Bunker Shots

Ive always had problems with bunker shots, everyone says dont hit the ball, hit the sand just before it, etc etc, and it never makes a jot of difference. Do I need to angle the club a bit more or what?

yorke10 wrote:Ive always had problems with bunker shots, everyone says dont hit the ball, hit the sand just before it, etc etc, and it never makes a jot of difference. Do I need to angle the club a bit more or what?

What problems? Is it coming out but you have no distance control? Or is it staying in the bunker for some reason?

Struggling to get it out of the bunker

yorke10 wrote:Struggling to get it out of the bunker

Ok. I'm going to assume, based on your previous statement, that it's probably a case of taking too much sand before the ball leading to you digging in very deep and the ball not really moving.

I suggest that you might be digging your feet in too deeply or leaning on the shot too much so that you are attacking the ball way too steeply and kinda jabbing at it.

Work on a more smooth action and try not to dig too much with your feet. Also feel that you are not leaving the club in the sand but that it is moving through the sand with a huge extension towards the flag. You do want to be hitting the sand first... but don't move the ball position or anything. Digging your feet in about an inch will take care of that.

And for the moment don't worry about an open clubface etc... just work on getting the ball popping up.

Once you're comfortable with that open your stance up and slide across the ball in order to gain distance control and spin as well as refining how much sand you take.

yorke10 wrote:Struggling to get it out of the bunker

Provided the ball ain't buried, what works for me, aim your feet body a good bit left of target, open up club face and aim slightly right of target. It also helps to be quite "wristy".

Yorke, what I do on greenside bunker shots is put the ball inline with my left heel, aim slightly left open the club face, dig my feet into the sand a touch, keep my weight on my left foot during the stroke and release my wrists slightly more than usual. Don't know if this is the 'standard' method but it works for me

Thanks all...

Yorke... take a look at this. In it Faldo describes most of the faults you'll see in a bunker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiFDnHmCG2Y

Chris. Are you hitting it high due to excess spin? Or is it just going up on a very flat profile?

The key to getting the ball out the bunker is to ensure you have a full follow through. Making a full smooth swing and the ball will come out every time. Once you master that, then you can work on controlling the speed of the swing which controls the distance.

Lots of practice, it's all about confidence.

drive4show wrote:The key to getting the ball out the bunker is to ensure you have a full follow through. Making a full smooth swing and the ball will come out every time. Once you master that, then you can work on controlling the speed of the swing which controls the distance.

Lots of practice, it's all about confidence.

Spot on there D4S. I used to be useless at getting up and down from greenside bunkers but now it's one of the favorite parts of my game. A few years ago we were lucky to be given a lesson / demonstration by a ET Pro. He explained in detail how the bounce of the SW worked and advised me to try to go only as deep into the sand as the bounce allowed.....in other words take a sliver of sand and don't go too deep. The results were amazing. The smoother the club comes out the smoother the ball comes out!