Get a Tour Short Game

Luke Donald, the former World No. 1, is on his way back his best, thanks to a renewed short-game focus

Donald has been a brilliant performer for Europe in the Ryder Cup

Pitching and Chipping Keys

On a standard pitch, teaching philosophy has actually changed a lot in the last five years. Pros’ ball positions are now more forward to use bounce effectively. So the shaft angle is vertical, not leaning forward. Ensure your club is in the same position at set-up and impact. I always think about throwing the head a little bit and exposing the bounce with a lot of body turn to make sure I don’t flip. I try and keep my technique very simple between pitch shots. I might manipulate my set-up slightly, but I want to be as neutral as possible. I will change clubs sometimes - if I’ve got a lot of green to work with, for example - but for the most part, I’ll change technique to match the shot.

Chipping shouldn’t be too different to pitching. You’re just changing the set-up, using less loft to get the ball rolling and moving the ball position further back. Unlike a pitch, where you’re trying to maintain loft throughout impact, you can de-loft a chip a little bit - similar to the release of a full shot.

I’d say the best wedge shot I’ve ever hit was the one in the play-off against Lee Westwood at Wentworth in 2011 to win and get to World No. 1, because of everything that was riding on it. I put it to about foot feet and really put the pressure on Lee.

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Written by Luke Donald

Photography by AFP

Click here to see the published article.

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