There is a distinctive difference in power between men and women. Women are proportionately stronger in their lower body and men are stronger in their upper bodies. This means there are some shots in golf that are a bit tougher for us than others. So what are they and how do we tackle them?
1. Escaping heavy rough
First, let’s head to the heavy rough – I’ll never forget watching my playing partner launch a ball out of hip-deep grass during a Hampshire Ladies match and thinking to myself, ‘I literally cannot do that!’
She was a very strong ex-navy superwoman, but for me, I simply didn’t possess the strength to escape thick rough like that. That was until I learned how to set up properly to a buried ball.
Here’s my simple rule for a shot like this: BURIED BALL = BACK. So shift the ball back in your stance and plant your weight forward. (This will be a theme for a few of the shots I talk about in this article.)
Ultimately, you need to hit down on the ball to force it out of the nest it’s in. Leaning your weight on your front foot helps to steepen your angle of attack and make it easier. However, it will require practise and commitment.
Accelerate through the shot as if heading for that full finish and hit down and through the grass under the ball. Don’t be tempted to look up as this often results in the ball moving a few feet. Let the club do the work and stay down.
2. Plugged bunker shot
Get the ball further back in your stance and don’t open the face as much
(Image credit: Tom Miles)
A plugged bunker shot requires a similar approach to escaping deep rough. First things first, you’ll need to take into account the pin position. If it’s tucked, the better option might be to play away from the flag and into the fattest part of the green. This is because the ball will come out lower with little to no spin. Even aim for the part of the lip that’s lowest to make the recovery as easy as possible.
Unlike the normal technique for how to play bunker shots, where you’d usually open the face a little, keep it square in this instance. There will still be plenty of loft at your disposal but using the leading edge more will allow you to dig deeper into the sand.
You need to put pressure behind the ball to force it out, so the perfect ball position here is a little further back in your stance towards the middle, with the weight on your foot nearest the target. From here, you still need a lot of speed and power so commit wholeheartedly. It might take some practise, but…
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