I keep a 9 wood in my bag for the thick rough and the long rough (you may aswell give up if it's a combination of both - any contact is an achievement...)

I generally grip down on the club - even 3 inches down the grip, swing 1/2 to 3/4 depending on how challenging the lie is and let the club do the rest - easy swing, not too far back and bang. You could be looking at 150 yrds with a 1/2 swing out of tough rough...

Often I leave a nice hole dug around the ball - but it gets the thing out and the loft (29 deg) can be good at getting a poor contact into the air. It's not a precision tool - but it can get you up and out in awkward stuff.

As much as people say that they'll rarely use a 9 wood - I use mine more than my -
lob wedge - 60 deg
3 iron (which I've gotten rid of)
3 wood (I'm hitting the driver well).

I would drop all of the above 3 clubs before my 9 wood.

Anyone of the same opinion? Or am I just a big girl with my 9 wood in the bag?????