Stability Key in Fairway Bunkers, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Stability Key in Fairway Bunkers, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles Fairway bunkers are those sort of positions out in the golf course where lots of amateurs would struggle yet professionals don’t really mind them too much. And then one of the issues is that you don’t get a great deal of chance to practice in fairway bunkers so that times that you do go in a fairway bunker, it can feel like it’s a bit of a strange technique for you, how to apply this long irons from this unstable stance, do I use my bunker technique which is kind of open with my feet in and chop the ball out, or do I use my normal sort of 4 irons technique of trying to hit the ball as far and as hard as I can. So here is a couple of little tips for you when you were in a fairway bunker, firstly you need to assess how high the lip is and which club you think you will need to get over the lip. Now the worst shot you can have in a fairway bunker is into the loop and it flies open at it lands back in. So if you think you can get a six iron out over the loop I would like you to have 7 iron at least to make sure you clear the ball out. That would make it a nice, safe on to the fairway type of fairway bunker shot. Now if there isn’t a lip and it’s nice and low and flat, that gives you real good opportunities to try and get the ball out on to the green. And this is different now because if you would normally hit a 7 iron, to go the distance that you should be able to go, I would like to 6 iron because I think you can get the ball out with no lip, it won’t quite go as far from the fairway bunker because of the second section of this tip, I would like you to swing a little bit slower and smoother with the very quite lower body action, So if I would normally take a 7 iron let’s say from a 160 yards this I am going to take a 6 iron and be super smooth. I would play the 6 iron with a nice sort of soft knee position I would sit a little bit, I will just put my feet into the sand just enough that I would get a good grip, I don’t really want to dig my feet in like I would do for green side bunker shot but I put my feet and so I get a nice grip. Sit nicely with my knees and 80% powered swing clipping the ball out. I would like to hit ball first and then sand like a normal fairway shot rather than digging down taking two inches of sand and splashing the ball out like I would do from a green side shop, just kind of a half of hybrid sort of show here. Then thinking about the distance control, if I can reach the green I would like you to take one more club so you can hit it a bit further so you don’t have to hit it so hard but if there is a big lip in the way, I would like to take one last club to make sure you clear the lip and get it back out on to the fairway. And hopefully with those little tips your fairway bunker shots will improve. 2012-07-12

Fairway bunkers are those sort of positions out in the golf course where lots of amateurs would struggle yet professionals don’t really mind them too much. And then one of the issues is that you don’t get a great deal of chance to practice in fairway bunkers so that times that you do go in a fairway bunker, it can feel like it’s a bit of a strange technique for you, how to apply this long irons from this unstable stance, do I use my bunker technique which is kind of open with my feet in and chop the ball out, or do I use my normal sort of 4 irons technique of trying to hit the ball as far and as hard as I can.

So here is a couple of little tips for you when you were in a fairway bunker, firstly you need to assess how high the lip is and which club you think you will need to get over the lip. Now the worst shot you can have in a fairway bunker is into the loop and it flies open at it lands back in. So if you think you can get a six iron out over the loop I would like you to have 7 iron at least to make sure you clear the ball out. That would make it a nice, safe on to the fairway type of fairway bunker shot.

Now if there isn’t a lip and it’s nice and low and flat, that gives you real good opportunities to try and get the ball out on to the green. And this is different now because if you would normally hit a 7 iron, to go the distance that you should be able to go, I would like to 6 iron because I think you can get the ball out with no lip, it won’t quite go as far from the fairway bunker because of the second section of this tip, I would like you to swing a little bit slower and smoother with the very quite lower body action, So if I would normally take a 7 iron let’s say from a 160 yards this I am going to take a 6 iron and be super smooth.

I would play the 6 iron with a nice sort of soft knee position I would sit a little bit, I will just put my feet into the sand just enough that I would get a good grip, I don’t really want to dig my feet in like I would do for green side bunker shot but I put my feet and so I get a nice grip. Sit nicely with my knees and 80% powered swing clipping the ball out. I would like to hit ball first and then sand like a normal fairway shot rather than digging down taking two inches of sand and splashing the ball out like I would do from a green side shop, just kind of a half of hybrid sort of show here. Then thinking about the distance control, if I can reach the green I would like you to take one more club so you can hit it a bit further so you don’t have to hit it so hard but if there is a big lip in the way, I would like to take one last club to make sure you clear the lip and get it back out on to the fairway. And hopefully with those little tips your fairway bunker shots will improve.