Golf Technique: Taking The Rough With The Smooth

No matter how good a player's golf technique, we all have experience of the rough. Of course the ideal is for the ball to stay on the fairway, but in practice we all need to know how to play out of the rough on any course.

With a good technique it is possible to welcome the opportunity to play from rough ground. It gives a certain freedom to our stroke. Greg Norman has even been quoted as saying that he can hit further and straighter from the rough than from any other ground. Just remembering that when you come to take your next rough shot may help you swing confidently straight onto the green.

The reason these shots often travel so far is that they come from a 'flyer' lie. This is a relatively open, flat lie where the grass is long enough to be trapped between the club face and the ball at the moment of impact. The grass absorbs much of the backspin and the ball seems to fly on forever. So take a medium or short length club for a flyer and expect the ball to travel further than if you were on the fairway.

To give more control over the shot and lessen the effect of the grass on the backspin, stand more ahead of the ball than usual and take a steeper swing so that less of the grass is involved. Avoid the temptation to hit the ball harder than if it were a clean shot. There is no need for that.

If the grass is thick and the ball is almost hidden, a different technique is required. A pitching wedge can be used to bring the ball up out of it. Use an open stance and take a firm grasp on the club. The head of the club should be square against the target line of the ball. Alternatively, some golfers recommend squaring the club face to a line slightly right of the target line because the grass will often cause the face to turn on impact. This is a good shot to experiment with in practice sessions.

From time to time you will encounter a perch lie. Here the clump of grass is so thick that the ball is balanced on top of it. This lie is very unstable and you have to watch your step to avoid unbalancing the ball as you prepare. If it falls you will be given a penalty shot. The shot itself is simple, just like playing from a tee, but because of the instability it is important not to touch the ground. That would unbalance the ball a split second before you hit it, and could ruin your shot.

Many golfers enjoy playing from the rough and depending on the lie, it is not always a disadvantage. A golfer can improve his game a great deal by mastering good golf technique for the different lies in the rough.