In the Rough, Close to the Hole -- What's the Preferred Technique?

[iacas]

@iacas hitting some pitches in rough

I filmed one yesterday that shows it from worse rough on the course (with the ball above my feet too).

It's uploading now. This video (the first one) is better for "ball close to the hole" - in the second video I hit 3 of the 4 pitch shots about 25-30 yards.

P.S. You guys have wimpy rough. :)

[iacas]

I filmed one yesterday that shows it from worse rough on the course (with the ball above my feet too).

It's uploading now. This video (the first one) is better for "ball close to the hole" - in the second video I hit 3 of the 4 pitch shots about 25-30 yards.

P.S. You guys have wimpy rough. :)

[mvmac]

Manly rough

[14ledo81]

Manly rough

If that is the "manly" rough.  I am fine being a "wimp".

[JetFan1983]

P.S. You guys have wimpy rough. :)

Hehe, love the vids today, Erik.

But hey, there's a reason they don't grow Bermuda out

[Golfingdad]

@iacas hitting some pitches in rough

http://thesandtrap.com/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video-golf-pitch-shot-technique/468#post_996512

Good stuff!  I was out at lunch today hitting a few and concentrating on the pivot, and letting the hands "fall" into the ball like Mike mentioned.  Hit them pretty well.

P.S. You guys have wimpy rough. :)

What @boogielicious said.

OK, this brings up a good question.  On the third shot (the "fluff") If you remembered that the ball was sitting up, how would you have played it differently?  Do you just stand taller and try to "pick it?"  Or, perhaps use a less lofted club?  Play it back in your stance?

[colin007]

heres my thing with the video - it really doesn't look (to me) that theres any "let the club fall into the ball" or "let gravity work".  they look like aggressive swings, powered a lot by the arms.  maybe im just not seeing it for what it actually is?

[iacas]

OK, this brings up a good question.  On the third shot (the "fluff") If you remembered that the ball was sitting up, how would you have played it differently?  Do you just stand taller and try to "pick it?"  Or, perhaps use a less lofted club?  Play it back in your stance?

I like to play those with a little more outward swing direction, which keeps things shallower. Plus if I'm not careful my body sends the clubhead to the "dirt" even if the ball is an inch above it, so basically, I would have just told myself to swing through the top of the grass, not to get all the way down to the dirt. Make sense?

heres my thing with the video - it really doesn't look (to me) that theres any "let the club fall into the ball" or "let gravity work".  they look like aggressive swings, powered a lot by the arms.  maybe im just not seeing it for what it actually is?

Of course there's some arms, but the difference is that the handle is not being dragged through. It still "falls" and gravity still lets the wrists uncock. My pivot aids in that too. There's very little "thrust" with the arms. They're doing very, very little.

Look at how quickly the lag is thrown out. That's not because I'm actively throwing the lag out with my right wrist or anything - it's simply "coming" out.

Gravity alone is not going to get the club through the rough enough to fly the ball 30 yards.

[colin007]

^^^ That makes more sense. What has been helping me is allowing the right elbow to bend more, and the follow through to result in the left elbow accepting a bend.

[mvmac]

OK, this brings up a good question.  On the third shot (the "fluff") If you remembered that the ball was sitting up, how would you have played it differently?  Do you just stand taller and try to "pick it?"  Or, perhaps use a less lofted club?  Play it back in your stance?

What Erik said. I try to feel like I swing along the top of the grass. Same kind of thing when I have a pitch on an upslope.

What has been helping me is allowing the right elbow to bend more, and the follow through to result in the left elbow accepting a bend.

Just be careful not to bend the arm and "thrust" it.

[colin007]

Just be careful not to bend the arm and "thrust" it.

i think the arm bending gets me swinging the club a little under plane, less vertically.

[vangator]

Gotta love a guy who will take divots in his own yard! I go to my neighbors yard. :)

[billchao]

I did a full practice today and brought my camera, so I'll be upload a bunch of videos on my swing thread later. In the meantime, I think I set up @JetFan1983 's scenario pretty well (I skipped right to the buried lie):

Sorry about the FO angle, I didn't realize I messed that up. The second shot went in, BTW. For me, these feel like mini pitch shots; just get the ball up and over the rough and on the green.

[iacas]

It's not bad, @billchao . I wouldn't mind seeing the clubhead do more to pass the handle. More speed through those shots, and you won't end up finishing like this:

[whorippedit]

Get aggressive and grip firmer with right hand . Actually this is good training on full shots , pro told me to do this instead of the impact bag . All golf really is and imo timing the release of the face angle

[mvmac]

Yeah I'll just add, more dealing cards feel on the backswing. The first backswing was good but on the downswing you just stopped at the ball. Second and third swings were almost a chip backswing.

[Dave2512]

These pitching vids are saving my ass lately. I got up and down for par on the first 3 holes last time out with this thread burned in my mind.

[billchao]

It's not bad, @billchao. I wouldn't mind seeing the clubhead do more to pass the handle. More speed through those shots, and you won't end up finishing like this:

Thanks. Do you mean more speed down (and through) with the same backswing length? Usually when I swing "faster" I just end up swinging longer, which would result in me hitting it way too far for this particular shot.

Yeah I'll just add, more dealing cards feel on the backswing. The first backswing was good but on the downswing you just stopped at the ball. Second and third swings were almost a chip backswing.

Feel isn't real

I totally felt like I was palm up, too...