Bunker Shot Golf Tips

Golf Monthly

In this video, PGA Professional Nick Drane explains the keys to playing the bunker shot

Transcript

00:00 (dramatic music)

00:02 - Hi, my name's Nick Drane.

00:06 I'm a PGA professional and a master fitting specialist

00:09 here at the Titleist Performance Center at Woburn.

00:11 In this video, we're gonna talk about

00:12 the green side bunker shot.

00:14 The green side bunker shot, typically we're gonna use

00:16 our most lofted club in our bag, our sand iron,

00:19 anywhere from 56, 58, or 60 degrees in loft.

00:22 It's the only shot in golf

00:23 where we're actually not trying to hit the golf ball.

00:25 We're actually gonna hit the sand behind the ball,

00:28 and I'm gonna demonstrate to you ways that we can do that.

00:31 A lot of common mistakes that I see golfers make

00:33 in the bunker is that, again, they are trying to help

00:36 the ball out of the bunker through an incorrect setup,

00:39 which doesn't allow them the best opportunity

00:41 to get the ball out of the sand.

00:43 Quite often, I see golfers trying to

00:45 move back on the golf ball, so too much weight

00:49 on their back foot, trying to lift it.

00:51 As I mentioned earlier, we're actually gonna hit the sand,

00:53 not the ball.

00:54 That's what's gonna propel the ball

00:56 into the air, onto the green.

00:57 Here's an example of how I see a lot of golfers

01:00 make a few mistakes in the bunker.

01:02 They don't shuffle their feet into the sand.

01:05 The ball is too middle of the stance,

01:08 and with regards to the grip, they take their grip,

01:11 and then they open the club face,

01:13 which in theory isn't actually doing anything,

01:15 and then they try and lift the ball out of the bunker.

01:18 You can see there, I didn't actually contact the sand

01:26 behind the ball and lift it out.

01:28 Too much golf ball, and it's gone way too far.

01:31 Couple of key things in your setup

01:33 you need to pay particular attention to

01:34 to allow you to be successful out of the bunker.

01:37 Firstly, let's talk about the stance width.

01:39 So, a nice wide base, shuffle the feet into the sand.

01:43 That's gonna lower you into the ground.

01:47 One of the key things, so I've already got

01:48 a very lofty golf club in my hand.

01:50 What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna open the club face slightly,

01:54 and then take my grip, okay?

01:57 The leading edge of the golf club

01:59 is gonna point towards my left toe.

02:01 One thing you'll see in my setup

02:03 is that my left foot is turned out slightly.

02:06 That's gonna allow me to put a little bit more weight

02:08 on my left side, maybe 60/40, favoring the left,

02:11 and make it easier as I turn through.

02:15 My ball position, okay, as I mentioned earlier,

02:18 this is the shot where we're gonna hit the sand,

02:20 not the golf ball.

02:21 So, in theory, I'm moving the ball a couple of inches

02:24 ahead of where I would ideally have the ball in my stance

02:28 if I was playing off the grass,

02:30 and I'm gonna draw a nice line about a club head width

02:33 inside my left heel as a reference.

02:36 I'm now gonna focus on hitting that line in the sand,

02:39 not the golf ball itself.

02:41 My swing itself, I'm gonna make a three-quarter backswing,

02:45 and then make sure that I have all my weight

02:47 finishing towards a target.

02:49 (gentle music)

02:51 And hopefully, it'll come out like that.

02:58 (gentle music)

03:02 (upbeat music)

03:04 (upbeat music)

03:07 (upbeat music)

03:09 (upbeat music)

03:12 (upbeat music)

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