Tips on hitting out of fairway bunkers?

[2PuttShakur]

Fairway bunkers seem to be my greatest weakness on the colf course lately.  Whenever I go to hit out of them and I make decent contact, most of the time I can't get it up high at all and it hits the lip, which means my ball either comes right back down in to the trap or gets out of the bunker but doesn't go far at all (and it's more challenging challenging when there is another fairway bunker right in front of me).  I have heard that no lower body movement is the key, but that doesn't always work.  I also sometimes get way too much sand.

[Ernest Jones]

I generally fair pretty well just hitting it like a regular shot. Ball first. But then again, the courses I usually play on don't have many fairway bunkers and in all honesty I can even remember the last time I had to play out of one.

[cipher]

This may not be recommended, but this is the way I do it.  I choke up on the club a bit, and DO NOT dig my feet in.  Why would someone want to make the low point of the swing even lower.  That is my take on it.

[Scrambled]

The way I play from the fairway bunkers is to pick the ball as clean as possible by staying tall throughout the swing and having a very shallow angle of attack, to do this don't play the ball any further back than slightly forward of centre, the courses I play don't tend to have much sand in the fairway bunkers and its always grainy so I always tend to have a clean lie.

[Golfingdad]

I am getting better at this, and I have 2 rules that I follow.  Like Ernest said ... ball first!!!  You can get away with a little bit of a fat hit off grass, but in sand, it doesn't go anywhere.  So for this reason, I put the ball back in my stance a bit (maybe an inch or so).  The other rule applies if you have a lip in front of you ... make damn sure you have a club that is going to clear the lip of the bunker.  Pick the club that you "know" will clear it, then go one less.  If I "know" the 8 iron is going to clear the lip, I'll take the 9 iron to be safe.

I actually do dig my feet in a little bit just so I have solid footing.  Not a lot, because like Cipher says, you don't want to encourage a fat shot, but enough that my feet won't slip when I swing.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I actually do dig my feet in a little bit just so I have solid footing.  Not a lot, because like Cipher says, you don't want to encourage a fat shot, but enough that my feet won't slip when I swing.

That is a good point if you feel like you might not have a good footing you should dig in.  You may just want to choke up a bit more if you do that.  Footing in sand has never bothered me, so I try to stay on top of the sand and take my normal swing.  I don't like playing the ball anywhere but the same place I always play it.  I usually take one extra club and if I miss it has been long this year.  I have had four shots from fairway bunkers this year, two GIR and two long.

[WUTiger]

Not all fairway bunkers are created equal. Some have little or no lip, and are about the same level as the fairway. Others can really be challenging.

I play at a Nicklaus signature course. Three of the Par 5s have fairway bunkers that are basically a half-stroke penalty: Because of the high lip or deep floor, you may need a 6 iron or even a PW to get up enough to get out.

This means you end up more than 150 yds. from the green, even it you hit a good exit shot.

On No. 10, a par 4, the left fairway bunker has a high ridge that curves back around in front of it. I saw one player, going for the green, hit this ridge and ricochet cross fairway into the lake on the right.

If you have lots of fairway bunkers on your course, you might play a few holes on a slow day and just drop balls into the different bunkers, and figure the best way to exit.

On occasion I played tour guide for a parent and a junior golfer preparing for a youth tournament. It the course isn't too crowded, I suggest that the kid drop a couple into the fairway bunkers on Nos. 8 and 10 and see how much clearance they have to get out.

[boogielicious]

Club up, choke up and swing smoothly.  I go one club stronger (i.e. 7 to 6 iron) and choke up may 1 to 2 finger widths down the club to account for digging my feet in.  I hover the club head about mid ball (base of club at the balls equator).  Then I take a really smooth backswing and  downswing.  It is very effective and I have become pretty good at them.  As others have said above, you must make sure you can clear the lip.