the lie and firmness of sand will dictate which which way to attempt htis shot. good lie with firm sand: a flop shot techniqe can work by taking very little sand and also a steep decent on the ball both depends on how much room there is to get over the lip.
ball deep in sand or plugged: steep and hard swing right behind ball to generate enough force to pop the ball up. there are so many vairibles that it's difficult to give one particular answer because it all depends on the situation.
the lie and firmness of sand will dictate which which way to attempt htis shot. good lie with firm sand: a flop shot techniqe can work by taking very little sand and also a steep decent on the ball both depends on how much room there is to get over the lip.
ball deep in sand or plugged: steep and hard swing right behind ball to generate enough force to pop the ball up. there are so many vairibles that it's difficult to give one particular answer because it all depends on the situation.
medium sand, 12 inches or less away from a lip edge, which is another 12 inches or less higher than your unplugged ball... what would you do to get it middle of green?
fyi, somebody had left a rake just inside the bunker to help me that one!
coming in steep behind the ball would be you best bet. go to a practice range and try a few diffent ways, thats the only way your going to find out what works for you so when you come across this again, you'l know what to do.
ball on your front foot
put your weight on your backfoot , like your going to hit a big uppercut
open your blade , find the spot you want the club to enter and make your swing ... you can be really aggresive with this shot .... dont do the chip thing that is so amateur/hack
like all bunker shots keep your lower body silent
practice all type of bunker shots .... eventually they will all come down to touch
Sometimes, you have to just chip out to the side or backwards to avoid getting a bigger number. Sometimes a little course management is the only way out.
With the ball on the up-slope, I don't even open my club-face to increase loft. In this situation, I just try to hit the bottom of the ball. It comes out high, like an upper-cut someone mentioned, and lands soft.
On hard sand, steep swing, and if I'm in a green-side bunker, I open my sand wedge quite a bit. On the down swing, with the face all the way open, I almost intentionally try to smack the back of the club on the ground, with a full hard swing. That ensures I don't pick it thin, and I know I'm going to hit the sand, which is why I take a full swing, since the wet/heavy sand will slow the club.
Play the ball a little more forward in your stance and taking a steeper swing, accelerate into the sand an inch or so behind the ball. You don't need to open the club face or make any other adjustments since it's the sand not the club that's going to actually "blast" the ball on the green. Just practice in a sand trap without a ball and from a similar location in the bunker try to get the sand to go onto the green. If you can get the sand out on the green without the ball, then you can get the ball out also.
got some success recently from bunkers and heavy rough,i grip my sandwedge as high as i can and think of it like a swinging axe,making the club long seems to apply more weight to the blade and gives me a great chopping effect,if its a greenside bunker i take lots of sand,this means the ball wont travel far,as said above,there are certain shots from bunkers which i will play to the side and then try and chip close to pin for one putt to claw back the stroke i lost,i got a 9 at a par 4 3 weeks ago thats why i worked on bunker shots,if i had played that shot to the side i had possible 5 and at worst 6,ironically if you are good at bunker shots its not a good thing because it means you are in them too often
Play the ball a little more forward in your stance and taking a steeper swing, accelerate into the sand an inch or so behind the ball. You don't need to open the club face or make any other adjustments since it's the sand not the club that's going to actually "blast" the ball on the green. Just practice in a sand trap without a ball and from a similar location in the bunker try to get the sand to go onto the green. If you can get the sand out on the green without the ball, then you can get the ball out also.
seems to be a difference of opinion on this shot...do or don't open the face, forward or back in stance? you seem to all agree on steep! do you hinge extra early then?...
I agree with all of above...bottom line is just practice. For me, I use the Jim McLean technique which dictates power with the right hand, slapping the sand behind the ball. Depending on lie, sand, wet or dry, etc. I would use any of my three wedges 51-60*. But definetly open the face as long as the lie is not plugged, then follow SOP for a sand shot with the focus on firing the right hand. One note, using a club with less bounce it is eaiser to bury the head, and on an upslope chopping in steeply behind the ball and leaving the head in the sand will pop the ball nearly straight up in the air...I go in 1-2 inches as the upslope will bounce the blade up on entry, even with a low bounce sole. The book that I got the tip is Jim Mclean's Three Scoring Clubs or something like that.
May 22nd, 2006, 09:14 AM
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