# Coming out of the trees



## tsped83 (Sep 29, 2015)

Iâ€™m making too many mistakes with one particular shot at the moment, one Iâ€™m inevitably forced to play several times a round. Coming out low from the trees.

Our course is tight and tree lined and itâ€™s not unheard of for me to be under the trees at regular intervals. Why Iâ€™m there in the first place is a point for another time.

So, Iâ€™m under the trees and all I want to do is get back to the fairway. Iâ€™m not looking for some Seve magic here, just clip it low and solid back to the short stuff, usually 20 yards or so. My problems with the shot are twofold;

1.       Not making solid contact, I either end up topping it or just not hitting it firm enough.
2.       IF I make decent contact, itâ€™s too decent and the ball climbs and clips that last branch and falls miserably into the rough, or worse, under the trees.

In most instances I play the shot with my 5i with the aim of keeping it low and running. Only, I donâ€™t seem to be executing it well at all. I did say it was simple but any pointers please?

Thanks


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## tugglesf239 (Sep 29, 2015)

im fairly good at this shot...plenty of experience i suppose

I use my 5i or sometimes 2h. Only thoughts i have are to place the ball in the middle my stance, grip down and swing as SMOOTHLY as possible. Any power in the swing just causes my ball to rise up and hit branches.

I also make sure my finishing position is with the club pointing straight down my target line.

Thats only my tuppence. Someone more learned person will be along soon with proper advice.


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## bobmac (Sep 29, 2015)

Try the following with your hybrid.
Place the ball in the centre of your stance, weight and hands forward and swing _*gently

*_The harder you hit it the more it will spin, the more it will climb
And practice


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## garyinderry (Sep 29, 2015)

5 iron is like using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut. 


de-loft the he'll out of an 8 irom.   get the hands well forward.   keep you weight left and hit down on the ball with a little dunt.  No follow through. 

It is much easier to control the shorter shaft of say and 8 iron.  Other short irons are available and work too.


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## woody69 (Sep 29, 2015)

garyinderry said:



			5 iron is like using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut. 


de-loft the he'll out of an 8 irom.   get the hands well forward.   *keep you weight left and hit down on the ball with a little dunt.  No follow through.* 

It is much easier to control the shorter shaft of say and 8 iron.  Other short irons are available and work too.
		
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Won't that just create a lot of spin though and cause the ball to rise quickly?


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## garyinderry (Sep 29, 2015)

No because you have de-lofted the 8iron and essentially tuned it into a 5iron loft.    just give it a sharp dunt and it will squirt out nice and low.


It is much easier to control due to the shorter shaft than using a 5iron.


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## Craigg (Sep 29, 2015)

Driver.
Choke down and give it a good tap. It'll come out low. Use this a lot and you get some good distance with no effort.


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## Maninblack4612 (Sep 29, 2015)

garyinderry said:



			No because you have de-lofted the 8iron and essentially tuned it into a 5iron loft.    just give it a sharp dunt and it will squirt out nice and low.


It is much easier to control due to the shorter shaft than using a 5iron.
		
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Easier to go down the shaft on the 5 iron.  You'd get a lower trajectory delofting a 5 than an 8


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## Doh (Sep 29, 2015)

I've used a fairway wood before now, close/hood the face grip down on the shaft back in the stance and rock your shoulders comes out every time and easy to control. Each to his own.


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## garyinderry (Sep 29, 2015)

[video=youtube;g7qSZuC4IM8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7qSZuC4IM8[/video]


Experiment with different clubs and ball positions.  Soon it will be second nature.


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## garyinderry (Sep 29, 2015)

Maninblack4612 said:



			Easier to go down the shaft on the 5 iron.  You'd get a lower trajectory delofting a 5 than an 8
		
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It is not limited to an 8 iron.   use whatever, deloft it.   the shorter shaft is more manageable when you have other things like bushes or trees behind you as well or even rough.


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## drew83 (Sep 29, 2015)

I have (quite successfully) used my putter for such a shot. As long as the lie is good, then just a nice hard putt & away it goes. If there are obstacles to get over (twigs/branches/roots) not so good. Similarly if the ball is plugged/in a rut etc not so good.

I set up with the ball toward my front foot & go for a nice solid stroke. Worked for me.


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## Three (Sep 29, 2015)

Spin??

The amount of spin on this shot is absolutely irrelevant to the flight of the ball as there's normally only a split second between the hit and the dreaded sound of ball on wood. 

Just use a 4 or 5 iron, hybrid or fairway wood, slightly back in the stance and use a chipping or even putting action with no release to control the distance. 

Ten minutes practice around the chipping green will work wonders. 

I too, have played this shot as much as any other


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## tsped83 (Sep 29, 2015)

Thanks for the responses so far.

