Bunker Shots In A Nutshell.
The primary thought for playing out of sand is to think of the bunker
shot as one where the club hits the sand creating an explosion of sand
that carries the golf ball out of the bunker. One mental trick is to
forget the ball exists and imagine instead that it’s a rather large
grain of sand. Bunker Shots v. Chip Shots Comparison.
Importantly though when you play a chip shot the club face hits the
ball, whereas with a bunker shot this isn’t a requirement and there’s
more room for error in terms of how much sand you take.
Thus, technically a basic bunker is not harder to play than a chip
shot. In reality though the real problems in bunkers come from not
having sufficient confidence to strike the sand where you are aiming
with adequate control and rhythm. Additionally golfers have problems
because they never really take the time to understand the construction
of the sand wedge and how it differs from other clubs. Therefore, if
this is you, please read on for an explanation and the specific tips
for playing out of bunkers.
Understanding The Sand Wedge.
The sand wedge’s club face can vary from 55 to 58 degrees of loft, with
56 degrees being the most common one. Having too much bounce will cause
you to bounce the clubhead into the side of the ball. Equally not
having enough bounce will cause you to thin the ball because you will
end up digging into the sand too much, just as if you were playing with
a pitching wedge.
How To Play The Splash Bunker Shot.
There are two main ways you to play a bunker shot with your sand wedge.
Firstly, you can play with a square face where the leading edge digs
into sand and secondly by opening the clubface to skim through the sand
with the bounce. Here are the 8 exact steps to playing a splash bunker
shot.
How To Stop Pushing The Golf Ball
Standing on the tee, you feel relaxed and confident, until suddenly
smack, you push your golf ball straight right into trouble! To fully
appreciate why you are pushing the ball you need to understand that the
ball comes off the club face in a straight direction because it is
square to the inside to out line it is travelling along at impact.
Sometimes you will see the ball start out straight and then curve to
the right, this is due to an open club face and is known as a push
slice. A push hook occurs when you close the face.
Some Reasons You Are Pushing The Golf Ball.Sliding your hips on your downswing
Your hands are late to the ball because instead of properly making a
full hip turn you slide your hips to the left too much. To fix a
problem you do need to slow down your hips so as you can release your
hands properly and prevent yourself from pushing your ball.
Firstly, it can be caused by swaying to the right on your back swing
where you then consequently compensate for this by swinging back too
much on your downswing to the left.
Secondly, you sway to your left by moving your head up as you swing. Moving your lower body faster than your upper one.
Many of the issues related to pushing the ball come down to timing
issues. You will undoubtedly push the ball when your lower body gets
faster than your upper one. As a result the lower body spins open
whilst you drop your club far too much inside.
Swinging too much on an inside to outside path.
This action sees the golf club moving on an inside to outside path to the right of the target line.
The ball to target line is the line you want the ball to travel to
reach its target in one straight shot. A pushed shot happens when the
club is to the right of the ball to target line.
Be aware that by playing the ball too far back in your stance you
increase the chances of swinging on an excessive in to out swing path.
The club head meets the ball far too early and well before it has an
opportunity to square up to the target line.
You need to make corrections so as you swing down the line instead of
swinging out to the right field. Check that you aren’t positioning the
ball too far back in your stance. If you can imagine your club head
reaching the ball before the bottom of your swing arc you will find it
is still travelling inside to outside.
It’s at the bottom of the swing arc that the clubface is square to the
ball to the target line. The ball should be positioned in the middle of
the stance for short clubs and pitching wedges and further towards the
left foot for the longer clubs. If you are pushing, the ball it is
likely by moving the ball forward you can correct this fault.
You are misaligned right of the target.
You are also likely to push the ball if the club face isn’t aiming directly at the target.
Ask yourself, are you aligned to the ball properly? Take time out to read these golf alignment tips and drills.
Moving your swing axis too much to the left.
You may be pushing the ball because you are moving your swing axis to the left.
Swinging too hesitantly.
Without that commitment, you are unlikely to fully commit to the shot
and release the club head at impact. So it is in effect just like
swaying the body to the left on the downswing, the club face will reach
the ball whilst you are still swinging on an inside plane and before
you square up through impact.
