What I'm working on for fairway bunker shots

[XVGolf]

During a tournament earlier this season, I double-bogeyed and bogeyed the same hole for two rounds due to two bad fairway bunker shots. On the first day, I pulled to the left of the green - 30 yards left - into a hazard ; the next day, in the same fairway bunker, I chose my gap wedge and it resulted in a high (safe) but short ball flight . I lost the tournament by 3 strokes in the end 

I practiced more fairway bunkers since then. And here are some tips I've been working on.

1. Have a wide stable base for a higher ball flight.
2. Position the ball an inch further back for solid contact.
3. Hold off the release for better direction.
4. Adjust the stance if necessary.
5. Choose a club I feel comfortable with.

 

[saevel25]

Just now, XVGolf said:

During a tournament earlier this season, I double-bogeyed and bogeyed the same hole for two rounds due to two bad fairway bunker shots.

1st, what the heck are you doing hitting the ball into a fairway bunker. They should be considered a hazard in terms of keeping away from them.

1 minute ago, XVGolf said:

I practiced more fairway bunkers since then. And here are some tips I've been working on.

1. Have a wide stable base for a higher ball flight.
2. Position the ball an inch further back for solid contact.
3. Hold off the release for better direction.
4. Adjust the stance if necessary.
5. Choose a club I feel comfortable with.

Moving the ball back will lower your ball flight, and it might cause you to flip at the ball. This can cause you to hit the ball fat and thin.

I would do the following,

1). Play the ball normally
2). Make sure your weight gets forward at impact.
3). Try to make good contact

 

[klineka]

This is the first thing that came to mind when I saw this post http://lowestscorewins.com/news/you-are-a-bad-fairway-bunker-player-but-dont-bother-trying-to-improve

40 minutes ago, XVGolf said:

During a tournament earlier this season, I double-bogeyed and bogeyed the same hole for two rounds due to two bad fairway bunker shots. On the first day, I pulled to the left of the green - 30 yards left - into a hazard ; the next day, in the same fairway bunker, I chose my gap wedge and it resulted in a high (safe) but short ball flight . I lost the tournament by 3 strokes in the end 

I practiced more fairway bunkers since then. And here are some tips I've been working on.

1. Have a wide stable base for a higher ball flight.
2. Position the ball an inch further back for solid contact.
3. Hold off the release for better direction.
4. Adjust the stance if necessary.
5. Choose a club I feel comfortable with.

 

 

Being in the fairway bunker wasnt the reason you got a double bogey the first day, you got the double bogey because you pulled your next shot 30 yards left into a hazard.

I dont know how far out you were after hitting the gap wedge out the 2nd day (guessing 100-150 yds at the very most) if you would have gotten up and down from there, you would have gotten par. 

Also, did you make an adjustment to your tee shot aiming after being in the bunker the first day and then not execute properly thus ending up in the bunker again? Or did you aim at the same thing and hit the same shot with the same result?

You said you lost the tournament by 3 strokes. Were those the only holes you had over par for the tournament? If not, there were other holes that likely cost you strokes as well, not just this hole twice.

I have some questions about the 5 steps you recommend for fairway bunkers.

1. Have a wide stable base for a higher ball flight. -- Isnt a wide stable base important on pretty much every full shot?
2. Position the ball an inch further back for solid contact. -- Like @saevel25 said, that will lower the ball flight
3. Hold off the release for better direction. -- Read this for thoughts on ball direction 

4. Adjust the stance if necessary. -- Again, isnt this a given? Wouldnt you adjust the stance if necessary on all shots?
5. Choose a club I feel comfortable with. -- And again, why under normal every day circumstances would you choose a club you didnt feel comfortable with? (Maybe if you had to go for a green in 2 for a match play tournament or something)

 

More often than not I bet most amateurs will get a bogey or worse if their tee shot finds a fairway bunker on a par 4, so for you to go double bogey then bogey is really only one shot worse than what you should realistically expect to get once you are in a fairway bunker.

On the PGA tour, GIR % from a fairway bunker varies widely. Some guys are as high as 73% while others are as low as 25%. Bogey is an acceptable score from a fairway bunker on a par 4. http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02434.html

[DaveP043]

I think my thought process in a fairway bunker is perhaps more important than any changes I make in the swing.  The absolute number 1 priority is to clear the lip of the bunker, so I take a club with enough loft.  If I have to give up 20, 30, 50 yards in distance, I don't care, I have to clear the lip.  This is an uncommon shot for me, probably more variation in outcome than normal, so I want my target area to be as "forgiving" as possible.  Stay short (or easily past) other bunkers, water hazards, etc.  Once all that is done, I do play the ball slightly back in my stance (I've already taken account the lower ball flight in my club selection), and swing a little "easier" than normal.  

[iacas]

@XVGolf, yeah, what the others said…

• Don't practice fairway bunker shots. Just practice your irons. Same swing, with the only real difference being that you grip down a little bit.
• Buy a copy of LSW.
• Don't hit the ball INTO fairway bunkers.

That about summarizes it.