Deep rough will normally close the club face as the club head reaches the ball. To prevent that, it’s good to steepen the angle of the club head on the downswing. The easiest way to do this is to position the ball in back in the stance. This ball position will automatically create a steeper downswing. For shorter shots from the deep rough, place a little more weight on your forward foot. That, once again, will steepen the angle of the downswing. The long grass will normally twist the club face a little, so be sure to allow for that.
Ball in the rough, near the green.
Often the ball will be just a foot or two off the green, but will be nested down in the rough. It’s very difficult in this situation to hit the ball cleanly with an iron. Try putting the ball out of the rough with a hybrid. It takes a while to gauge how much swing or stroke you need for the given distance.
There are many lady players who are as good as the best so long as they keep down the middle and on the fairway, but when they are called upon to recover from the rough, or play from difficulties, their weaknesses are disclosed.
When the ball is lying in the rough, the player is inclined to overestimate the difficulty of the shot. Instead of trying to get as far as possible many players are quite content to find the fairway. This may be a wise precaution under certain circumstances, but playing for safety does not tend to improve one’s form.
- Use anything from a 3 wood to a wedge in the rough, depending on the lie.
- Don’t ground the club when the ball is sitting up in the rough.
- Swing with the slope on a downhill lie.
- Take an extra club for uphill lies.
- Play for a slice when the ball is below the feet.
- Choke down on the club when the ball is above.
- Grip down and abbreviate the follow-through to keep the ball low in the wind.
Playing out of the rough, the only shot in golf where gripping the club tightly is a good idea. The deeper the grass, the tighter the grip. A tight grip keeps the club from twisting and closing in the cabbage.
When your ball is in heavy rough, it’s time for another nontraditional shot — the wood chip. A small wood head separates and slides through the grass, unlike an iron, which has to cut through it.
When you try to hit a ball out of long grass, the grass gets between the clubface and the ball. The ball then has no backspin and goes off like a Scud missile, and direction can be a concern. But the real problem is that, with no backspin, the ball can take a longer voyage than you expected. The lack of backspin means less drag occur while the ball is in the air. That’s a concern when you’re trying to hit the ball a certain distance.
Test the rough with a practice swing to determine how much resistance it will offer to your swing.
Deep rough:
Mistakes:
- Selecting the wrong club, that is, not matching the lie with the appropriate club; not using a club with enough loft.
- In deeper grass, failing to open the clubface.
Setup:
- Take an open stance.
- Open the clubface.
- Position the ball in the middle or slightly forward of the middle of your stance.
Pre-swing thoughts:
- Minimize club’s contact with grass on backswing and downswing.
- Imagine a left-to-right ball flight.
Swing:
- Take a deeper backswing than normal.
- Tighten the grip pressure and hold the club open through impact.
Fluffy rough:
Mistakes:
- Grounding the club at address, causing the ball to move from its original position (1-stroke penalty).
- Making a descending approach to the ball.
Setup:
- Stand taller, grip down on club.
- Play ball slightly forward of middle for longer irons and woods and in the middle for short irons.
- Widen stance slightly.
Pre-swing thoughts:
- Think tempo and solid contact.
- Watch for possible flyer if there is a chance for grass to get between clubface and ball.
Swing:
- Low takeaway.
- Take three-quarter backswing.
- Sweep ball away, keeping approach shallower than normal.
The single most important factor in hitting this shot successfully is recognition: you must be able to detect a flyer lie. A flyer lie is any lie where the grass is certain to get between the club and the ball at impact. The ball is usually sitting up in the rough, with grass growing in the direction of the target. Flyer lies are most commonly found in the first cut of rough, where grass is high enough to come between the club and the ball but short enough to allow the ball to sit up.
The number one mistake golfers make here is take the same club they would for a normal lie. The common outcome is a shot that sails over the intended target or bounces and rolls farther than anticipated.
You can tell a ball is a flyer because it’s usually sitting up a little bit with some grass behind the ball. If the ball is sitting down, it’s not going to fly as much, even if there is some grass behind it. If the grass is leaning toward your target, then the ball is really going to jump out of there. I take less club and try to deaden the club through impact.
Flyer:
Mistakes:
- Failure to recognize the flyer lie.
- Take too much club.
- Decelerate (fear of hitting the ball too far).
Setup:
- Square stance slightly narrower than normal.
- Grip down on club.
- Play the ball in the center of your stance (or slightly forward of center for cut shot).
- Open clubface slightly.
Pre-swing thoughts:
- Select less club.
- Allow for roll when planning the distance of your shot.
Swing:
- Take three-quarter swing.
- Focus on rhythm and tempo.
- Finish with a complete follow-through.
Off an unstable lie:
Mistakes:
- Failure to select stronger club (drop down one or two clubs).
- Carelessness when addressing the ball, causing it to move.
Setup:
- Align stance parallel to target line, square clubface.
- Grip down on the club, stand taller and closer to the ball.
Pre-swing thoughts:
- Allow for lower trajectory (bottom of club will contact ball).
- Hover the club to avoid inadvertently causing ball to move while at address.
- With highly lofted clubs, avoid bottom out swing before hitting ball (thus fluffing the shot).
Swing:
- Keep lower body quiet.
- Take club back three-quarters.
- Pick ball cleanly, taking shallow pivot.
As is the case whenever hitting from the rough (of any type) it is hard to exert a lot of backspin onto the ball, especially when it is sitting up.
In contrast to a ball that lies on the fairway, the clubface here can’t trap the ball against the ground because the ball is held up from the ground by the fluffy rough.
That means the ball will fly out without much backspin and will roll a good distance upon landing.
For that reason, aim for the front of the green and take one less club that you normally would.
Some circumstances call for a swing to be steeper than normal, such as hitting from tall grass. However, in this fluffy lie situation a flatter swing is recommended instead.
Doing so will help shield you from coming in too steeply which could see your club travel down towards the ground and away from the ball that is sitting up.