills you’ll need to nip the ball are advanced and will take practice to master. But the results will be worth the effort.
The ability to nip the ball isn’t completely a product of skill. The conditions must be right, otherwise even the best “nippers” won’t be able to spin the ball. You must have a good lie, with firm ground and short grass, almost like artificial turf. The wind should be blowing slightly toward you and you should be shooting to a fast, firm green that is tilted slightly toward you. You should also be at least 80 or 90 yards from the pin. Closer than that and you can’t make a big enough swing to spin the ball.
When the conditions are right, you can make the ball do anything. People are amazed when I “call” shots, i.e., when I say, “This is going to take two bounces and then stop.” But it really isn’t as amazing as it seems.
I call the shot based on the conditions given me. It’s similar to being a magician: You can’t make someone disappear unless you have all the props.
To nip the ball with the wedges, you must have the right clubs, that is, wedges with wide flanges and no bounce. The more bounce these clubs have, the higher will be the leading edge of the clubface when you set the club behind the ball at address. This sets up a “semi-bladed” shot that does not spin well.
A wedge with no bounce allows you to put the entire clubface on the ball for maximum spin. I believe a 100-compression (wound, balata) ball stops faster than a 90-compression ball. The harder the ball, the more it grips the clubface at impact, adding spin. The softer the ball, the more it absorbs into the clubface, reducing spin.
Think of the foremost pitchers of the ball — Hubert Green, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez. What do their swings have in common? The answer is low hands; their hands don’t get much above their heads at the top of the backswing and at the finish.
With a high-hands swing you cannot spin the ball consistently well, your swing arc is more abrupt and up, more “V” shaped. This results in a sharply descending blow and gives the shot a high arc.
But a truly well nipped shot has a lower arc and approaches the green on a shallower angle, the way a duck lands on water. Instead of dropping lifelessly as the high shot does, the low shot hits, grabs and spins back.
The low-hands player takes a little wider than normal stance, which lowers his body somewhat. During the swing, the hands stay closer to the body, and the follow-through isn’t as high. This player also stays down throughout the shot, so that at the finish, he is looking at the shot from underneath. The combination of these actions create a crisp, slightly descending blow and a shot with the desired trajectory.
Another trait of good nippers of the ball is that they are never afraid to step down a club. Faced with a shot that’s between an 8- and a 9-iron, they’ll consistently hit the 8. Stepping down a club allows you to take a shorter swing, which keeps your hands lower for more spin.
The key to the amount of spin you put on the ball is the right knee. During the downswing, the right knee moves laterally to the left, the speed of this movement determining the type of shot you’|l hit.
Imagine that at address you have a cymbal attached to your right knee, with the other cymbal suspended just to the left of it. When the movement of the right knee is correct, the impact of the ball and clubhead and the impact of the two cymbals would be simultaneous. And this would hold true regardless of the tempo of the swing. However, a slower swing will produce a softer shot, whereas a faster swing will produce a firmer shot with more spin.
Also, notice that the knees do not straighten, nor do they increase their flex during the swing. If they did, the result would be fat and skulled shots. The knees must move laterally as you swing down and through the shot.
The final element in nipping the ball is the correct kind of wrist action. In previous articles I’ve talked about hitting pitch shots “with your wrists in a cast,” with little or no wrist action (photographs 2A and 2B). That’s a basic pitch, a soft shot with very little spin. But to put some spin on the ball means you have to move onto a more advanced level, and that means using some wrist action.
To nip the ball, you should start the club back with the same one-piece motion you used for the basic pitch. But then you return it to the ball with what I call a “paintbrush” action of the wrists. To identify this motion, pretend to paint a wall in front of you with horizontal strokes. If you’re like most people, you’re not making those strokes completely stiff armed, but using a little wrist action as the brush changes directions. That’s the kind of wrist action you should have as you begin the downswing.
Here’s another analogy to help you to get the feeling of the correct action. Did you ever play with a paddle-ball, a wooden paddle to which a rubber ball is attached with a piece of elastic band? Again, you didn’t hit the ball stiff armed, but instead, gave it a little bit of wrist action in each stroke. That’s the same wrist action you need to nip the ball.
The movement is BACK (in one piece), LAG (the paintbrush action), HIT (the hands leading the clubhead into impact) and HOLD (the hands continue to lead into the follow-through.) The more you can develop and perfect this action in your pitching, the more you’ll be able to make the ball dance.
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