Improve your Golf Bunker Play Hit the Right Distance Every Time, Tour Alignment Sticks Drill (Video) - by Pete Styles
Improve your Golf Bunker Play Hit the Right Distance Every Time, Tour Alignment Sticks Drill (Video) - by Pete Styles

So if you can imagine yourself in a situation now where you are in the bunker you’ve been playing some nice bunker shots all day and then suddenly you hit one and the bunker shot just jumps out too far and it just clears over the back of the green or maybe worse than that is you play the same swing and the ball stays in the bunker it doesn’t go out far enough. And this is going to happen in bunkers because the way you take the divot, way you enter into the sand and how deep your club goes, can have a big impact on how far the golf ball goes.

Normally when you are chipping the power is controlled by the length of your swing, so the longer your swing, the further the golf ball goes, likewise the shot to your swing, the shot the goal ball goes but in a bunker it's not just the length of the swing that controls the distance, it’s the impact position as well, more sand, the club slows down more, and the ball goes out shorter. Less sand the club impacts the ball more, and the ball will go much further. So here I've got a little drill using my swing sticks to help me understand how the sand has an impact.

So what I've done is line three golf balls up and then I've put one stick just an inch behind the three balls and another stick three inches behind the golf balls. And if I was in a bunker my first swing I would try and make the same length of backswing and impact three inches. So I’d hit the ground a little bit before the ball, and see how the ball flies, and just measure how far that shot goes, then I would make my next swing and try and aim for the one inch stick. I’d try and nip that ball a little bit more cleanly and measure how far that shot goes. Then on the next I would try and hit exactly in the middle, about two inches behind the golf ball, and likewise measure how that shot goes.

Now if you could make all three swings consistently the same length back and through so the same length backswing, nice acceleration the same length will follow through. The only difference, the only inconsistency would be how much sand you are taking, and I think that would give you a really good understanding of not only how far the golf ball goes, but also how high it goes and how much speed it generates. You can then work out which distance works better for you, whether you prefer to splash the ball out just taking one inch of sand or whether you prefer to blast the ball out taking three inches of sand, depending on the type of bunker shot you get out on the golf course. It makes you a lot more acute with your bunker shots rather than just lumping out and getting it on the green. Suddenly you can determine how much distance, how much height and how much speed you want on your bunker shots by where your club enters the sand.

 2013-06-27

So if you can imagine yourself in a situation now where you are in the bunker you’ve been playing some nice bunker shots all day and then suddenly you hit one and the bunker shot just jumps out too far and it just clears over the back of the green or maybe worse than that is you play the same swing and the ball stays in the bunker it doesn’t go out far enough. And this is going to happen in bunkers because the way you take the divot, way you enter into the sand and how deep your club goes, can have a big impact on how far the golf ball goes.

Normally when you are chipping the power is controlled by the length of your swing, so the longer your swing, the further the golf ball goes, likewise the shot to your swing, the shot the goal ball goes but in a bunker it's not just the length of the swing that controls the distance, it’s the impact position as well, more sand, the club slows down more, and the ball goes out shorter. Less sand the club impacts the ball more, and the ball will go much further. So here I've got a little drill using my swing sticks to help me understand how the sand has an impact.

So what I've done is line three golf balls up and then I've put one stick just an inch behind the three balls and another stick three inches behind the golf balls. And if I was in a bunker my first swing I would try and make the same length of backswing and impact three inches. So I’d hit the ground a little bit before the ball, and see how the ball flies, and just measure how far that shot goes, then I would make my next swing and try and aim for the one inch stick. I’d try and nip that ball a little bit more cleanly and measure how far that shot goes. Then on the next I would try and hit exactly in the middle, about two inches behind the golf ball, and likewise measure how that shot goes.

Now if you could make all three swings consistently the same length back and through so the same length backswing, nice acceleration the same length will follow through. The only difference, the only inconsistency would be how much sand you are taking, and I think that would give you a really good understanding of not only how far the golf ball goes, but also how high it goes and how much speed it generates. You can then work out which distance works better for you, whether you prefer to splash the ball out just taking one inch of sand or whether you prefer to blast the ball out taking three inches of sand, depending on the type of bunker shot you get out on the golf course. It makes you a lot more acute with your bunker shots rather than just lumping out and getting it on the green. Suddenly you can determine how much distance, how much height and how much speed you want on your bunker shots by where your club enters the sand.