Iâ€™m going to give Bobâ€™s hybrid suggestion a go, lie permitting. The putter/driver options Iâ€™m not sure would work as running it along the floor is not an option, the ball needs to be off the ground to escape the horrid ground and tree roots but low enough to scoot under hanging branches.

Gary, Iâ€™ve used the 8 iron approach before, but if I donâ€™t de-loft it enough, I find myself worse off than with the 5 iron!


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## Region3 (Sep 29, 2015)

Coming at it from a slightly different angle....

If you have a line to the fairway under branches but another line to the fairway 20yds further back with no branches to negotiate, save yourself the grief and wedge it out settling for a little bit longer third shot.


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## garyinderry (Sep 29, 2015)

Well you know now how to use that approach.    As I said, practice it with different clubs, ball positions back in stance and different amounts of shaft lean to delft the club. 

Hybrids are fine if the lie and space allows you. You can get greater distance with them but to surgically remove yourself from trees this way works best I find. 

It is easier to judge distance control with the iron.  Seen many peeps pop them out and into trouble on the other side. Comedy of errors.


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## Foxholer (Sep 29, 2015)

tsped83 said:



			Thanks for the responses so far.

Iâ€™m going to give Bobâ€™s hybrid suggestion a go, lie permitting. The putter/driver options Iâ€™m not sure would work as running it along the floor is not an option, the ball needs to be off the ground to escape the horrid ground and tree roots but low enough to scoot under hanging branches.

Gary, Iâ€™ve used the 8 iron approach before, but if I donâ€™t de-loft it enough, I find myself worse off than with the 5 iron!
		
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Having played a tight tree-lined course for quite a while, I gained quite a bit of experience of these shots! And there's actually a variety, depending on what the lie/swing area is like! 

I'm not a huge fan of using a hybrid for what I imagine your shot to be - more the Bubba Watson Masters situation than the one in the vid above. Shaft length definitely could make it awkward.

The one thing to remember, whichever style you use is to play it smoothly (even if the requirement is for a bit of a jab) as 'panic' will be bore likely to either raise the flight of the ball or go under it, if it's on leaves/branches/bracken etc.

To work out which club to use, you could actually practice from rough under trees. The flights and distances should become pretty much instinctive after a short time.


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## Maninblack4612 (Sep 29, 2015)

Don't know why I replied to this thread,  I play on a course that has four trees on it.


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## Craigg (Sep 29, 2015)

garyinderry said:



			It is easier to judge distance control with the iron.  Seen many peeps pop them out and into trouble on the other side. Comedy of errors.
		
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Have to admit I have done this on the odd occasion. Suddenly that nice low runner up the fairway becomes absolutely middled and in the cabbage the other side!


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## Three (Sep 29, 2015)

Maninblack4612 said:



			Don't know why I replied to this thread,  I play on a course that has four trees on it.
		
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Ha ha ha


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## Huwey12 (Sep 29, 2015)

garyinderry said:



			5 iron is like using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut. 


de-loft the he'll out of an 8 irom.   get the hands well forward.   keep you weight left and hit down on the ball with a little dunt.  No follow through. 

It is much easier to control the shorter shaft of say and 8 iron.  Other short irons are available and work too.
		
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I'm with you Gary, an 8 iron in my mind is more predictable than a 5. 
The ball should be placed back in the stance to ensure ball 1st contact, so a 5, in my experience, sends the ball too low hitting rubbish as it goes


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## Matty (Sep 29, 2015)

I tend to use 5 or 6 iron for these, ball well back in my stance - to be honest probably closer to my back foot than centre even. Then I aim to keep the club head low at the finish rather than swimming it normally - kind of like a cricket stroke more than a golf stroke  so hands feel massively in front of the club face at impact. Usually comes screaming out nice a low - barely gets above knee height for me.


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## garyinderry (Sep 30, 2015)

[video=youtube;glkCiVZAz_M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glkCiVZAz_M[/video]


Same technique from the me and my golf boys


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## the_coach (Sep 30, 2015)

he didn't push it - just forgot if you put the ball back some & the swing AoA is more down the clubface is swinging out to the rightfiield some, of his original aimpoint, face also looking rightfield - something to consider if trying to play through a small gap in a treeline


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## garyinderry (Oct 1, 2015)

Noticed you are down to +3.  :thup:    awesome


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## the_coach (Oct 1, 2015)

thanks G. spent a bunch of the last few months bouncing from + 2 to 3 then back to + 2, now got to +3 with a tad of breathing space


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## garyinderry (Oct 1, 2015)

Mighty impressive stuff :thup:     good to see you have time to work on your own stuff as well as everyone on here.


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## tugglesf239 (Oct 1, 2015)

garyinderry said:



			Same technique from the me and my golf boys
		
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Good vid

but i have to say

What the bejesus are they wearing??


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