You said fat shots. From 30 yards, that’s where they cost the most. Five steps, one drill, ten balls, and nothing to buy.
Thursday lesson · Sep 17
Free lesson · 30 yd
The 30‑yard pitch.
Hi Sam, it’s Nate. You told me you’re working on fat shots, so this week’s lesson is the shot where they cost you the most.
A fat iron still gets you somewhere. A fat pitch goes ten yards and you hit the same shot again. Five steps and one drill. It’s a lesson, not a pitch.
1.4
Strokes saved per round
The average across 58 of my students in their first thirty days with this drill, from their own scorecards. Nearly all of it from inside 40 yards.
Read the lie.
Tight or fluffy picks the club before anything else. Tight means the sole has nowhere to hide. Fluffy means it can slide under the ball.
Pick your lie
56°, low bounce.
Ball first, then turf. Land it a third of the way and let it run.
60°, high bounce.
Let the sole slide under it. Land it closer to halfway and it’ll sit.
56° · lands 1/360° · lands 1/2
A student picking her spot, ten paces out
Pick the landing spot.
You’re not aiming at the flag. You’re aiming at a spot a third of the way there. From 30 yards that’s ten paces out. Find it before you set up, then look at it, not the pin.
Flight and rollout
Loop
10 yd out · not the flag
Set up once, then leave it.
Ball in the center. Weight 60/40 on the lead foot, and it stays there. Hands quiet, a touch ahead of the ball. When the weight drifts back, the low point goes with it, and that’s your fat shot.
Center
Ball
60/40
Lead foot
Quiet
Hands
60/40 · and it stays
A student’s pitch · 5 frames
Loop
Hip to hip. Let the bounce hit.
Hands to hip height back, hip height through. Let the sole of the wedge hit the ground. The bounce is there to skid, not dig, so a strike that’s a hair early still gets out. No scoop. The loft does the lifting.
The sole skids · 3 frames
Loop
Sole first · no scoop
The towel drill.
Towel on your landing spot. Ten balls. Count how many land on it. Six is good. Eight and you’re ready for the course. Write the number down. It goes up faster than you think.
10
Balls, one towel, one number.
6/10
On the towel is good. Eight is course ready.
10 balls · this weekend
Where it lands, where it rolls.
Same swing, three clubs. Carry in orange, roll in black. Pick the club, then the spot picks itself.
56°
1/3 · 2/3
52°
1/2 · 1/2
PW
1/4 · 3/4
● Lands ● Rolls · Flat green
Where the divot starts tells you where the low point is
This weekend
Ten balls. Then hit reply.
Do the towel drill and send me your number out of ten. If it’s still coming out fat, tell me where your divot starts: behind the ball or after it. I read every reply, and I’ll send back one thing to change.
Reply with your number
Closest to the pin · closes Sunday 9 pm ET
Desert Stadium, 163 yards.
Your best so far is 23′ 4″, in the 20 to 40 ft band, and you’ve still got sittings left. Three shots a sitting, and your best one counts. Same rule as the pitch: ball first, then turf.
Play Desert Stadium
Free · about 900 in so far
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Ten balls this weekend. Tell me your number.
Nate Okonkwo · FLUSH · Scottsdale, AZ
You’re getting this because you entered my Desert Stadium closest to the pin and told me what you’re working on. Lessons like this one are free. Program emails are separate.
