Video:Basics of Bunker Shots

Transcript:Basics of Bunker Shots

I'm Todd Kolb with About.com. We're going to talk about hitting shots out of the bunker.

Build a Stance When Hitting Bunker Shots

When we're hitting shots out of the bunker there's a couple things we need to be aware of. First of all, in terms of the rules, we are allowed in the bunker to go ahead and build a stance, so I'm going to recommend that you kind of dig your fit in a little bit to create a nice stable stance since the sand will tend to move a little bit in the motion.

Don't Touch the Sand When Practicing a Bunk

The next thing we want to be aware of is that we're not able to touch the sand in any practice motion. Now we can certainly hit the sand when it comes time to execute the shot but we're not allowed to test the sand or touch the sand with any practice motions. Once we're in here, a couple things we need to do different on a standard greenside bunker shot.

Club and Ball Positioning Basics of Bunker Shots

First thing is I'm going to recommend you grab a club with a lot of loft like a sand wedge or a lob wedge. We're going to then take the golf club, rotate the face a little bit open, which will allow the club to go thru the sand. Next, we want to position the ball slightly in front of center. So if this is the center of my stance right here I want the golf ball to be slightly in front of that.

Splash Sand Out When Hitting a Bunker Shot

I got my club face open, the ball slightly in front, the last tip I want to give you is I like to feel like my weight's just a little bit more on my lead side, my left side keeps me nice and stable and then the objective is going to be to just simply splash some sand out onto the green and the ball will happen to roll along with that. And so once again in the bunker get the club face slightly open, position the ball a little bit forward of center, get your weight a little bit forward, and then splash some sand out, and then as the sand flies out so will the ball.

Basics of Bunker Shots When Plugged in the Sand

When we run into those situations where our golf ball becomes plugged in the sand like we see here, I'm going to play this shot a little bit different. The first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to take the club face and I'm going to rotate it and close it down a little bit. By closing the club face, the club face will tend to dig into the sand and actually get underneath the golf ball and kind of pop it out.

Hit Bunker Shots Down When Plugged in the Sand

The second thing I'm going to do in the motion is I'm going to make sure I feel like I'm hitting down into the sand. I want this club going down into the sand almost like I'm just sticking the club into the sand and when I do that the golf ball will go ahead and pop out. So once again, close the club face, pick it up and feel like you're almost going to just stick the club into the sand and the ball will just pop right out.

Basics of Bunker Shots on Fairways

When our ball comes to rest in a fairway bunker, there's a couple things I need to be aware of. First of all I want to grab a little bit more club. If the shot calls for a 7 iron, grab a 6 iron. Next, in your stance get your stance a little bit wider than normal, move the ball back a little bit in your stance and then last but not least go ahead and choke down on the golf club. The key here is to catch the ball first. I want to hit the ball first and then the sand. If you do those things you'll find that you're hitting some quality golf shots.