I paid a lot of attention to this on TV last weekend. My course has similar rough just off the greens. And fast, small greens. In the past week I've had numerous short sided shots where I'm less than a foot into the rough, and need to hit the ball 5 feet or so, and let it roll from there. It is a hard shot! I saw some of the best golfers in the world hit some clunkers, so I am reminding myself to keep my expectations reasonable.
If you also have this kind of situation often, what kind of motion do you use?
My club pro says play the ball back, use a lob wedge, and make a short, hinge-y chop and stop. As the pin becomes farther away, change to less loft.
What I saw the pros do was not much different, although I got the impression they were trying to cut the legs out from under the ball. I've been trying to do that (mini-explosion), and find it to be a higher-risk method. Their clubheads typically only traveled back about 2 feet, which is similar to what my pro says to do.