It’s nearly impossible to anticipate where every stroke will end, no matter how good you are with your club. Even professional golfers find themselves in the worst positions during big events. The only difference between them and the casual players is that they have a variety of tricks up their sleeves to get them out of risky positions. However, a Sunday golfer often struggles to even understand what kind of club to pick when they are tackling an elevated surface as an obstruction between the lie and the cup. We’re here to understand what the best course of action is in such situations.

The simple answer is pitching. Those unaware might believe that pitching and chipping are interchangeable terms. However, that is not the case as both shots are used for two distinct purposes. A chip is, as Stix describes, a low-trajectory lofted shot that helps the player get out of tall grass or the dunes. Everyone knows where you would find them. However, a pitch doesn’t need a difficult lie, but an obstacle up ahead that needs to be chipped over to reach the green. You usually find them on hilly courses near mountainous regions like the Old Greenwood, home of the Barracuda Championship, or the 16th-hole greenside bunker at PGA West’s Stadium Course.

While getting loft on such strokes is of utmost importance, so is the distance and speed control. Usually, such obstacles are placed on the edge of the green to make it more challenging. Hence, while hitting the ball high, you should also aim to lift it upwards instead of pushing it forward. Moreover, the ball also needs to have a lot of spin so that it doesn’t roll a lot after landing on the short grass. These elements make it even more challenging to execute a perfect pitching shot. So what kind of club should you use for such a challenging task? Let’s find out:

In search of loft and spin

A high-lob wedge is the ideal tool for this task. With a 60­­° wedge, you should have enough angle to get a lot of air, jump above the obstacle, and land on the green. Since the stroke also requires you to dig into the underside of the ball to generate more spin, it’s important to have a firm grip on your club while hitting it. That way, you can maintain more control over your stroke and execute it accurately.

Now that everything else is set up, it’s time to position yourself for the swing. Let’s see what it the most suitable stance for an elevated lie.

Balance is the key

You need to keep two things in mind while setting yourself up for a pitching shot: balance and consistent swing. The first can be achieved with the right stance. If the lie is on an elevated surface, it’s important to first position yourself at the same angle. From that position, you can tilt yourself forward from the waist up based on the angle you wish to swing at. Stand back and practice a few swings with the right angle to understand which position will be ideal for you to execute the shot.

Once you have found the right position, you have to move on to the swing. But what’s the ideal point of contact for a pitch shot? Let’s find out!

High-flying and low-rolling stroke

The next thing you need to keep in mind is your swing. Since you need to generate more spin for the ball to stop soon after it lands, you need to connect with the bottom of the ball before lobbing it off. That way, while it’s flying toward the green, it will also spin backward and act as a speed breaker when it lands on the green. And if your pitch shot was accurate enough to find a spot near the hole, then a high-spinning ball will stop perfectly for you to make an easy putt.

YouTube Danny Maude has provided a great drill to help you understand how to perfectly align your drill. In his tutorial, he suggests that we should draw a line in the position where the ball will be placed for the swing. Then use your leading arm to swing the wedge to see where the club is dropping. Keep practicing until the club head doesn’t consistently drop in the precise position where it will possibly hit the underside of the golf ball for a pitch shot. That way, pitching will become instinctive to you even before you set up for it.