I took lessons with Michael Walker for three years on short game. Michael has worked for many years as Pete Cowans assistsant but also coaches many top players in his own right to include Matt Fitpatrick. Below aremy notes from an old lesson with Michael. 1. Practice Pitching with 3 swing lengths:
HIP, CHEST, SHOULDER: This refered to swing lengths of the left arm going back in order to control the distance of pitch shots. Find a few distances that you are good at and are most comfortable with. Problem can end up with two many distances so be aware. 2. To control distance combination of arm length with body turn, if you don't blend the arm swing with the use of the body correctly it is hard to regulate distance. DRILL: The Best way to introduce body movement practice with split hand grip. 3. SWING PLANE: Make sure left arm doesn't move across body too much on backswing and the club shaft get too steep. It is very easy from this position in the backswing for the club to move under plane causing the slight ground first hit and lack of spin.
Make the first few inches of the swing then feel the left arm stays a little more in front of the body with the club shaft a little flatter so the club shaft points at the ball. On the downswing try to keep the angle of the shaft the same but feel the arms move in close to the body through impact and works low and left in the follow thorugh. It is okay to feel the shoulders are a little more open at impact to achieve this. 4, MORE OR LESS SPIN: When you want to spin a chip feel the right hand moves under left through impact. If you want to get the ball running a little more feel the toe of the club realeases over the heel.
