Your approach shot barely misses the green. It lands in the rough, which is deep but not too deep. Your normal pitch shot won't work from here because the grass is too long. The shot won't give you the clean contact you need to escape the grass and leave the ball close. You need to adjust your pitching technique to get up and down.
Below are five keys to pitching from long grass:
1. Stand back from your address position
2. Positions your hands lower
3. Square the leading edge of the clubface
4. Swing normally with less force
5. Fine-tune your setup to land it close
Address the ball as you normally would, but stand back slightly. This stance lowers your hands a bit into a pre-cocked position, adding bounce to the club to push it cleanly through the grass. Square the leading edge of the clubhead, giving you more clubface area to strike the ball.
Make your normal pitch swing, but use 75 percent force. The low hands give you a sharp downswing, helping to slip the club under the ball. With this technique, the ball pops up more than moves forward, rescuing you from the grass.
Vary your stance and ball position depending on the grass and your distance from the pin. To pitch it higher, play the ball between the center of your stance and front foot. To pitch it lower, play the ball between the center of your stance and back foot. To pitch it farther, widen your stance and stay square to the ball. To pitch it shorter, choke down and use an open, narrow stance.
All pitch shots are not created equal. When the grass is really long, adjust your stance, swing, and grip based on the length of the grass and the distance to the hole. Practice this shot from different positions near the green to master this stroke-saving shot.
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