Can’t land the ball softly on the green? Cut these mistakes from your swing

One of the best ways to give yourself shorter putts and more birdie opportunities is to land softer pitch shots on the green. Of course, doing that is always easier said than done.

I can’t tell you how many times I know exactly what I want to do around the green, but just fail to actually execute it.

Sometimes it’s because I fail to use the bounce of the club with a wedge. Other times, it’s because I use the wrong club — going with a lob wedge instead of a pitching wedge or even a 9-iron. And then there’s always the issue of setting up improperly, which can cause massive issues like skulling a shot.

Short Game

Since I’m no pro golfer (yet?!), it’s always helpful to get simple tips from instructors like Cathy Kim.

In the video below, Kim doesn’t just highlight common mistakes many amateurs make, but also how to correct them — resulting in soft pitch shots and better opportunities to go low on the scorecard.

How to produce soft pitch shots

In the video above, Kim says that producing soft pitch shots requires understanding the angle of both your shoulders and hands. These are two things that many amateurs seem to struggle with, and often (mistakenly) apply the same setup with their wedges as they would, say, a 7-iron.

The image below shows the common problems.

“Number one, the shoulder angle shouldn’t be as steep as a 7-iron. Number two, your hands shouldn’t be so forward pressed,” she says. “So if your shoulders look like this, this is a no no.

“You want to make sure your shoulders feel level at the finish.”

So instead of doing the above, check out the image below — which compares the wrong way versus the right way of doing things.

If you struggle with wedge shots, making the simple adjustments that Kim suggests above should help. And before you know it, you’ll land more shots softly on the green, leaving yourself a much easier putt to finish the hole.

Nick Dimengo

Golf.com Editor