Sand Disaster !

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

I am baring my soul here so please be kind... but I need help!

I am an absolute disaster when it comes to playing nearly any shot out of the sand.

Unfortunately for me my course has "sand in play" shots on the last 2 holes!

I have ruined countless good rounds by double or triple bogeying #17 and/or #18.

Last year I won my Flight Club championship by laying up on #18's 140 yard approach shot...

Each of the three days because I was so afraid to bring the sand into play.

Today I put bravery over cowardness... end up in the sand on both #17 & #18.

Tried once to get out, failed, putted out the rear of the trap, chipped on, made the putt for double bogeys.

Turned a mid 70's round into an even 80, again!  What am I doing wrong ?

I dig in, open the club, take my standard grip(club is open), open my stance...

Feel my weight forward. take a full swing, blast a good amount of sand...

But my sand shot NEVER gets the ball more than 12-15 inches high...

I'm totally hopeless if the trap has more than a foot of bank to carry...

I have a good sand wedge, 56* TaylorMade black....

Bought it used from a good player who had "ground" the  sole... Could that be an issue??

I have even successfully practiced with round cat toys but underfire I do something wrong!

I play my pitches and even my 60* wedge fine... but my Sand Shots are a disaster. HELP!

[carpediem4300]

Digging in to much? To much weight forward? Aiming to far behind the ball? Sounds like your either hitting super fat or quitting on it

[FuzzyB1]

Have you practiced your sand shots? How do you do when practicing with no pressure involved?  If you hit em good when your practicing then you simply have a mental block that you just have to get past.

Do you have bounce on that wedge?  on a green side bunker make sure you keep your lower body quiet and "sweep a dollar" out from under your ball and make darn sure you follow through.  If you quit on a bunker shot you'll never be consistent.

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

Thank you. BTW Most of the time the ball is "pulled" to the left into the face of the bank. My sand divot also goes from the right to the left and looks to be the right depth. You may be right about not keeping lower body quiet. I think I often sway with the shot.  To me it seems like I am somehow de-lofting the club. Since our sand here in the Northeast is closer to a packed dirt than a light sand I wonder if I am indeed hitting too far behind the ball and at too shallow an angle??? Still not sure I truly understand how to make the bounce of the sand wedge do its job?

[RGoosen]

Bunker has historically been one of my weaker areas.  I've read books, watched videos, and I've even taken 3 one hour lessons on bunker play.

The one problem I experienced more than anything was simply anxiety over the shot.  Recently, I've learned to keep my tempo consistent, use constant grip pressure, and learned to keep my head level throughout the shot.  This has pretty much eliminated fat and skulled bunker shots for me.

One the best golf books I own is Bunker Play by Gary Player.  I'm pretty sure it is out of print, but you can still get it on Amazon.

"Still not sure I truly understand how to make the bounce of the sand wedge do its job?" - I think you just answered that one by yourself...don't make it do its job.  Just swing at/through the sand as if the ball wasn't even there.

[Motley01]

The way I describe my sand shot swing. Is a U shaped swing. So it's very steep, lots of wrist action, and I finish high. Think Phil's flop shot.

It sounds like your squaring the clubface. Try to keep it open through impact.

[Parker0065]

Make sure you have the club face open to your swing path but pointing at the target. Popping a ball out of a bunker is quite easy once you understand how bounce works on a sandwedge. The more you open the face the easier it is to utilize the bounce of the club. This allows the club to glide under the ball popping it out on a cushion of sand. It sounds like you may be coming into the shot with the clubface too closed and possibly a little shallow. This would cause the club to dig into the sand too deep and deloft as well.

But beyond good technique you need to practice, practice, practice. Then go out and practice some more:)

[carpediem4300]

sounds to me like your hitting it fat and flipping,....i say that because you describe that alot of sand is moved and the ball goes dead left,...almost like your trying to hard to add loft and get it out

Im not a good bunker player int he sense i can control distance, nor spin,....but im quite competent at getting out, rarely am i left still in there,...granted i may only just make it sometimes

my technique (may or may not work for you but something to consider) is to not look at the ball at all

I set up with it between middle and my left foot,....mostly under my left eye,.....i then focus on a spot an inch ro 1.5 inch behind the ball,...and play it like a full swing iron shot,......this means i still hit down, but not enough to dig in and leave it fat,......if i focus on the ball i usually catch it thin,.....

