Best club out of rough?

[Fourputt]

Hey everyone yesterday while golfing I attempted to use my hybrid out of rough a couple of times and the ball popped straight up and went about 15 yards in front of me......Is it best to use irons out of rough, because I hit my hybrid off of the deck in the fairway no problem, what exactly is the hybrid supposed to be used for?

It all depends on what kind of rough you are talking about. There's rough.... and then there's ROUGH!!! It also depends on whether the ball is sitting up, or has settled down into the grass. Other factors are how strong are you? How good a ball striker are you? How creative are you with your shot selection?

The right club can be anything from the club you would normally use to nothing more than a sand wedge to get the ball back in play. One of the commonest mistakes I see bogey golfers make is trying to get more out of the rough than they are capable of. I see them trying shots that Tiger couldn't pull off instead of just being sure that they get it back in play. That might mean only advancing the ball a few yards, or at times not advancing it at all, but just wedging it back to the fairway. For you the problem seems to be that you can't adjust for the ball sitting up off the ground, so you make your normal swing and slide the clubhead right under the ball. This shot needs to be treated like any other shot where the ball is above your feet. Shorten your grip a bit, make sure when you address the ball that you don't actually sole the club lower than where the ball is sitting (that may mean that you have to hover the club rather than grounding it), and focus on swinging through the ball, not on trapping it. You don't have to go down and dig it out, and when you try it with this kind of lie using a hybrid, all you will ever do is hit popups.

[mach1goen]

Everyone knows its the golfer not the club...thanks goons for reminding us

4 putt gave the most helpful answer.  I've had the same problem with my hybrid when the ball sits up a bit.  The hybrid face is pretty thin, so it's easy to get under it.  Choking up might be the answer for me.  Would you suggest using an iron or a wood to add forgiveness in that situation?

[xxsoultonesxx]

I've hit full shots from the rough with my hybrid that resulted in a popup, often the ball can get on top of the club with shots like that, unless you follow what fourputt said. Sound advice.

[awmgolfer]

It all depends on how it's sitting in there. If it is sitting on top with a nice lie I will use my 3 wood or any iron depending on the distance I have left. If it it not down and in but not on top I will either use the hybrid or a mid iron depending on the distance. If it is absolutely buried in the rough I will use my hybrid if I feel confident or if I think it's a tough one I will take a high iron and put it back in play to give me a next shot that is good but I haven't had to resort to that yet this year.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by mach1goen

Everyone knows its the golfer not the club...thanks goons for reminding us

4 putt gave the most helpful answer.  I've had the same problem with my hybrid when the ball sits up a bit.  The hybrid face is pretty thin, so it's easy to get under it.  Choking up might be the answer for me.  Would you suggest using an iron or a wood to add forgiveness in that situation?

I would say that it depends on lie and on your own ability to hit a variety of shots with any given club.  I would never use a long iron to dig a ball out of deep rough, even if it is sitting above the ground.  Long grass is guaranteed to impede a long iron, slow it down tremendously, and grab the hosel and close the face even more.  Such attempts usually end up going low and left, and not very far.  Some types of rough tend to be grabbier than others, so a couple of practice swings away from the ball but in a similar lie can help you with club and shot selection.  I try to use a club and a stance where I can take  a steeper angle of attack to minimize the club dragging through the grass as much as possible.  Sometimes that means using nothing more than a GW or SW.  Other times may take an 8I to get a bit more out of a recovery lay up shot, but in a situation where it would be bucking the odds to use enough club to reach the green.

I live with these shots every time I play, as my home course has lots of different types of rough (and I spend a lot of time in it), some very punishing and some quite playable.  I evaluate each situation as it comes up, and I play a lot of different clubs and shot types depending on the situation.

[Jmdmbike]

Depends on the situation. If the rough is not too thick or long, hybrid works well for me. But if the rough is thick or long grass or fescue, then usually nothing longer than an 8 iron. Open the face because the grass will grab the club and shut it on you. Steeper swing and try to make solid contact and get back into a decent position.

[GaijinGolfer]

Hybrids are the best out of the rough because the more rounded sole slides through the rough without twisting as much as an iron would.  Also, a hybrid tends to deliver more energy to the ball, which helps to power it out of the rough.

[SteveC]

It depends on the rough length. Usually an iron will do, and with shorter to average size rough I would say you can hit a hybrid out of it. That is me though :)

[SamW]

All rough is not equal, often a hybrid is good from rough but you have to stop to consider what the grass before the ball is going to do when you sweep through it. If you are sitting low in thick rough the flattening effect of a hybrid sweeping towards the ball can put so much grass between the ball and the face it kills your contact. In the same situation the sharp edge of a short iron will cut a lot of the grass as you go to hit the ball and could still make a clean contact with the ball (but the club could have lost most if not all of it's speed getting there).

[ghalfaire]

What fourputt said.  But if I had to pick a single club to use whenever my ball was in the rough it would be my 26* hybrid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

None

It all depends on what kind of rough you are talking about. There's rough.... and then there's ROUGH!!! It also depends on whether the ball is sitting up, or has settled down into the grass. Other factors are how strong are you? How good a ball striker are you? How creative are you with your shot selection?

[MiniBlueDragon]

My 4h is my default go-to club for rough shots but there's always an amount of uncertainty on exactly how far out of the rough the ball will be punched, depending on whether we're talking about 1-2 inches of rough or 6-8 inches of rough.

If I'm punching out dead sideways back onto the fairway and "taking my medicine" as such I've found myself starting to select my 54.11 wedge quite often to be a little surer of the max distance I'll get. I've had too many instances where the ball has come out cleaner than expected and gone straight over the other side of the fairway or where I've dialed-down the speed to prevent an over-hit and then not actually got the ball out.

If I'm punching forward and out at the same time I always use my 4h.