A hacker stuck in the sand trap

[benredik]

So I'm a new golfer, struggling with most parts of the game. On a good day I shoot in the mid 90s.  Going through my first few lessons I was learning how to get the ball out of greenside bunkers; open stance, open club face, bent knees, hit one inch in front of the ball. Conventional wisdom. I practised it quite a lot, but it seemed a bit odd; hitting the sand first seems to add a lot of uncertain elements into the shot. I never got very good at it either.  I had some drastic improvements in my iron game after reading Bobby Clampett's "the impact zone" and I was thinking how inefficient the sand trap shot was. So much lost energy, so many added factors; why not try a clean shot with less power and let the loft of the club do the work. So last weekend I did two full rounds with just trying to do a clean wedge shot, hands in front of the ball, aiming 1-2 inches on the target side of the ball and much less power. I had 5 sand trap shots, all ending up within a few feet and one directly in. Much more confidence, much more control, and a much better feeling with actually making an impact with the ball.  Ok I know it just might be because my traditional sand game was horrible, but it just seems odd to me that this inefficient way to launch a golf ball out of a bunker has become the one and only way to deal with these shots.. Am I missing something or has anyone else had a similar experience? I realise there is a reason why this has become the conventional wisdom on bunker shots, but on every other type of shots there is a million different opinions on how to make a proper shot (hit up or down on the ball with the driver, stack and tilt or not.. We can't even agree on what makes a ball fade or draw..)

[MuskyBlood]

Hey Ben,

Yeah, that is interesting that you have had such luck with striking the ball clean from a sand trap.  Generally, all of the things you mention above are techniques taught to escape sand traps with success.

Even though you have experienced success hitting the ball clean, there is no doubt that catching sand first is going to provide better results over time.  It may be hard or awkward to you right now, but practicing will help a lot.

One thing I like to keep in mind on these shots is my back swing.  Personally, I like to take a real wide back swing, not really going up.  By doing this I am swinging the club underneath the ball and not really downward at your target.  I think of it as "sweeping" the ball out.  It is important to flatten out your clubface when hitting this shot so it does not close your face when it hits sand first.  I hope this makes sense.

I learned a lot about sand play and other golf short game practice stuff at http://golfshortgamepractice.com.  You can see lots of free and useful tips and drills there.

See ya round~

Josh

[benredik]

Hi and thanks for the link. It is well explained and good material, but I still can't get my head around that the best way to get a ball out of a bunker is to smack it into the sand. Too much is left up to chance. Even on the PGA tour you see a lot of players messing up their bunker shots even when the lie is good. Ok, it looks amazing when it works, but I struggle to believe is is the most efficient way to get the ball out of a bunker.. Does anyone know of any different approaches to (greenside) bunker shots?

[B-Con]

Hi and thanks for the link. It is well explained and good material, but I still can't get my head around that the best way to get a ball out of a bunker is to smack it into the sand. Too much is left up to chance. Even on the PGA tour you see a lot of players messing up their bunker shots even when the lie is good. Ok, it looks amazing when it works, but I struggle to believe is is the most efficient way to get the ball out of a bunker..

Think of it this way: When the ball is on the sand, all you have to do is forget about it (the ball) and swing easily and smoothly through the sand. If you swing right, you have buffer to miss too close or too far from the ball while still getting the same result. It's the one shot where you can sweep through the ball without having to worry about where you make contact with the ball. Just hit the sand in the right spot, or close to it, with the right angle of decent. I haven't mastered bunker shots by any stretch, but that's how it's always described.

[Williamevanl]

I wouldn't be surprised if you find a number of things easier at first. I'd imagine its a lot easier for you to hit a big slice down the fairway as opposed to a draw or a straight shot. You might also find that it's easier to hit low lofted shots out of deep grass instead of flopping a wedge. You might find that you are more consistent putting from 20 yards out on the fairway vs chipping with a wedge. Maybe its easier for you to hit a half swing 3 wood vs a full 8 iron on a 150 yard par three.

