Ken Venturi’s 4 Keys to Hitting a High-Spin Pitch

Golf instruction is always evolving, but the best tips stand the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Lifetime Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice that teachers and players have shared in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we revisit Ken Venturi’s tips for hitting swing shots from our August 1981 issue. For unlimited access to GOLF Magazine’s complete digital archive, join Inside GOLF tODAY; you’ll enjoy $140 worth of value for just $39.99 per year.

A lot has changed in golf over the past 40 years. However, the ability to control the ball with a wedge has remained a premium skill.

For as long as the game has been played, the short game has been a crucial skill. Hitting high bombs may wow crowds, but keeping level with a wedge is a skill that will always be in style.

Being able to check rotation in your fields is a key ingredient in the short game formula. If you are looking to decide more spin on your field shots around the greens, check out the tips below from 1964 US Open champion Ken Venturi.

Ken Venturi’s Keys to Spinning Kicks

Nothing excites a tournament gallery like a fairway shot that goes off the pin, checks, and then spins past the hole. But a good pitch — that is, a very clear shot with a lot of spin — is much more than a simple crowd pleaser. For a good player, or a player who wants to be good, the ability to put a lot of “stops” on the ball is a must. The more spin you put on the ball, the more control you have over the shot and the situation.

Let’s say you need to hit over a creek into a chipped pin near the front of the green. If you can’t spin the ball, you must try to drop the ball right from the hole. If you’re short, you’re wet. If you are strong, you are far from the hole. But if you can spin the ball, you can get it deeper into the green and get the ball back toward the hole without flirting with the water.

Some of the skills you need to catch the ball are advanced and will take practice to master. But the results will be worth the effort.

1. Get the “products”

The ability to catch the ball is not entirely a product of skill. The conditions must be suitable, otherwise even the best “suckers” will not be able to roll the ball. You should have a good lie, with firm ground and short grass, almost like artificial turf. The wind should be blowing slightly towards you and you should be hitting a fast, hard green that is slightly angled towards you. You should also be at least 80 or 90 yards from the pin. Any closer than that and you can’t make a big enough swing to spin the ball.

When the conditions are right, you can make the ball do anything. People are surprised when I “call” the shots, that is, when I say, “It’s going to take two jumps and then it’s going to stop.” But it’s actually not as amazing as it seems.

I call the shot based on the conditions given to me. It’s similar to being a magician: you can’t make someone disappear if you don’t have all the props.

To hit the ball with wedges, you need to have proper clubs, that is, wedges with wide flanges and no bounce. The more bulge these clubs have, the higher the leading edge of the clubface will be when you place the club behind the ball at address. This creates a “half-blade” kick that doesn’t spin well.

A no-bounce wedge allows you to place the entire clubface on the ball for maximum spin. I believe a 100 pressure ball (wound, balata) stops faster than a 90 pressure ball. The firmer the ball, the more it grips the clubface at impact, adding spin. The softer the ball, the more it absorbs into the clubface, reducing spin.

2. Keep your hands down

Think of the great pitchers – Hubert Green, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez. What do their swings have in common? The answer is hands down; their hands do not go far above their heads at the top of the backswing and at the bottom.

With a high-handed swing, you can’t consistently spin the ball well, your swing arc is more abrupt and up, more “V” shaped. This results in a sharp downstroke and gives the stroke a high arc.

But a really well-cut shot has a lower arc and approaches the green at a shallower angle, like a duck landing on water. Instead of falling dead like an overhead shot does, the low shot hits, catches and spins back.

The player with low hands takes a slightly wider stance than normal, which lowers his body somewhat. During the swing, the hands stay closer to the body and the follow through is not as high. This player also stays down throughout the shot, so that at the end he looks down on the shot. The combination of these actions creates a sharp, slightly descending stroke and a stroke with the desired trajectory.

Another trait of good ball sinkers is that they are never afraid to walk away from a club. Faced with a shot that is between an 8- and a 9-iron, they will consistently hit the 8. Stepping off a club allows you to take a shorter swing, which keeps your hands lower for more spin.

3. Key on the right knee

The key to the amount of spin you put on the ball is the right knee. When landing, the right knee moves sideways to the left, the speed of this movement determines the type of shot you hit.

Imagine that at address you have one cymbal attached to your right knee, with the other cymbal hanging just to the left of it. When the right knee swing is correct, the impact of the ball and club head and the impact of the two cymbals would be simultaneous. And this would be true regardless of swing rate. However, a slower swing will produce a softer swing, while a faster swing will produce a stronger swing with more spin.

Also, notice that the knees do not straighten or increase their flexion during the swing. If they did, the result would be fat and skully shooting. The knees should move to the side as you move down and through the stroke.

4. Use the ‘brush’ action

The last element in catching the ball is the right kind of wrist action. In previous articles I have talked about hitting the pitch stroke “with the wrists in a cast,” with little or no wrist action (photos 2A and 2B). This is a basic pitch, a soft kick with very little spin. But putting some spin on the ball means you have to go to a more advanced level and that means using some wrist action.

To catch the ball, you must launch the club again with the same one-piece swing that you used for the baseline. But then you bring it back to the ball with what I call a “brush” action of the wrists. To identify this movement, pretend to paint a wall in front of you with horizontal strokes. If you’re like most people, you’re not making those full-on stiff-armed strokes, but using a little wrist action as the brush changes direction. This is the type of wrist action you should have when starting the squat.

Here’s another analogy to help you get the feel of the right action. Have you ever played with a paddle ball, a wooden paddle to which a rubber ball is attached with a piece of elastic band? Again, you didn’t hit the ball hard-armed, but instead, gave it a little wrist action on each shot. This is the same wrist action needed to catch the ball.

The movement is BACK (in one part), LAG (brush action), HIT (hands leading the clubhead into impact) and HOLD (hands continue to lead the next). action in your pitching, the more you will be able to make the ball bounce.