Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
With this swing tip we’re going to have a look at how to hit a buried greenside bunker shot. Now, a buried bunker shot is not too difficult as long as you know how to approach it so it’s nothing to fear as long as you’ve got the knowledge on how to hit this shot well. The main thing we want to do with a bunker shot is get height and because the ball’s buried, it’s really important we get the club doing the work for us here. And I think instinctively you’ll want to open your club face up so you’ll want to turn your club face to the right to make sure there’s more loft to help get the ball in the air but that’s actually incorrect and it won’t help at all. As soon as you turn your club face to the right, you’re going to use the bounce which is on the bottom of the club here on the backside of the club and that’s going to hit the surface and bounce you back up. So it’s going to be very difficult for you to get the club under the ball and to get the ball popped up and out. In actual fact what you want to do is the opposite. You want to close the club face so turn the handle of the club over to the left so it closes the club face and that might sound a bit counter intuitive to you because you want to get the ball up in the air. But what we got to look at here is as you close the club face, we’re then going to aim to strike the sand with the toe of the club. And as the club strikes the toe into the sand, it will slow this power of the club down, it will slow the toe down but the heel will still accelerate past and it will actually scoop the club into the sand like there, so make a scooping action and that will dig the club under the ball for you and get the ball up and out of the sand.
So to hit that buried lie, play the ball just left of center of you feet, lean slightly on your left but rotate the club face to the left. Then place your hands on the handle. Okay. Wriggle the feet in to help you get a nice firm base to swing from and also to help you get down and get the club head into the sand. We’re going to use your wrists to pick the club head up quite steeply and then you’re going to hit really hard and aggressively down into the sand about 2 inches to the right of the ball. That’s where you’re aiming to get the toe of the club so the far side of the club into the sand first. This part of the club will dig into the sand, the heel will accelerate past the toe and make the scooping action to really dig the club under the sand and the ball’s going to pop up really high. Work on keeping your balance and as you swing through, because you’ve made such an aggressive downswing action, you might find that you’re quite stunted on your follow through. To absolutely find the crucial part of getting the ball out of that buried lie is to close the club face and then hit the sand with the toe of the club to allow the club to scoop the ball out and get a really high shot for you. 2014-01-16 Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
With this swing tip we’re going to have a look at how to hit a buried greenside bunker shot. Now, a buried bunker shot is not too difficult as long as you know how to approach it so it’s nothing to fear as long as you’ve got the knowledge on how to hit this shot well. The main thing we want to do with a bunker shot is get height and because the ball’s buried, it’s really important we get the club doing the work for us here. And I think instinctively you’ll want to open your club face up so you’ll want to turn your club face to the right to make sure there’s more loft to help get the ball in the air but that’s actually incorrect and it won’t help at all. As soon as you turn your club face to the right, you’re going to use the bounce which is on the bottom of the club here on the backside of the club and that’s going to hit the surface and bounce you back up. So it’s going to be very difficult for you to get the club under the ball and to get the ball popped up and out. In actual fact what you want to do is the opposite. You want to close the club face so turn the handle of the club over to the left so it closes the club face and that might sound a bit counter intuitive to you because you want to get the ball up in the air. But what we got to look at here is as you close the club face, we’re then going to aim to strike the sand with the toe of the club. And as the club strikes the toe into the sand, it will slow this power of the club down, it will slow the toe down but the heel will still accelerate past and it will actually scoop the club into the sand like there, so make a scooping action and that will dig the club under the ball for you and get the ball up and out of the sand.
So to hit that buried lie, play the ball just left of center of you feet, lean slightly on your left but rotate the club face to the left. Then place your hands on the handle. Okay. Wriggle the feet in to help you get a nice firm base to swing from and also to help you get down and get the club head into the sand. We’re going to use your wrists to pick the club head up quite steeply and then you’re going to hit really hard and aggressively down into the sand about 2 inches to the right of the ball. That’s where you’re aiming to get the toe of the club so the far side of the club into the sand first. This part of the club will dig into the sand, the heel will accelerate past the toe and make the scooping action to really dig the club under the sand and the ball’s going to pop up really high. Work on keeping your balance and as you swing through, because you’ve made such an aggressive downswing action, you might find that you’re quite stunted on your follow through. To absolutely find the crucial part of getting the ball out of that buried lie is to close the club face and then hit the sand with the toe of the club to allow the club to scoop the ball out and get a really high shot for you.
