Sand Traps and Short Game

[Keith412]

Just shot my sixth round ever yesterday, have played all six at the same course. Shot a 100 even but ended up in the sand 3 times and it took me 8 shots to get out of it. All were greenside bunkers and i couldnt for the life of me get it up and down. Also had 39 putts (and five 3 putts), how does that compare for a 30+ handicap? Only had one penalty stroke for an unplayable lie so that is down from my usual three to four per round.

Questions:

1.) Suggestions of getting out of the sand? I always think im going to over shoot it and i end up hitting it to the lip then the ball mocks me and rolls back to my feet.
2.) Short game drills i can do in my back yard? I have a yard about 30 yards across so i have some room but want something fun to keep me out there for hours on end.
3.) I have been chipping with my pitching wedge (45 degrees), my next club up from that is SW(56 degrees). What should a beginner be using?

Thanks for all the help guys,
Keith

[mike68]

Hi Keith: As you can see from my handicap, I just returned to golf from a long layoff. I am improving rapidly though and suggest you get a copy of Dave Pelz's "Short Game Bible". You can find them used on the Internet for $8.00 plus postage. It will give you a tremendous amount to work on and will help you improve.
Mike

[Keith412]

just ordered the book, will let you know how it pans out for me!

[Shindig]

First, I suggest a gap wedge as a general matter. You probably want something in the 50 degree range to bridge from PW to SW. You may or may not use it for chipping, but unless you're a really short hitter, it will help with distance gaps.

Second, look at why you are getting into bunkers in the first place. Are you shooting at flags at the borders of greens, or inconsistent with iron distance, or both? My suggestion is to always aim for the largest part of the green on approaches. Bunkers are a lot easier when your practice is mostly off-course, and when you aren't short sided in them.

Third, bunkers are one of those crazy things that goes from really tough to really easy very quickly. Grab your sand wedge, but set up as if it were a driver shot with a much shorter driver. Do the twist (like the dance from a few decades ago) until your feet are below the ball (not literally underneath it, but lower in the sand than the ball is). Now, swing normal - you will hit behind the ball.

For now, worry about getting the ball out of the sand and onto the green. If the lip is too big, there's no shame in hitting the ball out of the sand and back onto grass, and then chipping normally onto the green.


Finally, two threads to look at in the reading room: Pelz's "Short Game Bible" and Stan Utley's "The Art of the Short Game" are both books about this topic. And the discussion of which to use is golf's version of Mac vs PC or Windows vs Linux.

[pweenie]

Think of the sand as the beach and all the fond memories you have of it.
Imagine your ball is an egg in the center of a pizza. The size of the pizza determines how far you want to fly the ball. A saucer size is a good size to practice with
When playing your shot try to slide your club under the pizza starting at one end of the "saucer" and coming out at the other side of the saucer keeping the egg intact but lifting the whole pizza out. The bigger the pizza the less the ball will fly.
Works well with kids - adults get too complicated!

[mdl]

My short version of how to hit out of the sand is:

Open your stance, play the ball back a little, dig in with your feet, and then take a 3/4 swing. Dug in and with the out-to-in swing plan from the open stance, the ball won't go nearly as far as you think with a 3/4 swing (unless you skull it and ramp it up out of the bunker or whatever).

[jmurdock]

One of my favorite tips for hitting out of greenside bunkers is this- Draw a small box around your ball leaving about 1-2 inches around the ball. (assuming your playing for fun and not a tourney) Dig in with your feet, stance slightly open. Depending on the length you want the ball to carry depends on the length of your swing. Swing away and knock out the box. Always accelerate through the swing and follow through. Don't stab at it.

[bunkerputt]

I like the pizza analogy. What I need is more food related thoughts when I'm out on the golf course before lunch

Getting out of the sand is really easy if you do the two majors:

1. Open your stance some to cut across the ball
2. Swing to a full finish

Most people that just start out don't really use their lower bodies too much anyway. That's great for the bunker and flop shots. Also great is the tendency to get steep on the backswing... the downswing not so much. Opening the stance helps some with this because it lets the bounce of the club work to prevent digging.

It's a good idea to practice these first into a slight upslope. Those shots are a bit easier because you tend to hang back and add loft which makes it tough to dig if you have a steep downswing. Let your shoulders align with the slope on this one.

A good short game rule I like to follow is for high shots, keep the lower body quiet (read space between the knees), for lower shots, drive the right knee toward the left toe on the downswing. This gives you some pivot and helps to add some athleticism to the shot.

[iPutt]

Also a great tip that helped me, bend your knees and move your butt as if you we almost sitting on a stool. Not so much that it's too far, but enough to help you make sure you get under the ball.

[Replay]

For getting out of bunkers I use the: Aim Left, Hit Right Tactic. Works really well!

Also, I chip using a 7-iron...I find it more accurate than using a wedge. Use wedges when I'm a bit further out than chipping distance, or out of difficult lies...e.g. lob wedge flop shot, or within 100 yards sand wedge.