You're Correct!

You know luck is against you in the moment you arrive at a bunker to find your ball nestled up against the lip of a bunker!

This is going to be such a tough shot, because not only are the odds of you getting up and down completely against you but even getting out of the bunker is made extremely difficult.

When the ball sits up against the back lip, golfers need to ensure the back swing includes a quick wrist hinge to ensure the club avoids the lip both on the way back and the way through. Avoiding the lip is just step one, the contact on the ball is the next tricky part. Because the early hinging of the wrists has managed to avoid the lip, it also helps to create a steep angle of attack. A shallow one will just cause the club to hit the lip on the way to the ball. The steep angle of attack and the loft on the golf club will help get the ball airborne quick enough to clear the rest of the bunker and hopefully will find the green if the bunker is greenside.

The key to executing this shot is to hinge the wrists quickly and upwards to avoid the lip of the bunker but then hit down on the ball to get the height. Timing for this shot is very difficult as this technique can cause the ball to be topped, potentially plugging the ball but certainly leaving it in the bunker. It could cause the strike to be thinned and if it does get out of the bunker, it could travel a long way over the back of the green.

Widening the stance can help keep the weight to the left side during the swing to stop any weight shift on the back swing. This would cause an early arrival into the ball and the lip of the bunker but otherwise it has no direct influence on the golf swing and angle of attack which is needed to make good contact with the ball.

Use the widened stance for stability on an awkward set up but focus more on where the club is taken back from the ball and how it approaches it to hit the best possible shot.

Be aware NOT to grip the club tighter than usual. For this swing you need a lot of wrist action and upward movement of the club being produced by a light grip which can manoeuvre the club in such a way to avoid the lip of the bunker throughout the swing and approach the ball from a steep enough angle to get the ball airborne.

If this shot is approached like any other bunker shot, the path of the club will be hindered by the lip on both the back swing and down swing causing a potential fresh air shot which would cost the player a shot and also needing to tackle this shot again.

A steeper angle of attack needs to be created and it needs to happen immediately after the club leaves the ball, the wrists need to hinge the club almost vertically then release in time to hit the ball with as much height as possible whilst avoiding the lip. Lots of practise swings before hitting the shot will help, however, be careful not to touch the sand at all during the practise swings or at address.