In Too Deep: Use Lofted Club to Escape Thick Stuff, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
In Too Deep: Use Lofted Club to Escape Thick Stuff, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think one area that you could really help to work on to improve your score is make sure that when you hit a bad shot, it should only cost you one shot. I often talk to golfers about how they had one killer hole, one 10 on a par 4 and it's often one shot that caused them the trouble and then they multiply that problem by not getting out in time. If you've hit a bad tee shot into the long grass and you're not sure about the lie, you're not sure about the situation, when in doubt, get the ball out. Get it back on the fairway. Get it back in play as soon as possible. The key to that is playing enough loft for your escape shot. When in doubt, use lots of loft. Any more angle on the clubface is always going to make it easier because the leading edge cuts much more like a knife to get through the long grass. You take a 3-iron or a 4-iron because you're 200 yards away from the green. Hitting into the long grass is just like the side of a bus. It's not going to cut through the grass to get the ball out. It just hammers the side of the grass and it goes 10 feet and you're still in the long grass. You haven’t got it out in time.

Take a more lofted golf club. Play the ball a little bit further back in your stance and again that would encourage a steeper angle of attack and then, although yes, we want to the ball to come out and up, that's not your job, to lean back and to scoop it. That won't work. Your job is to hit down nice and steep hitting down. Cut under the ball and get the ball to come out nice and quickly. So play the ball back in the stance. Play the body weight forwards. Grip it nice and tightly so the long grass doesn't wrap around the club and twist the club and then be steep and be firm. Dig it out that way. That forces the ball out and forwards and that would cut through a surprising amount of long, thick, wet grass much more so than a longer iron swinging with a flatter blade. That just doesn't work for you. So make sure that your bad shots only cost you one by taking plenty of loft, getting the ball back out in play as soon as you possible can.

 2012-09-18

I think one area that you could really help to work on to improve your score is make sure that when you hit a bad shot, it should only cost you one shot. I often talk to golfers about how they had one killer hole, one 10 on a par 4 and it's often one shot that caused them the trouble and then they multiply that problem by not getting out in time. If you've hit a bad tee shot into the long grass and you're not sure about the lie, you're not sure about the situation, when in doubt, get the ball out. Get it back on the fairway. Get it back in play as soon as possible. The key to that is playing enough loft for your escape shot. When in doubt, use lots of loft. Any more angle on the clubface is always going to make it easier because the leading edge cuts much more like a knife to get through the long grass. You take a 3-iron or a 4-iron because you're 200 yards away from the green. Hitting into the long grass is just like the side of a bus. It's not going to cut through the grass to get the ball out. It just hammers the side of the grass and it goes 10 feet and you're still in the long grass. You haven’t got it out in time.

Take a more lofted golf club. Play the ball a little bit further back in your stance and again that would encourage a steeper angle of attack and then, although yes, we want to the ball to come out and up, that's not your job, to lean back and to scoop it. That won't work. Your job is to hit down nice and steep hitting down. Cut under the ball and get the ball to come out nice and quickly. So play the ball back in the stance. Play the body weight forwards. Grip it nice and tightly so the long grass doesn't wrap around the club and twist the club and then be steep and be firm. Dig it out that way. That forces the ball out and forwards and that would cut through a surprising amount of long, thick, wet grass much more so than a longer iron swinging with a flatter blade. That just doesn't work for you. So make sure that your bad shots only cost you one by taking plenty of loft, getting the ball back out in play as soon as you possible can.