Bunkers – Greenside and how to improve while not giving into fear!
Fear of hitting it too far for a short shot leads most amateur golfers to decelerate the bunker shot in the forward swing. That’s the worst thing that you can do because chances are you are going to leave it in the bunker!
Think in terms of goals: 1) Your first goal is to get it out of the bunker! 2) Second goal is to get it on the green and your 3) third goal is to get it close to the hole.
Sometimes all three goals are not realistic to attempt.
I had the great privilege of working for one of, if not the best, bunker player in the world when I was 21. I asked him his secret one day and he said, its simple….thump the sand (or be aggressive aka accelerate) and glide the club under the ball and finish with the body on the front side and the hands high.
I laughed and said, “So you are telling me the secret is “THUMP AND GLIDE??” “Listen if you didn’t want to tell me you could say you weren’t going to tell me LOL. But you know what? That is truly the secret to becoming a good greenside bunker player!
It takes a correct setup and the the right movement, and it DOES TAKE PRACTICE to start getting a feel for the swing and body movement but when you start to get it, the fear goes away and so do those horrific shots that you leave in the bunker or skull over the green.
Two things that will help you in the bunker and anywhere else when you are near the green….
- Imagine a ball in your right hand and you are going to throw it underhand to your target, think about the motion you would use to do that. The club is just an extension of your arms, make the same movement with the club and your body that you just did with that tossing motion.
- Imagine the golf ball sitting on a 1 dollar bill and the ball is right on Georges Face. You enter the sand on one side of the bill and exit the sand on the other side of the dollar.
This means that your swing arc, well where is the bottom of it? Compared to any other swing, our lower part of the swing arc is well under the ball, much lower than for any other shot. So you need to 1)add plenty of knee flex and 2) stay down as you come through impact and 3) THEN you come up to your finish position.
Lastly, what type of sand do you typically play out of? Is it firm or clay based without a lot of top-sand? Then you need to choose a wedge with very, very, little bounce because that wedge will need to dig a little to get and stay under the ball.
What if you are playing in Florida at a Muni course and they have sugar sand in the bunkers (light and fluffy) then you need a wedge with a lot of bounce so it will come up and won’t just dig as you try to swing through the shot.
The bunker shot is not a hard shot, cripes….it’s the one shot that we don’t even hit the ball!! So don’t set up like you are going to hit the ball. It just takes a little time and practice to get decent out of the greenside bunkers. You are now going to say you don’t have a practice bunker to use. Do you have a course you play at the has twilight golf times? If you get the last twilight time you can go out there and hit a bunch of bunker shots and practice without worrying about anyone behind you! (just make sure and rake the bunkers when you are done). Do you have a beach nearby? When I lived in Florida, my condo was on a huge lake and it had a sand beach, guess where I practiced my bunker game? EXACTLY! Where there is a will there is a way. Swing Free!
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