Greenside Bunker Shots
Top Tip No.1
Good Lie in Bunker
Open your stance a little by keeping your left foot back ( right handers) and also open the clubface slightly. Swing the club parallel with your feet with an out to in action causing a steeper swing which makes the ball rise quicker and also produces backspin which means the ball will stop quickly on the green. Aim slightly left of target as the ball should tend to fly to the right.
Top Tip No.2
Plugged Lie in Bunker
Instead of opening the face of the club you should keep the club face square.
This shot should be approached with reasonable speed following through keeping the clubface square and therefore digging into the sand behind the ball with the sand and the ball coming out of the bunker together. The very action required to come out of the bunker from a plugged lie means that there will not be any backspin and the ball will roll on some distance.
Top Tip No.3
Downhill Lie In Bunker
If the ball finishes on a downhill lie in the bunker open the clubface and adopt an open stance with the weight on your left foot. The shot should be played near to your left foot trying to follow the slope of the bunker. At impact the weight should be focused on your left foot allowing the ball to be sliced out of the bunker providing you complete a full follow through.
Top Tip No. 4
Uphill Lie In Bunker
For this type of shot you do not need to adopt an open stance or open up the face of the golf club. Instead follow the uphill slope of the bunker and position your body parallel to the slope and swing solidly also parallel to the slope.
The golf ball should come out of the bunker with a higher trajectory and therefore not run on too far
Top Tip No.5
Stating The Obvious!
Whether you are playing out of a greenside bunker from a good lie, a plugged lie, on a downslope or on an upslope or however you are placed in the sand one of THE most important tips is to keep your head still, eye on the sand 1 or 2 inches behind the ball, until the shot is executed.
You could otherwise have an excellent technique but it will probably go wrong if you come up to look for your golf ball too quickly.
This may sound like stating the obvious but it is a very common error made by many mid to high handicap golfers and is often brought about because the player is anxious and nervous about playing bunker shots. Have you ever said "How unlucky was that!? The ball hit the top 2 inches of the bunker face and almost came out!" Now the golf ball is lying way deep down in the imprint of your shoe! Game over!
The fact is that if you had not lifted your head too early you would not have seen the golf ball hitting the face of the bunker. If you had kept your head down until after impact with the sand then the chances are that the golf ball would be heading for the green. Take a look at an image of a professional or low handicap golfer on the TV or pictured in a golfing magazine and you can clearly see that nearly every time after impact the golf ball is travelling upwards towards the green and the golfer is still looking down to where the golf ball had been.
I hope that you found the article to be helpful.
By Roger Thomas Carter
Please take a look at my blog for more golfing information to help you break 80 during 2009
http://playbettergolfnow.blogspot.com/
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