can you explain this shot

[socky]

If I'm faced with a ball in the rough, sitting down, when the ball is above my feet.... I have a 50/50 chance of either chopping it out 50-70 yards or hitting a toe shank (pretty sure its not a regular shank) and sending it shooting off in the air almost 90 degrees to the right.

It almost killed my medal round recently.

Any ideas why and how to avoid this....?

 

[London mike 61]

If the all is above your feet, make sure the weight stays on the balls of your feet throughout the shot otherwise you will increase the chance of the dreaded s...k. Also try to use a pitching wedge or a 9 iron for best results.

The above is only my personal view but it works for me (mostly ) , it would not be classed as my favourite shot of all time.

 

[Fyldewhite]

If you don't normally "toe" it when in similar lie and not in the rough then I'd suggest you are trying to hit it too hard and getting all off balance resulting in inconsistency. Play the ball slightly further back in your stance, select a lofted club and swing normally, but don't quit on it. The club will do the work.

 

[Roops]

Had a little lesson with my pro the other day on ball below and above feet. Really important point he made, from that position you are looking for a good strike not some hero shot, that is the key. In order to achieve that, if you need distance, take more club. The swing should be very much a 3/4 swing and try to keep the lower body passive, more of an arm swing than full turn, with a 3/4 follow through. If you start to fully turn you will almost always lift up to complete the turn, which results in thins, toe hits pretty much any poor contact that you can think of. Ball played a tad back in the stance too.

 

[the_coach]

Would be very, very unusual to hit a 'toe shank' most folks I've seen saying that they think they are hitting such shots. When you observe their shots for real, & on vid & slow it down they are hitting the ball right out of the socket, a regular shank.

The fact that the ball above the feet & particularly if you have the hands well forwards & are picking the club up big wrist set because the ball is down in the grass, these things can easily all combine to with a harder effort in the swing motion too present the hosel right to the ball at impact.

If this ball above lie is also deep in the grass best just to accept the medicine & just look to get the ball back to the short grass, so hopefully accept just the one dropped shot, rather than further compounding the situation & racking up a big number.

Always useful if ball above feet to think about maintaining your balance as a priority in order to get the best solid contact that you're able to, you don't want to be falling away from the shot.
Best when the ball is above feet to always choke down on the grip an inch or so, as the ball 'height' above feet makes it a little flatter swing arc.