Modern PGA Tour Bunker Shot

[saevel25]

I found this video...

Old Method
1. Open the clubface a ton
2. Open the stance a ton
3. Swing along the foot line

New Method
1. Set up with the handle lower, and the ball further away form the body.
2. The clubface still opens up, but lowering the handle helps in not having to open the stance as much or for some keep the stance closed. Keeping the stance closed allows them to keep their weight forward much easier. 

Now, I question that the PGA Tour players are hitting steeply down into the sand. I think they may have gotten this wrong in the video. You can load up the weight on the front foot, and still hit the ball shallow. The amount of sand taken out in some of the swings is not that much, and the divot doesn't look that deep. 

Thoughts?

[colin007]

I was actually going to post this the other day, I too have questions about the square setup in bunkers 

[klineka]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Now, I question that the PGA Tour players are hitting steeply down into the sand. I think they may have gotten this wrong in the video. You can load up the weight on the front foot, and still hit the ball shallow. The amount of sand taken out in some of the swings is not that much, and the divot doesn't look that deep. 

You can still hit steep (if you're talking about VSP for the measure of "steepness") and not dig/take a ton of sand if your low point control is precise.

[billchao]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Now, I question that the PGA Tour players are hitting steeply down into the sand. I think they may have gotten this wrong in the video. You can load up the weight on the front foot, and still hit the ball shallow. The amount of sand taken out in some of the swings is not that much, and the divot doesn't look that deep. 

I don't think they got this wrong. I think it's almost impossible to take a huge divot if you're using the bounce correctly. If you load up the front foot and swing steeper with the leading edge digging into the ground, you'll take a deeper divot for sure.

[Ty_Webb]

2 hours ago, colin007 said:

I was actually going to post this the other day, I too have questions about the square setup in bunkers 

The general gist of it is if you stand to a ball square with your wedge - your wedge square too, then lower your hands, the clubface will point left (if you're right-handed) and if you lift your hands, then the clubface will point to the right. Similarly, if you rotate the club open, then it points to the right and if you rotate it closed, then it will point to the left. So if you rotate it open and lower your hands, then, assuming you do it the right amount, the club face will point straight. So even though the grooves are pointing to the right, the club face itself is pointing straight. Then you have an open face, presenting plenty of bounce and you don't have to swing it left and impart a bunch of side spin, which can be unpredictable. You can swing it straight and the ball will go high and straight. I am not sure that I buy into the whole steep thing in the video. Seems that you can be plenty shallow and do this too. Morikawa probably likes the feel of getting steep even if he's not actually being steep. 

[klineka]

2 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

I am not sure that I buy into the whole steep thing in the video. Seems that you can be plenty shallow and do this too. Morikawa probably likes the feel of getting steep even if he's not actually being steep. 

I think "steep" is relative and means different things to different people. Some people look at VSP to gauge steepness, some people look at the shaft plane, others probably look at AoA.

[saevel25]

5 minutes ago, klineka said:

I think "steep" is relative and means different things to different people. Some people look at VSP to gauge steepness, some people look at the shaft plane, others probably look at AoA.

I was talking in terms of angle of attack. 

[billchao]

3 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

The general gist of it is if you stand to a ball square with your wedge - your wedge square too, then lower your hands, the clubface will point left (if you're right-handed) and if you lift your hands, then the clubface will point to the right.

Yes, you’re changing the lie angle. Loft causes the face to point in different directions.

[iacas]

I've taught it this way for a looooong time. I almost never taught the "open the face, open your stance" method. I'm not even sure where I saw it first - Patrick Reed did this stuff. I've hit super high flop shots the same way - weight forward, open face, lower the handle.

Golf instruction circles can be so annoying: Parker McLachlin didn't invent this. And they didn't really say that, but this stuff's over 20 years old. Hell, I honestly think it pre-dates Seve, who would do just this to hit out of a bunker with a 3I.

[GolfLug]

Relatively speaking - I suspect the lower handle keeps clubface closure rate much lower through impact. Once you establish that, I think you can square up a bit more for slightly lower flight and more spin. You still have to cut across the ball a bit like any soft shot.

Also, not sure how modern is defined in OP but there's Gary Player bunker shot videos doing this. I recommend watching on mute if you care to brave it.

[iacas]

48 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

You still have to cut across the ball a bit like any soft shot.

No, you don't, that's one of the main points.

Handle lower = face points left, open face = face points right.

All to very small degrees since…

It's pretty square, and the path into the ball is pretty square, which is why you get less sidespin and less of the ball jumping right when it hits the green.