Golf Tips for Bunker Shots

  Bunker shots - how to - tips, information

Bunkers are not there to catch bad shots.

Bunkers exist to punish shots that are not quite good enough.

Bunkers cause all sorts of swearing and mental anguish. Just the opposite is needed.

Many golfers turn to rage, rush to the bunker, jump in and swing wildly just to get the ball out.

This is exactly the opposite of what must happen. A trapped ball requires the utmost planning and mental concentration.

Here are the four rules for bunkers:

1)Get out.
2)Get out.
3)Get out.
4) Get out to a predecided spot to make the next stroke easy.

When your ball is in a bunker count to ten before deciding what to do.

Don’t try the "easy" shot when the ball is on the edge of the sand. It seems so tempting to just lift the ball on to the green, without touching the sand, when the ball is only and inch or two from the edge, and just barely below the grade.

Don’t make this mistake. If you are off by even a half inch either way your ball will stay in the sand or go flying completely over the green.

Explosion shots looks difficult. Many golfers cannot visualize a successful explosion shot and so never attempt them.

But, if you understand what must happen, making a good shot can be easy.

The key to the explosion shot is that most of the energy of the swing will be expended in the sand. When the club reaches the ball, after going through the sand, it will not be travelling fast at all.

Estimating how far behind the ball to hit in the sand is hard. Here is a tip to overcome that: screw your feet firmly into the sand. This tells you exactly how deep and how compact the sand is while also giving you a very firm stance, which is critical to a bunker shot.

Visualize forcing the club through the sand to the ball, before you plant your feet and attempt the swing. Do it again.

Finally, strike the sand well behind the ball and visualize the follow through to the ball.

This is the critical error many golfers make on the explosion shot. It is not enough to strike the sand behind the ball. You must continue to force the club through the sand to the ball.

While landing in a bunker will still be disappointing, successfully getting out of them time and again will provide great satisfaction. This will actually boost your mental attitude for the rest of the game.

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