If you are new to golf a lot of things that are in the long run more consistent  but that are really difficult at first. My friend picks the ball cleanly out of the bunker(well not at first, several times he will duff it) but then he will just walk up and chip it.

You will find there are a bunch of bunker situations where it very difficult to just chip out. If there is a lip to get over, or if the ball is sitting in the sand a bit. If you play enough golf you might also find that hitting out of the bunker can be suprisingly consistent. If you catch the ball a bit fatter than you intend to it will roll out further and end up in about the same spot as would have if you had caught it 'cleaner' where it will have a bunch of spin but fly a bit further and stop on a dime. If you watch pros practice out of bunkers they come pretty close to holing out shots like its no big deal.

In short, don't make to many assumptions to quickly, like "this is easier so it must be better." Some of these things are like 'the advanced secrets of golf'' you could practice hitting an 8 iron out of deep rough from 20 yards away for ever and never get really consistent with it. Then someone might come along and say, "Hey if you are willing to put in the time, there is an advanced technique that over time will make you more consistent in this situation, its called a flop! ":)

Of course at first it seems crazy to think that taking a full swing with a super lofted club and cutting underneath the ball can ever be accurate but it can be because it reduces unknown variables like how the grass is going to interact with your club. (flop vs low lofted chip)

[injury]

What helped me and gave me an aha moment in the bunker was watching an old playing lesson from the pros where one of the old pros discussed how and why Gene Sarazen devised the first sand wedge by putting a bunch of solder on the bottom of a clubhead. Can't find that clip but the description of the function is pretty adequate here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9fGIYXj7BU

Imagine you are in the road hole bunker maybe a foot or two from the face, how do you pick it clean and get it to go pretty much straight verticle. As you lay that club open to get the loft you need you increase your chance of blading the ball (if said club had no bounce or you weren't bothering to use the club the way it was designed). The bounce allows the clubhead to surf through without digging in and still present an extremely open face under the ball where it needs to be.

It's not the most efficient use of power for horizontal distance but you don't need distance in a greenside bunker. You'll find a lot of times you just don't have enough ball to pick clean, or you have a real high lip but a real short green to work with so you need some force but it needs to be more up than out. By using the bounce the sand can help cusion that force so you don't go flying across off the green now chipping back to your nemesis bunker. And it's also a way to swing that all you have to figure out is how much or little sand to take for the distances you need and then are pretty much using the same shot no matter the lie. Helping my wife with this it seemed to work better to tell her to put the sand that's under the ball on the green, rather than trying the dig down in the sand method.

Now if the sand is wet and hard and ball is sitting up, yeah you'll usually be better off if you can pick it clean since it isn't playing like real sand and the club will really be slowed down or the bounce has a tendency to bounce off that kind surface.

[benredik]

Originally Posted by Williamevanl

I wouldn't be surprised if you find a number of things easier at first. I'd imagine its a lot easier for you to hit a big slice down the fairway as opposed to a draw or a straight shot. You might also find that it's easier to hit low lofted shots out of deep grass instead of flopping a wedge. You might find that you are more consistent putting from 20 yards out on the fairway vs chipping with a wedge. Maybe its easier for you to hit a half swing 3 wood vs a full 8 iron on a 150 yard par three.

If you are new to golf a lot of things that are in the long run more consistent  but that are really difficult at first. My friend picks the ball cleanly out of the bunker(well not at first, several times he will duff it) but then he will just walk up and chip it.

..

I had to smile while reading your post, because I recognized my struggles so much in your first paragraph. I remember being very happy when my drive didn't end up in the fairway, but rather in light ruff/ first cut. It was like the ball was teed up already and I got a much cleaner impact. I even used a half swing with my Driver on long Par 3s. Finally, I'd use my putter anywhere even close to the green. I've managed to shake those habits now, and I will also try to shake off my habit of picking the ball clean from the bunker. I guess I knew it was wrong all along, I just needed someone to tell me :-) I might use the "clean pick" on a few more rounds (as it works better for me at the moment) but I will only practice the real bunker shot.. Anyway, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by injury

What helped me and gave me an aha moment in the bunker was watching an old playing lesson from the pros where one of the old pros discussed how and why Gene Sarazen devised the first sand wedge by putting a bunch of solder on the bottom of a clubhead. Can't find that clip but the description of the function is pretty adequate here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9fGIYXj7BU

Imagine you are in the road hole bunker maybe a foot or two from the face, how do you pick it clean and get it to go pretty much straight verticle. As you lay that club open to get the loft you need you increase your chance of blading the ball (if said club had no bounce or you weren't bothering to use the club the way it was designed). The bounce allows the clubhead to surf through without digging in and still present an extremely open face under the ball where it needs to be.

