Playing from a Steep Bunker Face, Golf Sand Trap (Video) - by Pete Styles
Playing from a Steep Bunker Face, Golf Sand Trap (Video) - by Pete Styles

Let's picture ourselves in a position on the golf course. Now, we've landed the ball into a bunker, the ball rolls up the leading edge of the green side bunker and then stops against the leading edge or plugs on that up slope. It's not a particularly easy shot this one, but following these tips, you should be able to get this golf ball out more often.

If you've got a leading edge like this, we really need to anchor the right foot into the floor nicely and then the left foot would probably come up somewhere up onto the slope, but it's this right foot that would take most of the body weight. Let's just make sure it doesn't slide away and slip down the bunk, so, we'll have to plan that one.

You're not necessarily allowed to kick it up into a mount and then stand on that mount. You've just got to take your stance nice and fairly, planting your right foot, left foot up in the air. Then allow the shoulders to tilt parallel to the slope and to get your spine angle perpendicular to the slope, so everything is nice and lined up aiming very high up into the air.

Then your swing is going to be quite a steep swing. Try and just pitch one inch behind the sand. The club is going to come in such angle it won't really be following the contours of the slope all that much. It will come in quite steep, so, your follow through won't really happen all that much. So, if you hit three, four inches behind the ball, there's risk you'll just cut in and stop and the club doesn't travel into the ball at all.

So, angle the shoulders and angle the feet nicely and then try to make sure you only take one inch of sand behind the ball and hit in nice and firmly. Your follow through won't be massive, but hopefully that ball will pop out. The thing you've really got to avoid here is don't try and hit the ball high. This ball will come out high naturally because the angle of the club and the angle of the loss of the slope are added together. So, this ball is going to come out high.

It won't come out with loads of back spin actually, it will fly quite straight up and land fairly quickly, but it's not going -- it won't roll very far, but it won't roll because of the spin. It's the fact it won't roll because of the trajectory. So, you're just going to throw this ball straight up, straight up and land it on the green, so don't expect it to release.

So, it's angle the shoulders, angle the feet, loads of firmness in that right foot and then a good digging action into the back of the slope, blast the ball out nice and high, don't expect it to release when it comes down unto the green. And you can practice that next time you're on the practice ground on the uphill slope of a nice steep face greenside bunker.

 2012-09-18

Let's picture ourselves in a position on the golf course. Now, we've landed the ball into a bunker, the ball rolls up the leading edge of the green side bunker and then stops against the leading edge or plugs on that up slope. It's not a particularly easy shot this one, but following these tips, you should be able to get this golf ball out more often.

If you've got a leading edge like this, we really need to anchor the right foot into the floor nicely and then the left foot would probably come up somewhere up onto the slope, but it's this right foot that would take most of the body weight. Let's just make sure it doesn't slide away and slip down the bunk, so, we'll have to plan that one.

You're not necessarily allowed to kick it up into a mount and then stand on that mount. You've just got to take your stance nice and fairly, planting your right foot, left foot up in the air. Then allow the shoulders to tilt parallel to the slope and to get your spine angle perpendicular to the slope, so everything is nice and lined up aiming very high up into the air.

Then your swing is going to be quite a steep swing. Try and just pitch one inch behind the sand. The club is going to come in such angle it won't really be following the contours of the slope all that much. It will come in quite steep, so, your follow through won't really happen all that much. So, if you hit three, four inches behind the ball, there's risk you'll just cut in and stop and the club doesn't travel into the ball at all.

So, angle the shoulders and angle the feet nicely and then try to make sure you only take one inch of sand behind the ball and hit in nice and firmly. Your follow through won't be massive, but hopefully that ball will pop out. The thing you've really got to avoid here is don't try and hit the ball high. This ball will come out high naturally because the angle of the club and the angle of the loss of the slope are added together. So, this ball is going to come out high.

It won't come out with loads of back spin actually, it will fly quite straight up and land fairly quickly, but it's not going — it won't roll very far, but it won't roll because of the spin. It's the fact it won't roll because of the trajectory. So, you're just going to throw this ball straight up, straight up and land it on the green, so don't expect it to release.

So, it's angle the shoulders, angle the feet, loads of firmness in that right foot and then a good digging action into the back of the slope, blast the ball out nice and high, don't expect it to release when it comes down unto the green. And you can practice that next time you're on the practice ground on the uphill slope of a nice steep face greenside bunker.