When your ball is deep in the rough ground, it’s easy to feel like there’s no good way to make solid contact. You swing harder, but the club still seems to grab the grass and spin.
According to GOLFTEC’s Josh Troyer, that’s because the problem isn’t about a lack of swing speed; it has to do with your angle of attack.
“Players with a steeper angle of attack can handle rough terrain better,” says Troyer. “It allows the club to get to the ball more directly, instead of skimming through the grass too early.”
That concept is closely related to something Troyer (and all GOLFTEC teachers) work on every day: hip swinging. This is the way your hips move towards the target during the downswing. Most experienced players move their hips about six inches toward the target, from the top of the backswing to the finish, which helps control two important things:
- Low point – where the club hits the ground.
- Wave direction – the path the club takes through impact.
“Good players move their hips toward the goal enough so they can hit the ground in the right place and on the right path,” Troyer explains. “Bad golfers either don’t move forward enough, or they stay too far back. That’s when the club path goes out of control: too far in-out or too steep and down.”
Here’s where it gets interesting: Golfers who move their hips too far toward the target often produce a in-to-out path that is too extreme and leads to a superficial angle of attack. That’s the kind of swing that goes over the grass instead of driving through it – and it’s a killer in thick grass.
“If you start hitting from a thicker rough, it becomes very difficult to get clean contact with a shallow angle of attack,” Troyer says. “You see a lot of players who make big draws struggle in the rough because their club gets too close to the ground too early. The grass grabs it and they can’t get to the ball.”
That’s why Tour players often talk about trying to make fades or cuts when they’re in blatant lies. Those shot shapes naturally promote a steeper angle of attack – exactly what you want when you need to cut the ball out cleanly.
“They may not even know why it works,” Troyer says. “But when you hit a fade, your club comes down a little steeper. It’s easier to get through the grass and make solid contact.”
So the next time your ball hits the rough, don’t just swing harder. Adjust your setup and thought process: aim slightly to the left, feel like you’re hitting a soft shot, and let the club descend a little steeper. You’ll catch the ball cleaner and give yourself a much better chance of hitting a clean iron on the green.
If you want to gain expert insight into your swing, book a swing evaluation with GOLFTEC below.
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