Thoughts on Sand Play

The greenside sand shot is unique to the game of golf in that it is the only shot we hit where we do not (or at least should not!) hit the golf ball.   Some people I know have hit their longest drives ever from a greenside bunker! Here are two simple things to keep in mind when extricating your ball from the sand:

• Set-up and aim to hit the sand before the ball.  Hover the club over the spot that you intend to impact.   When practicing, draw a line in the sand and see how many times you can impact the sand right on the line.  Avoid holding the clubhead over the ball at address for more consistent ground contact!
• In a regular golf shot we should be attempting to strike the ball first and the ground second.  This can only be done with a slightly descending blow and the weight on the golfers front foot.  Due to the fact that we only want all sand and no ball in the bunker there should be no forward weight shift into the hit.  Try to play sand shots with the back foot remaining fully planted and quiet throughout the swing.  The weight should remain where it was set at address. (Notice the post impact picture below) This will reduce those 'low heaters' out of greenside bunkers!

Pitching Common Sense

The most common pitching errors occur prior to the club starting the swing.  They are poor club selelction and an improper address position.

So many of the golfers that I teach have a 60 degree club or lob wedge in their bags and the vast majority of them are not qualified to benefit from it being part of their set.  It actually hurts their scores.  Most of the pain comes in the pitching department!

Golfers seem to be under the impression that if you have a shot that is shorter than the distance you hit your full lob wedge, then it surely must be a lob wedge!  Wrong!  Here are a few things to keep in mind when playing your next pitch shot:

• You more than likely have a PITCHING wedge in your bag - feel free to pitch with it!  It requires a lesser swing, has a flatter face, gets the ball to the hole more efficiently (not via the moon!) and will still spin the ball.  Practicing with your pitching wedge will open your eyes to this reality.  It just takes a little creativity and feel before you are off and running.  It is the perfect club if there is any wind, the greens are soft or the pin is anywhere from the center of the green and back.  It is for this reason that I will seldom pitch with anything more lofted than my 54 degree (I have a PW/48 degree, a 54 degree and a 60 degree) as the swing becomes too big and the margin of error too great.
• Your LW has the most loft in your bag, the sharpest leading edge in the bag and the highest potential for disaster in the bag, especially when travelling at high speeds! Reserve this club for the little specialty shots around the greens where the ball needs to stop in a hurry.  If you cannot think of the last time you saved a stroke with your lob wedge, then relegate it to fire poker or roach killer.  It more than likely will work better for you in those departments!  Shhh, I know multiple tour golfers who are currently poor pitchers who simply will not take the time to learn to hit these shots with the appropriate club!
• Keep in mind that whatever club you choose to hit most of your pitch shots with the stroke requires a descending hit on the ball.  The weight must be on the front foot in order for this to occur.  This impact position can be encouraged by setting up in a chipping type address position (see above picture) and allowing the speed of the body rotation to control the distance.  Keep in mind that pitching is a chipping set-up and motion with the addition of wrist action!  Hit down on the back of the ball and keep the follow through short and crisp.   

Try these simple keys for your pitching and you too will see the light!

Please visit the following golf blogs as they have some fantastic content:

• Geoff Shackelford
• Ball Out Blog
• Pink Diva Golf
• Armchair Golf Blog
• Golf Dash Blog

Thanks for reading and enjoy this great game we all love!

Two Shots for Sand Success

In order to be a great bunker player you need more than one shot.  How often have you found yourself in the sand, twenty feet from the hole, and you need to hit a high, soft, spinnning shot to have any chance of getting up and down?  Or found yourself sixty feet from the target and you now need a lower, running type bunker shot in order to reach the hole?  You need to learn these two shots!

The first shot is a high velocity, high trajectory, high spin shot.  It is most often struck with the most lofted club in the bag.  In this situation the ball needs to come to a screeching halt very soon after landing, due to the fact that you have very little green to play with.

Here is how to play the shot:

• Using your most lofted club, open the face as much as possible.  You should feel as if you could balance a glass of water on the face of the club at address - take note of the picture above.
• The velocity and speed in the swing is what gets the ball high and spinning, so even though this may be a short shot it requires an aggressive approach.  Hit it hard!
• Going through impact try to feel the hands scoop under the ball.  The club head releases under and thus the club face stays open through the hit. This is an important element to this shot as it allows the golfer to hit hard, yet when releasing the club properly, the ball goes up versus far.
• Practice this shot from good lies off of a slight up slope in the sand.  While hitting the shot as hard as you can try to see how high and short you can make the ball travel.

The other shot is a low velocity, low trajectory, low spin shot.  It should most often be played with the second most lofted club in the bag.  If you have an LW it would be the SW, or if you only have an SW then you should use the PW.  In this situation the shot needs to traverse a large portion of either flat or downhill green.  There is ample opportunity for the ball to roll like a putt!

Play the shot this way:

• Using a lesser lofted club the stance should be of average width and the ball position is still forward of center.
• The clubface remains open, yet to a lesser degree than the above shot.
• This shot is played almost in slow motion as there should be very little speed in the swing. I often call this the 'dump and run' shot, as it should just get out the bunker, land early on the green and roll to the hole as if it were a putt.
• The hands should be light throughout the swing and it is okay to actually roll the face a little through impact.  This serves to lower the shot further and causes the ball to release more.
• Do not attempt this shot when your ball is lying on an upslope! An upslope requires a more aggressive swing and that robs the ball of  its ability to stay low.
• Practice is vital for this shot as it tends to take a few tries before sensing the correct speed of the swing.

With a few minutes spent experimenting with the above suggestions in the sand you will soon start to lose some of the angst we have all experienced when stepping into a bunker.  Give it a try and please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Additional Resources:

How to Hit Great Bunker Shots

Luke Donald's Buried Lie