For many amateur golfers playing from the rough can be a tough ask, and the problem is not just because the ball may be sitting down.

It can be totally different playing from one type of grass to another so learning how to play from the rough, especially if you play on various courses can be tricky.

There is, however a way that you can approach these shots that will help you get back onto the fairway and playing from the short stuff.

One of the keys to successfully playing from the rough is to make sure you make contact with the ball before your club gets tangled in the long rough.

Take the first cut of rough, normally about an inch-tall half of the ball is above the height line of the grass, this is a relatively straight-forward shot, that shouldn´t cause to many problems if you make a couple of sensible alterations to the way you approach it.

First, you must choose the correct club, remember simplify the shot, you want to get back onto the short stuff. So if distance is required, say on a par five or long par four, then a fairway wood or hybrid would be a much better choice than a 5-iron. Using the wider soled clubs will help reduce the amount of drag on the cub caused by the grass, resulting in less rotation of the club head.

Second, play the ball a little further back in your stance than you normally would. This will encourage you to strike the ball a little earlier than normal, helping you to avoid trapping too much grass between club and ball.

If you are a little wilder and find yourself in the 2^nd or even 3^rd cut of rough, you need to learn to do three things:

1 – Take your medicine, you are not going to be able to generate a huge amount of distance from a situation like this, so don´t try.

2 – Take a higher lofted club to try and cut through the jungle of grass you are faced with.

3 – Learn to commit to a shot, many amateurs in an attempt to keep the clubface square will decelerate into the back of the ball, moving it just a few inches and leaving a very similar shot for their next.

It is paramount when playing from thick rough to commit to the shot and make sure that you are “driving” the club down into the back of the ball through the grass.

A follow through may not be viable, but the need to accelerate into the ball is huge.

Playing from any rough results in less control over the golf ball, so never get greedy, play within your means and remember your main aim is to get back onto the fairway and into play.