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Adjust stance to hit out of the rough

Erroll Miller
Special to the Daily

Most golfers don’t always find the fairway or short-cut grass. Often, it seems like the golf ball wants to take flight and land in the deepest grass on the course. And now that monsoon rains are helping feed the grass, the rough just keeps getting longer and thicker. Today’s tip will discuss how the golfer can best extract the ball from the rough.

Typically the golf ball falls down in the tall grass. This leaves us a shot that allows the grass to get between the clubface and the ball during the swing. The result is a loss of energy transfer. One of the problems in this situation is that most golfers use the same stance and set-up as they would in the fairway. Unfortunately, that promotes hitting too far behind the ball. To help alleviate this situation a few minor set-up changes in your stance and swing plane will help.

For a right-handed golfer do the following; first, move the ball to the right of center in your stance. Next, choke down on the club about an inch, and point the butt end of your club to the left side of your belt buckle. Finally, set more weight on your left foot. As you make your swing keep your weight on the left side which will promote a swing path that will have a steeper angle on both the backswing and the downswing allowing your club to make contact closer to the ball. The closer contact means less grass between the clubface and the ball, resulting in more energy transfer to the ball for greater distance. The ball probably won’t go as far as you would normally hit the particular club, and the trajectory of the ball will usually be lower. Plan for less flight time and more roll time and pick a target that gets your ball back onto the fairway. Hitting from the rough can be frustrating, but this tip might just make it a little more manageable.



Erroll Miller is the PGA Head Professional at the Breckenridge Golf Club


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