LEAVING BUNKER SHOTS IN THE SAND
There is one very good and very simple reason why amateur golfers struggle so much with bunkers; they hardly ever practise them. This can be down to available facilities – it’s easier to find a driving range than a practice bunker, and greenkeepers won’t like you for scooping all the sand out of on-course traps – but if you are serious about improving from bunkers, start by finding a way to hit more bunker shots. When you do, base your work around these three areas ...
1. SPEED SAND ON THE GREEN
At the core of leaving sand shots in the bunker is deceleration. We know that in the ideal bunker strike we are taking the sand from under the ball; and that because sand between clubface and ball stifles the energy transfer, we need speed. But with the pin only a few yards away, it isn’t always easy to convince yourself of the fact. Clubhead speed can still feel wrong, and the usual consequence is some form of quit or deceleration. Once the sand grabs a decelerating clubhead, the ball is never going to come out.
Turn up the intent
So start by working on a more committed mindset and a brisker, more purposeful swing. Make sure that, on each shot, the sand you remove from under the ball will reach the green.
This helps you strike the sand before the ball, reducing your chances of a painful, clean strike. It programs the necessary aggression into your delivery of the club. Send the sand to the green and you’ll never quit on the shot. Promoting a shallower sand divot, it stops you getting too steep.
2. STRIKE POINT HIT THE LINE
Of course, at the bottom of that deceleration is a fear you will strike the ball thin – or clean – and it will sail over the green, and probably into the group on the next tee. To build confidence that this isn’t going to happen, you need to gain a better control of the club’s entry point into the sand. For this, one of golf’s oldest drills remains one of its best ...
Set your strike point
Draw a line in the sand, at right angles to your target line. Address the ball so that either ...
The line represents the ball position – as I have here, just inside the lead heel.
The line represents the club’s ideal entry point into the sand – ideally an inch or two behind the ball position.
Set-up: Lock it in
A quick word on your set-up. Controlling your strike point means maintaining a steady arc and radius to your swing. Set more weight into a flared lead foot and knee to lock yourself into position, avoid lateral movement and gain arc consistency.
Head in the sand
Now simply move up your line, taking sand divots as you go. If the line represents the ball position, look for your divots to start an inch or two behind it; if it represents your entry point, of course look for your sand divots to start on the line.
Check your strike point
The key thing here is consistency; this drill trains you to hit the sand in the right spot on a regular basis, and once you can see evidence of this, your confidence in sand will improve.
3. CLUBFACE CONTROL KEEP IT OPEN
Alongside deceleration, the other reason we leave the ball in the sand is because the clubhead digs in and stalls. To beat this, focus on the clubface and how you present it to the ball.
Set the face
Think about the sole of your sand wedge. The sharper leading edge is a digger; the bulging trailing edge is a skimmer, and this is the part of the sole we want to use in sand. We do this by opening the clubface. Besides adding loft, an open face lowers the back edge of the sole towards the sand, encouraging the clubhead to skim as opposed to digging in. To drill this into your action, start by collecting sand on the clubface. Take your regular address, the clubface laid open to hold the sand in place.
Sand fly
Now swing with one focus
– to keep the sand on the clubface long enough to fling it forwards, over your shoulder. To do this, you must keep the clubface in an open position; as soon as it squares up or shuts, the sand falls off. Practise this until it becomes easy to you … then bring the same feels into the shot itself.