It's not the most efficient use of power for horizontal distance but you don't need distance in a greenside bunker. You'll find a lot of times you just don't have enough ball to pick clean, or you have a real high lip but a real short green to work with so you need some force but it needs to be more up than out. By using the bounce the sand can help cusion that force so you don't go flying across off the green now chipping back to your nemesis bunker. And it's also a way to swing that all you have to figure out is how much or little sand to take for the distances you need and then are pretty much using the same shot no matter the lie. Helping my wife with this it seemed to work better to tell her to put the sand that's under the ball on the green, rather than trying the dig down in the sand method.

Now if the sand is wet and hard and ball is sitting up, yeah you'll usually be better off if you can pick it clean since it isn't playing like real sand and the club will really be slowed down or the bounce has a tendency to bounce off that kind surface.

Great video, a bit of an eyeopener to be honest. I thought I'd found a shortcut, but I guess it's back to the bunker practicing :-)

Thanks for great replies - Very useful.

[Sean Dainty]

Some great tips so far. Two things that I notice most great golfers do out of the bunkers is as follows:

1. Swing along feet line - your stance should be slightly open, which allows you to swing along the path of your feet (outside to in relative to the ball). What this does is it creates a sweeping motion (mentioned above) and magnifies the loft of the club so that you can hit the ball high out of the sand.

2. Little lower body movement - I believe that keeping your weight transfer and lower body movement relatively still with bunker shots (compared to the full swing) creates great consistency. If you are very active with your legs, it will cause you to hit the sand in different places each time. The same holds true for fairway bunker shots.

Hope that helps!

Sean

[Steel]

the easiest way to practice bunker play is with no ball, make practice swings in the bunker taking out dollar bill sized "divots" make sure you accelerate through the shot and have a good follow through high to the hole.  If you can make a good swing through the sand finishing high to the hole knocking the sand out of the bunker and toward the hole your sand game will improve ten fold.  After you are comfortable with this drill just add the ball and concentrate on making the same swing taking the same amount of sand as if the ball were not there, if the sand comes out, the ball comes out, simple

[zeg]

As with many things in golf, there is no one way to hit the ball out of the bunker.  There is almost universal consensus that a blast where you hit the sand is the best general approach for greenside bunker shots, although I can imagine there being an occasional exception if the sand is very dense and the ball is sitting on top where it's easier to pick clean.  The issue is that trying to hit the ball clean depends on having a lie that makes it possible and being able to read that lie just right.  Going for the sand and letting the ball follow the dirt almost as an afterthought is much less dependent on the fine details of that lie.

That said, there are a handful of different approaches to the blast.  The standard is the one you describe, open stance and open clubface.  However, I like the method suggested by Stan Utley (see his books), which looks funny, but has you lined up square with your knees out in sort of a funny squat, slapping the sand.  KJ Choi and a few other guys on tour currently use this, I believe.  For me, it's a lot more natural and repeatable.

The most important thing, of course, is to get out of the sand.  So when you're out playing, by all means use whatever technique, standard or otherwise, gets you out the most reliably.  It's worth learning to hit the other shots, though, just because you might find that the 100s of pros who all use the same technique are on to something for a reason you don't yet understand.  Maybe not, it's not unheard of for there to be a revolution in technique, but those are rare.

Also, how's the sand where you play?  Sand varies in consistency from place to place, and the splash/blast technique depends on it being fairly loose.  If you're playing on denser or tighter-packed sand, it may be hard to blast just because of poor maintenance.  I've only played a couple of courses ever where it was that bad, though.