You're Correct!

There are times when you find your ball has come to rest close to the lip of the bunker. You have a few options to decide upon to give the best play.

Do you come out of the bunker sideways, backwards, take a penalty drop or can you hit the ball out of the bunker? To be able to play the shot, you need to elevate the ball quickly, but you have to be wary of the lack of follow through due to the face of the bunker stopping the club. It can be easy to hurt yourself due to the sudden stopping motion of the club after impact.

A lot of the time when your ball comes to rest close to the face of a bunker, you will find your stance situated on an uphill lie. You need to level yourself with the slope a little in order to create a balanced, solid base. Adjusting to the slope will also give you a head start by helping you elevate the ball high. You need to open the club face in order to add some loft to the club to help elevate the ball quickly. Having opened the club face to 45 degrees, prior to gripping the club, and in a good balanced set up, you need to then make a committed swing.

If you held on to the club tightly after impact, you could easily cause yourself an injury due to the abrupt stopping of the club caused by the bunker face. To prevent injury to the wrists and forearms, you need to feel like you are relaxing your hold on the club after impact, almost letting go of the grip. The club entering the sand will assist in slowing down the club a touch, but you need to let the bunker face absorb the clubs force with a relaxed grip.

Shutting your eyes and hoping sounds silly but this is the advice many players give themselves when faced with an uphill bunker shot close to the bunker face. Weigh up the shot first, and decide if escaping the ball is possible and the smart choice of play.

When you have no follow through in the bunker, you are running the risk of causing an injury due to the sudden stopping of the club after impact. If you grip the club too tightly, you are improving your chance of injury to the wrists and forearms. Relax the grip after impact and let the sand and the bunker face absorb the clubs blow.

Stopping the club at impact to prevent the club from hitting the bunker face can lead to disaster. By slowing down the club prior to impact, you are decelerating the clubs speed. To get the ball up and out of the bunker, you need both loft and speed. Make a committed swing and relax your grip after impact.