Playing an approach shot only to find your ball land in the rough around the green is very frustrating. Your next should have been a putt but what you have been left with is a tricky shot just to get your ball on the putting surface.
This shot becomes even more difficult when you have very little green to work with. Ideally, if you miss the green and land in the rough, you want to be on the open side of the green, with the hole as far away from you as possible.
However, there will be times when you are in thick rough around the green and the flag is on the near side, giving you very little green to work with.
The problem arises because you need to generate enough club head speed to get the ball out of the thick rough but you need it stop quickly to prevent the ball racing away along the green and possibly off the other side.
The two most important things to remember when playing this shot are the closer the hole is to you, the more loft you will require so the ball stops quickly. The second thing is to always make a few practice swings when in thick rough, so you can judge how the grass is going to grab the club when you play the shot.
To play this shot well, you need to make a slightly downward strike on the ball and that means playing it from under your shirt buttons. As you play the shot, the thick grass will grab hold of the club and you will need to push the club through it, without having the face of the club twisting.
To do this, grip hold of the club at twice the normal pressure you would use and prepare yourself to fight against the thick grass as you make the shot.
As mentioned above, you need to generate a great deal of loft when playing this shot, so open the face of the club before starting your backswing. Rotate the handle of the club and open the face before you take your grip rather than twisting the club when you have made your grip. This will open the face of the club nicely without the need for you to change your grip in any way.
To help with creating a nice, steep action, you can narrow your feet together when you have taken your stance. Doing this will naturally make your shot steeper.
Finally, when you contact the ball, try and stop the club as soon as possible. This will prevent the face of the club rotating and help to produce a high ball launch, which is precisely what you need when playing from thick greenside rough towards a close pin position.
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