The same techniques that help the pros get out of knee-high hay and scraggly plugged lies in deep grass will help the average player as well. Listen up and take some of these tips to the course the next time you find yourself in the deep stuff.
Choke Down and Tighten Your Grip
Control of the club is imperative in the deep rough. Having to swing through all that grass will twist and move your club as it comes into impact. For added control, tighten your grip pressure and choke down on the club.
Loft is your friend
For the really deep stuff, your focus should be getting the ball out and back in play in one shot. Don't be heroic and go for the green… just get back in play. To do this, you need loft, grab a wedge and dig the ball out. Any less loft and it's likely the long grass will snag the ball and only move a couple feet.
Get Steep
To help dig the ball out your swing must be very steep – think about swinging very “V” like. Swing down to the ball sharply and swing out – this will ensure as little grass as possible can snag and slow your club.
Open the face
Even though you’re choking down and tightening your grip, really long grass will still turn and close your clubface. Why does it close the clubface and not open it you ask? When you're approaching impact, the heel of your club leads (this is prior to your wrists rotating), the grass will snag the heel slightly, slowly it down and allowing the toe to catch up… causing the clubface to close. To compensate when faced with a really nasty lie, open the clubface, much like you would for sand or flop shots. If anything, the added loft of the open clubface will help you get the ball airborne.
Follow-through
Finally, one of the most important factors of escaping the long stuff happens after you've hit the ball. If you finish your swing, the ball will get airborne… it's as simple as that. I see many players burying their club into the grass behind the ball in hopes of digging the ball out. It doesn't work because the club is decelerating. Following-through shows you're swing is accelerating, which is the most important factor of all when trying to escape the rough.
Give it a try!