Bunker Help: Taking to much sand in greenside bunkers.

[Just_Hacking]

Disclaimer: I am the worlds worst bunker player!!

Fairway bunkers don't present as much as of problem for me, but greenside bunkers have always been an issue. As of late the main problem is that I take way to much sand and the ball doesn't come close to getting out of the bunker or it barley gets out (and rolls back in most of the time). When I do make contact good enough to get the ball out it still comes out low. I do have a tendency to decelerate on my downswing and I am working on that. I have tried several other "fixes" such as moving the ball around in my stance tying to find where I am bottoming out at, I have worked on my angle of attack as well as my shaft position and how far I attempt to hit behind the ball. I have moved my weight distribution around as well. I may have to much knee bend, but my frustration level is at an all time high as outside of my bunker play I am playing as good as I ever have. I really think that if I can work this issue out I could lower my scores 3 to 4 strokes per round (sometimes less, sometimes more). My last round I know that it cost me at least 6 stokes and I still shot a 86. I think a lot of it has become mental for me, but I am determined to fix this issue. Right now as you can imagine it is hard to really work on it as much as I want since the bunkers don't have rakes and are a disaster most of the time. Even the practice bunkers need work. It doesn't help that the consistency of the sand from bunker to bunker really varies as well.

So any tips my fellow THPer's can give me would be great.

 

[oumagic]

I see my friend @mtbloco lurking. He probably thinks I wrote this under an alias. I have no advice because I have the same problem and could have written this post. Greenside bunkers could be water and I would often score better than hitting into them as sand.

 

[mtbloco]

variability in bunkers plague the AZ courses I play. When there is actual sand in them, I manage to do ok in them. The worst is if I try to play one that is an inch of "sand" over hard rock. We've taking to pick and place during Covidian law. If the course is especially poor bunkers...then we play pull out behind the bunker and play from there.

As to how I approach a green side bunker....Bounce is my friend. My RTX4 MID has been relegated to just eye candy. My current goto bunker club is my Vokey SM7 60* D grind. I set up with both feet flared open, ball near the back ankle weight forward. Opening the club face as needed. I use a bit more knee bend that normal, but not extreme. I imaging a dollar bill on the ground under my ball. 2/3 of it behind the ball. this is my target to impact the sand.

Deceleration is very bad. I saw an old Shell WOG with rookie Jack. The announcer kept calling them "explosion shots". That's what has to happen, IMO. The more you open the club face, the fluffier the sand....the more explosion that has to take place. This is all a "feel" shot for me. so I don't' know how to describe it better. Based on teh above, I'm sure you can tell where I get in trouble.....hard pan. I smack the bottom, bounce up, catch it clean and rocket my ball 60 yards.

@oumagic knows that last statement a bit too well.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Re decelerating....Gary Player uses the analogy of striking a match. Would you ever slow down to strike a match? Nope. Same thing in a bunker. So try to remember that thought every time. FWIW he also says set (hinge) the wrists early.

Seve said the way to hit higher softer bunker shots was to bend the knees and really lower the hands. You can easily find video of him doing this. I’ve incorporated it and it definitely works.

That said, it sounds like you are coming in too steep and need to make sure you have the ball at the bottom of your arc.

 

[Drumdog]

Post a video of a bunker shot and let us see you hitting the ball and the swing...in the bunker, not grass or carpet.

 

[G-Man]

Re decelerating....Gary Player uses the analogy of striking a match. Would you ever slow down to strike a match? Nope. Same thing in a bunker. So try to remember that thought every time. FWIW he also says set (hinge) the wrists early.

Seve said the way to hit higher softer bunker shots was to bend the knees and really lower the hands. You can easily find video of him doing this. I’ve incorporated it and it definitely works.

That said, it sounds like you are coming in too steep and need to make sure you have the ball,at the bottom of your arc.

Thanks for the tips and the start to internet exploration to hit better bunker shots.

 

[Just_Hacking]

Post a video of a bunker shot and let us see you hitting the ball and the swing...in the bunker, not grass or carpet.

I am going to try to get one recorded this weekend.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Re Seve, like this

 

[SunnyWalker]

Bunker tips can be a little misleading since the sand can be different course to course or even hole to hole.

Basic bunker shots..I just aim my club face at my target...shaft is straight up and down, no lean.....open my stance a little... and try to hit a cut shot or fade....I'm looking at a spot maybe 1/2" behind the ball but I take enough sand

The only thing I really think about is making sure I cut across the line a little bit and having the ball a little forward in my stance

 

[Jmk202]

Yeah I'm learning its totally dependent on the bunker sand condition. Currently mine are very firm as we haven't raked in months. So i'm having to be a good bit steeper to get into the sand, where as thats never something i'd do on a fluffy bunker.

General Tips that helped me TONS from a lesson. Wide base, low butt (squat down like sitting on short stool,) weight slightly forward -- This takes your legs out of the swing. The open face, lower hands -- this exposes the bounce so the club wont dig and stop. Allow your hands/writst to roll open in back swing and close firmly during down swing, this is a similar feel for my flop shots -- this gets me the the sand splashing result.

Take a while of practice to get confident and get the feels, Definitely find a practice bunker, or on a quiet day spend some time playing around in one on the course.

And again its sand dependent, mine are so firm right now i'm almost chipping out of them.

 

[PapaJohick]

what's interesting is you say you're fine fairway but take too much sand greenside. Big this is to figure out what the change is. If you're taking good strikes in the fairway bunkers )little to no sand/picking it clean) then there's no reason you cannot be a good to very good greenside player.

Re decelerating....Gary Player uses the analogy of striking a match. Would you ever slow down to strike a match? Nope. Same thing in a bunker. So try to remember that thought every time. FWIW he also says set (hinge) the wrists early.

Seve said the way to hit higher softer bunker shots was to bend the knees and really lower the hands. You can easily find video of him doing this. I’ve incorporated it and it definitely works.

That said, it sounds like you are coming in too steep and need to make sure you have the ball at the bottom of your arc.

This is very helpful advice. Striking a match. It's a short starting point with a good amount of acceleration through your finish. Also, the bending knees way more than you think and getting hands low is probably the best advice I ever received in terms of trying to play out of a pot bunker or a bunker with the green sloping away. High and lands soft

 

[SunnyWalker]

I've never tried this but I've seen many instructors say....forget about a ball and just drawn a line in the sand. Practice striking the sand in the same spot on the line using the bounce of the club over and over again. When you can hit the sand the same way and enter on the line consistently, drawn the line and now place a few balls 1-2 inches in front of the line. Now hit the sand on the line behind the ball the same way

 

[Stryker]

I used to put the ball pretty far forward and swing hard. Usually got it out but had no real chance of controlling it until I watched an older gentleman who played on tour practicing in the bunker at my home course.
Now I go ball slightly forward and just make a nice soft smooth swing trying to get a nice thump from the club impacting the sand. I control distance with backswing. I now play better out the Greenside bunkers then pretty much everyone I know. I even had a nice Sandie for birdie a couple weeks ago.

 

[razaar]

Yep you have to hit that line every time. The other important swing element is keeping the trail shoulder high from start to finish. If that shoulder drops during the downswing while losing clubhead lag the bottom of the swing will be well behind the target spot on the sand.

 

[RecGolfer]

The only tip I can think of is to think that you're going to slide the club underneath the ball without disturbing it--not hit into the sand, but slide the club through it.