Professional golfers get up and down from within 10 feet 90 percent of the time.
That’s why they score so well on tough courses like Augusta National Golf Club, where they play the Masters.
Getting up and down is critical to slashing strokes from your average score and your golf handicap.
Master this aspect of your game and you’ll not only play better each round, you’ll be more consistent as well.
Professional golfers get up and down more often not because they’re better putters than we are, but because they’re more accurate from short yardage in.
They get the ball closer to the hole more often than we do, leaving themselves short, makeable putts.
And knowing how to attack a pin is critical to getting the ball closer from short yardage in.
A Typical Scenario
You’ve just hit a 7-iron from about 160 yards, but you hit it a little thin and you’ve left yourself about 20 yards short of the green.
Your lie is good and your path is clear.
You’re tempted to grab your sand wedge and make a long backswing if the pin is back and a short backswing if the pin is up.
But let’s hold on for a second. Make a mistake here and you’ll cost yourself strokes.
Fortunately, there’s another approach to this shot, one that many players with low golf handicaps favor and that I teach in my golf lessons.
Each pin position (short, middle, long) requires a different loft, spin, and carry if you want to get the ball close.
That means learning three different pitch shots.
Luckily, they’re remarkably similar to your every day technique.
Let’s examine each individually.
Front Pin
Too often golfers try to lob the ball into the air with a front pin.
That takes perfect execution.
Instead, play for a low shot.
Use your lob wedge instead of your sand wedge, play the ball off your back foot, and set your weight over your front foot.
The secret to making this shot is in the stroke you take.
Instead of making a normal stroke, keep your wrists quiet and make a simple pendulum like stroke back and forth, like you would on a long putt.
Take several practice swings before hitting the ball to ingrain the stroke, then step up and hit.
This shot gives you just enough loft and run to stop the ball close.
Middle Pin
In this situation you want to land the ball on the front third of the green, then let it run to the pin.
You can use your sand wedge, but if you’re more comfortable with a gap wedge that works, too.
The difference is that the sand wedge gives you slightly more spin.
That slows down the roll to the pin.
Position the ball in the middle of your stance and distribute your weight evenly.
Take your hands back a bit more than on the previous shot to about thigh high.
Don’t break your wrists.
If you do, you’ll probably pitch it past the hole.
Now, swing away.
Back Pin
The goal with this pin placement is landing the ball halfway between you and the pin.
Check the break on the green before hitting the shot.
Since you’re counting on the ball rolling as far as it flies in the air, make sure you know which way the green breaks after the ball lands.
Use a gap wedge with this shot, unless the pin is way back or the green tilts uphill, then drop down to a pitching wedge.
With this shot you need to hinge your wrists so that the club is just above your hands.
Keep your hands together.
And keep your hands just ahead of the clubhead all the way to impact.
This type of stroke gives you just enough loft and roll to get it close to the pin, if you’ve read the break on the green correctly.
Mastering these three shots increases short-yardage accuracy.
But you must pick out a landing spot before hitting the ball.
Choosing a landing spot and then hitting it is vital to executing all three shots perfectly and achieving a nifty up and down.
Do that and you’ll chop strokes off your average score and your golf handicap.
