How to Play Sand Traps

Everybody wants to know the best way how to play sand traps. Traps, or bunkers are the called in Europe, can be easy or very difficult to play, depending on their severity.

You know the thing. You think you are playing great, and have a couple of towering (for you) 325 yard shots on the first four or five holes, so try it again on the next. You know there is a big deep trap out there just on the right of the fairway about 300 yards out. You would normally play short but you are playing so well today that you go for it. You should clear it, but if not all you have to do is to aim slightly left and you will miss it in any case.

What happens? You are so concentrating on missing by playing your shot a bit left, and also trying to clear it, that you rush into the drive. You throw your shoulders and arms into a bit quicker than usual so don't quite close the club face before striking the ball. We all know what happens then, don't we? You slice the ball out right, and because you are aiming to the left and don't get the usual power behind the shot because you are a bit nervous about it, it slices right into that sand trap. Stuck in the trap still with 200 yards to go.

That's one shot down - or is it? Not if you have practiced your sand shots! The shot you play now is different to that if the trap was green side. You first have to assess the condition of the sand. Is it wet or dry? Is it smooth, and what is the lie? Even the grain of the sand can have a bearing, but that is probably not your concern at the moment. The main thing is the dryness of the sand and the lie.

If your ball is right at the edge of the bank, and you can only chip out, then that is all you can do. However, the odds are that your ball is somewhere in the middle since they normally run into fairway traps rather than land straight there. If the sand is wet, then you cannot afford to dig into it with the club, or basically take a 'divot'. You have to hit it cleanly because wet sand is extremely difficult to drive through - with a car or a golf club! You can practice that by placing a tee into the sand so that the cup of the tee is at sand level, and then hitting the ball. Once you are able to hit the ball regularly without hitting the tee, then you will be able to play these sands shots with ease.

What that means is that even from 200 yards out you will be able to play a full powered shot with the club of your choice to reach the green. If your club digs into the sand even slightly, then it will lose a lot of power and you will have no chance of reaching the green. Practice with the tee in the sand and it will reap benefits.

If the sand is dry and fine grained, then it should not be so much of problem, but even there if you can strike the balls without digging into the sand, then you should be able to drive it out of that trap to the green 200 yards away. Many amateur golfers think that you have to take a lot of sand with when you play a sand shot, but that is not necessarily true. It might be for shots from close to the green, and with pin placements close to the traps, but it is not always necessary.

To play a sand shot in soft sand where your footing is not secure, you will have to dig your feet into the sand until you have a steady stance. You will then have to hold the club a bit lower on the shaft to allow for your feet being below the normal level. If you feet are sunk three inches into the sand, then hold your club three inches farther down that normal. If you are playing a green bunker, you will want a lofted club and likely to take a sand 'divot'. In that case, decide where in the sand you are going to strike, and concentrate on that point and not the ball.

Play the shot with a smooth stroke and a full follow through so that the loft of the club comes into play. The club face should always be fully closed so that it can slice through the sand. Any angle on it will tend to hold it back and you will underplay the shot with regard to both distance and loft. Always practice your green sand trap shots by playing at the same speed with all shots. Your distance should be varied by the length of your swing. If you practice properly, you will find that you can play each shot at the same speed and change distance at will by changing your swing length.

Another useful tip is that if you have to stop the ball quickly, as you often have to do with some bunker shots, then hit the sand close to the ball. A normal dry sand shot should have a long shallow 'divot', but if the pin is close to the trap then make it very short, because then you will get maximum spin.

The way to learn how to play sand traps consistently well is to practice them: from 200 yards out or 5 yards from the pin makes no difference. Like any other skill, practice makes perfect.

By Andre Sanchez

How to Play Sand Traps was originally published at http://www.golfplayernow.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andre_Sanchez