The bunker shot can cause sheer panic for some golfers.
What's most interesting is, the idea of getting the ball out of the bunker is the heart of the problem.
What?
Ok, think about this.
When you swing the golf club it bottoms out in the middle of the arc of the clubpath. In essence, that's the lowest point of that path the clubhead ever achieves during the swing. That point — the lowest point of the arch, is key to your bunker shot.
Before we get into why, let's first talk about the different types of bunker shots you'll come across.
The fairway and the greenside bunker shot.
In the fairway bunker shot, we hit the ball before any sand to maximize its flight and distance.
The greenside bunker shot requires a bit more control to achieve the desired distance.
What's most difficult about bunker play? Anticipating how much resistance the sand will cause and how large of a swing to make. So how can we simplify most of this?
The Key. Ball position.
Ball position...? Simple, right?
Here's how it works.
Standard set up for a fairway shot requires the following.
Place the club in the middle of the body at set up. From that position, the club will bottom out and strike the ball at the bottom of the arch. The clubhead will then brush the grass sending the ball forward as you swing to the finish.
In the fairway bunker set up, we want to move the ball about one ball back toward your back foot. Moving the ball back allows the club to strike the ball before reaching the lowest point of the arc. In turn, striking the ball first.
Because we move the ball toward the back foot the club is striking the ball before the sand. Yet, because the ball is back the face will be open a bit at impact.
You can close the clubface some to help straighten the shot or account for playing a fade.
The greenside bunker set up is easier because all we need to do is move the ball position 1 to 2 balls toward the front foot.
That allows the club to bottom out cradling the sand and the swing path will send the ball and blast of sand in the direction of your target.
A square clubface will make this easier until you trust that the bounce on the club will skip through the sand given your swing style.
The size of the swing would be about the same size as if you were pitching from that distance around the green.
Practice this in your backyard by placing the ball on the grass and setting up to the ball. Then, step to the side so that you move the ball toward the forward foot, about 1-2 ball positions.
Now, keeping the club in the middle of the body make a small swing and watch where the club bottoms out. It should bottom out in the middle where you had the club to start and the ball will have a slightly higher trajectory than normal once it’s struck.
When you have a chance try it in the bunker. And if you need more help — let me know.