Bunker Play
Tips
Do you have an unreasonable fear of sand?
Many golfers do. They regard bunker play from the sand traps
around the green as an activity to be avoided at all costs. In
reality, playing from the bunker is often an easy shot. If you
ask a professional player, he would much rather play from the
sand than from the rough. Is it possible to learn how to play
from the sand and stop living in perpetual dread of the
bunker?
When your golf ball lands in a sand trap, you'll end up with
one of two different kinds of shots. Sometimes your golf ball
ends up sitting pretty on the surface of the sand. Other times
it digs into the sand and almost disappears. Although these are
both bunker play shots, they are very different. Why don't we
take a look at these two shots?
Suppose your ball is lying on the surface of the sand. Being
successful at this kind of bunker play depends on how you set
up the shot. Start by aligning your body to the left of the
target. You need to dig your feet into the sand to gain a
really secure footing. Your toes should be a little deeper than
your heels. Take a wider stance than you do for other shots.
What you're attempting to achieve is called the bounce effect.
You'll be fully relying on the design of the sand wedge to
accomplish the shot.
Start your backswing along the line made by your feet. During
the backswing, hinge your wrists. At the top of your backswing,
your lead arm should be parallel to the ground. Aim your club
at a spot about two inches behind the ball.
Accelerating smoothly, swing through the sand below the ball.
It is essential for you to be confident in the sand wedge's
design. Believe it or not, your goal is to actually miss the
golf ball and move a fistful of sand toward the green, taking
the ball with it.
The sand will act to cushion your swing, so be sure to account
for that. Some bunker play experts recommend that you visualize
a fairway shot about twice the distance to help you calculate
the proper amount of force for your downswing. As the ball hits
the green, it will have a good amount of backspin, so take this
into account as you aim.
It's a completely different scenario if the sand mostly covers
the golf ball. In fact, you even use a different club-the
pitching wedge. A sand wedge is designed to slide through the
sand. What you need for a buried lie is something that cuts
into the sand instead-a pitching wedge.
The buried lie requires a different stance. Both your body and
your club face should be square to the target. Hitting the golf
ball out of a buried lie is going to take more than a polite
tap. Your target for the downswing is the sand behind the ball.
Don't be afraid to use force. The pitching wedge has a
different design compared to the sand wedge, so the flight of
the ball will be lower with little or no backspin. Be sure to
allow for some run as you aim.
The real secret to great bunker play is follow-through. Simply
flailing away at the sand accomplishes nothing. Following
through completely is what really makes the sand wedge and
pitching wedge work. It's also essential to incorporate some
bunker play shots into your practice. Don't hit one or two
token shots from the bunker, but set up 10 to 15 shots, both
buried lies and from the top of the sand. Focus on improving
your stance and becoming familiar with the way it feels to hit
through the sand. After you've perfected your bunker play and
banished your fear of sand, you may actually find yourself
targeting the bunker in your next game of
golf.
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