You're Correct!

The advice a golfer tends to receive when having problems in a bunker is to swing fully, hit down into the sand and blast as much sand out of the bunker as possible. Some of these elements are correct - swing fully and hit down into the sand. Unfortunately, the third is not.

A great bunker shot occurs when the golf club travels just underneath the golf ball and skims the top layer of sand out of the bunker which splashes the ball up nice and high into the air and out on to the green. This can only be achieved with a shallow action rather than a steep downward one and requires much less power than you may think.

Follow these points to swing easier and get that bunker shot out with control every time.

1. Draw a line in the bunker to represent where the ball would be to take some practice swings.
2. Set up with the feet slightly wider than normal and so that the line is in the front half of the stance - inbetween the front heel and the middle of the stance. Also, favour the weight in the front foot - approximately 60% - to encourage a slight downward action into the sand.
3. Take a half back swing powered by the shoulders as normal.
4. When turning through, focus on nipping the top of the sand where the line is so that the divot in the sand is fairly shallow. Do this by making sure that you turn all the way through the golf ball so that the body weight is completely off the back foot - just as you would when hitting a driver. Make sure that the rhythm of the swing is gentle and not aggressive. When turning through do not let the hands rotate, instead hold the club face open to point at the sky throughout the shot. This shallows the swing, does not let the club head dig into the sand too much and lets the club head pass through the sand easily.
5. When you are consistently taking nice, shallow divots through the line, try it with a golf ball. If you get this technique correct you will be surprised at the little amount of power it takes to get the ball up and out of the bunker.

With this technique do less, gain more and play better bunker shots.

As you hit the shot harder the swing becomes more inconsistent and the point that the club head enters the sand will become varied meaning that some shots may come out of the bunker and some shots may not. Also a harder shot means that a steeper downward action may occur in the swing causing more sand to be taken. This will suck more energy out of the club head and leave the ball in the bunker more often.

Taking more sand in the bunker than is needed will slow the club head down and make it more difficult for it to travel underneath the golf ball which means that the golf ball will not be propelled forward enough to make it out of the bunker.

This could help as a more lofted golf club will make the ball travel higher in the air. However, it is important to use the correct tool for the job. If you need to play a long bunker shot use as much as a nine iron, a short one - a lob wedge. It is the technique that controls the bunker shot not the golf club you use.