Golf Pitch Shot Drills: 20-70 Yard Mastery

The pitch shot — any wedge swing between a chip and a full swing — is where scoring handicaps are truly determined. The golfer who can reliably put a pitch shot inside 10 feet from 40 yards has a massive advantage over the one guessing with full swings from the same distance. These drills build the touch and technique for consistent pitch shot execution.

The L-to-L Drill for Pitch Fundamentals

Hit pitch shots where your arms form an L at both hip-high positions — an L with the lead arm and shaft in the backswing, and an L with the trail arm and shaft in the follow-through. This L-to-L swing produces reliable 30-40 yard pitches with consistent contact. The matching L positions on both sides ensure the swing is symmetric and the tempo is consistent. Once this feels automatic, vary the backswing length to control distance.

Drill Tip: Film your L-to-L from the target-line view. Both L positions should be visible and clear. If the backswing L is exaggerated or collapsed, contact will suffer.

The Dead Hands Drill

Hit pitch shots feeling like your hands are 'dead' — not actively releasing or hinging. Let the arms, shoulders, and body move the club while the wrists remain passive. This eliminates the flippy, wristy impact that causes fat and thin pitches. The correct pitch shot feels like the club is being pushed through impact by the body, not flipped by the hands. It initially feels awkward because amateur golfers are very hand-active through impact.

Drill Tip: Hold the club 2 inches down the grip for this drill. The shortened club makes the dead-hands feel more achievable initially.

The Towel Drill for Clean Contact

Place a towel 4 inches behind the ball on the target side (between you and the ball). Practice pitch shots that brush the towel as little as possible — ideally not at all. If you hit the towel heavily, you're entering the ground too far behind the ball (fat contact). This drill trains the forward-leaning, ball-first contact that produces crisp pitches. Start with partial swings and gradually increase speed.

Drill Tip: Move the towel progressively closer to the ball as your ball-first contact improves. Start 4 inches behind, work toward 2 inches.

The Distance Ladder for Pitching

Set up targets at 25, 40, and 55 yards on the range. Hit 5 balls to each target in order, then reverse (55, 40, 25). The key is finding three distinct swing lengths that reliably produce each distance — not trying to hit the same swing softer or harder. After 10 practice sessions with this drill, you'll have three reliable pitch distances programmed into muscle memory rather than guessing at every pitch shot on the course.

Drill Tip: Use the same club (58° or 56°) for all three distances. Club consistency is more important than club selection for pitching mastery.

Key Takeaways

L-to-L swing positions create symmetric, consistent pitch shot mechanics
Dead hands through impact eliminates the flippy contact that causes fat and thin pitches
The towel drill trains ball-first contact by punishing entering behind the ball
Build three reliable pitch distances at 25, 40, and 55 yards through repetitive ladder practice

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