[mdl]

I can't find it right now, but there's a bunker vid that either Erik or Mike has posted here repeatedly that really helped me.  The feel that really helped me was first taking what the guy in the video calls a butterfly grip, weak with the bottom hand but strong with the right hand.  That really helps get the wrist action in the shot, since the bottom hand wants to turn back and up quickly but the bottom hand wants to get down and through quickly.  Then thinking about using the bounce, hitting behind the ball and feeling like you're letting the bounce bounce the club back up through the ball (with some sand of course).  Going for the "float" feeling really helped me.  You don't need so much body, just lots of wrist action to "float" the club head through the sand.

Also, I know that in digging the club into the sand the hosel makes the heel side of the club a little more resistant and will close the club face through a bit, but I still find it helpful to have my hands a bit lower than normal and stand a tad further from the ball, so I address the ball with the face open but the heel of the club head actually a bit lower than the toe of the club and try to feel like I'm coming into impact in that position too.  I don't know if that's "right" or even if that's what's really happening at impact, but that along with the wristy float action has really helped my sand game.  I don't practice in the bunkers enough to have great distance control to be getting to tap in most of the time or anything, but I very rarely don't get it out of the bunker now and can almost always get the ball somewhere halfway decent on the green unless I've really screwed myself.

[carpediem4300]

be very very careful explaining this feeling,....whilst you want to engage the bounce you dont want it actually bouncing back up,....if the clubhead gets ahead of the hands, it will bounce back up and then thin city, or otherside of the green,.........you do want to engage the bounce and as you rightly say, engage it by hitting behind the ball,...but you want the bounce tos top you digging in and fatting it,...not skipping back up

(in my opinion of course, im not saying you are wrong or anything)

Originally Posted by mdl

.  Then thinking about using the bounce, hitting behind the ball and feeling like you're letting the bounce bounce the club back up through the ball (with some sand of course).

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

Butterfly grip? Would thumbs slightly on opposite sides of grip describe that?

I will definitely try to find the videos you mentioned...

I can only imagine how it must feel to KNOW you will get out of sand...

And actually start to think about getting it close.

Practice is mentioned often and I agree...

Kind of counter productive that only 1 range or club near me...

actually has a designated practice area for sand play.

BTW

Thank you for the helpful and positive thoughts...

They do give me inspiration to keep trying !

[carpediem4300]

lol i always know i getting out the bunker,........where it geos after that is what bothers and baffles me :D

[inthehole]

Is the sand fluffy or concrete ?     If it's fluffy - sounds like you're doing it right & I'd bet it has something to do with the ground down bounce of that club.   If the sand is hard, it's the most difficult shot in golf IMHO - have to pick it, or the bounce will always redirect the club into the ball high, resulting in a blade.

[carpediem4300]

i prefer the hard sand, i think it forces me to hit hard and accelerate through,....fluffy stuff i get complacent sometimes and leave it a foot past the lip with a difficult stance for the next shot

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

Update...

My club has an "extra" 18th green that has not been used in at least 2 years. I walk past it on the way to the club house after finishing my round. As a way of practicing I now stop and hit a number of "thumps" ( no ball) out of the traps surrounding the green. WOW, what a confidence builder. I watch for the size, depth, and direction of the divots with my  "thump" shots. I have even learned what a proper sand shot should sound like! Since I am not chasing down balls it only delays me a minute or so. Six to eight "thumps" seems to be just the right number. BTW the extra green is 150-200 yards to the right and is not in play or sight line for groups playing the hole behind us.
I even considered doing my "thumps" before the round BUT I am afraid it might be a rule's violation since the extra green is still within the boundaries of the course?