You're Correct!

To be a great bunker player you need two things - confidence and basics. If you get the basics right the ball comes out every time and so confidence improves.
Here are the basic elements that get the ball out of the bunker every time:

Set Up:
- Turn the club head to an open position (to the right for right handed golfers) by approximately 10 degrees. This ensures that the club will slide through the sand cleanly and not dig down, therefore propelling the golf ball up into the air quickly and out of the bunker.
- Set up the feet in an open position (aim the feet to the left for a right handed golfer) by approximately 10 degrees. This straightens out the shot by cancelling out the fact that the club face points to the right of the target. Ideally, the alignment of the feet and the aim of the club face will be equal.
- Position the ball in the front half of the stance - approximately half way in-between the middle of the stance and the front foot. This aids the club head in avoiding the ball and hitting the sand instead, allowing it to travel underneath the ball and let the sand lift the ball from the bunker.

Swing:
- Follow through. Complete the swing as if you have just hit a driver - weight on the front foot and club high over the shoulder. This makes sure that you commit to the shot.
- Be aggressive. Quitting on the shot will leave the ball in the bunker, remember that you are hitting the sand and so the ball will not actually travel that far.

These are the basics that will improve any golfers bunker play, use them and reap the rewards.

Practice is a good thing but there is no need to overdo it. Spending hours in the bunker doesnt make a great bunker player - little and often is best for practicing this part of your game. Always make sure that there is focus to the practice for best improvement. What are you changing? How are you changing it? Are you measuring your success?

Actually a successful bunker shot requires very little sand to be taken. Skimming the club underneath the ball splashes the ball out with very little effort and a lot of control. Digging in and taking huge amounts of sand requires a lot of effort and tends to leave the golf ball in the bunker as the sand sucks the energy out of the club head not leaving enough to propel the ball far enough to clear the hazard.

This sounds like wishful thinking. Unfortunately, we cannot predict when or where we might end up in a bunker. Accept the fact that at some point it will happen and be prepared for it. There is nothing worse than not going in a bunker for four or five rounds and then ending up in one on the last hole when you are five under your handicap and taking four to get out!