How to Control Your Swing in a Bunker
By Steve Silverman
Most golfers have a pretty good idea of how to hit the ball out of the bunker. Keep your weight forward, hit the sand behind the ball and have the sand carry the ball out of the trap. But it's the execution of the shot that makes it difficult.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Open your stance when you get in the bunker. In the fairway, you need to square yourself to the target. Not in the bunker. You need to move your front foot to the left and hold your club level.
Take firm hold of the sand with your spikes. By digging into the sand with your spikes, you won't slip as you execute the shot.
Put your weight on your front leg as you set up for your bunker shot. You now have the perfect stance to get out of the bunker with the controlled shot.
Take a moderate grip on your club. Grip it at a "4" on a scale of 1 to 10. Come through the sand directly under the ball when you are playing a greenside bunker. This will help the ball pop up and out of the hazard and onto the green.
Swing for accuracy and not for power when you are in the bunker. It's about hitting the sand so it explodes into the ball and carries it out of the hazard. It is not about swinging hard. If you can hit the sand about an inch underneath the ball, it will come out with accuracy and control.
Tips & Warnings
Practice your bunker shots before you play. Try to hit 10 bunker shots to loosen up and prepare for your round.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
