Using the second moment of the pion distribution amplitude as an example, we investigate whether lattice calculations of matrix elements of local operators involving covariant derivatives may benefit from the recently proposed momentum smearing technique for hadronic interpolators. Comparing the momentum smearing technique to the traditional Wuppertal smearing we find-at equal computational cost-a considerable reduction of the statistical errors. The present investigation was carried out using N-f = 2+ 1 dynamical non-perturbatively order a improved Wilson fermions on lattices of different volumes and pion masses down to 220 MeV. (c) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.