When Should I Blast My Golf Bunker Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles
When Should I Blast My Golf Bunker Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles

If we’re talking about a blast bunker shot firstly we need to understand what it is, how it works, and when we can use it. We generally classify bunker shots as a blast or a splash. So a blast bunker shot is going to be much more aggressive, much more club head speed, much more sand, probably needing a little bit more distance as well. And it’s a sort of shot you would generally play when you’ve got a bad lie, you know the ball is sitting down a little bit. I’ve dropped a ball here which is kind of those little grooves where the rakers rake the ball and it’s sitting down a little bit. But if we were to make the lie worse, put a little bit of sand behind it; I’m looking at it and I’m think that’s got to be blasted out and certainly any plugged ball that needs blasting as well.

I’d expect the ball to come out here a little bit lower and roll a little bit further than if I was trying to play a splash shot. But if I’m playing up to that back flag then that’s okay. I’ll dig it out as hard as I can, land it on the surface, and run it out there. So my blast shot I play the ball back in my stance ever so slightly, I don’t have the club face too opened up so maybe just open the club up to a one o’clock position, grip the club quite aggressively, and dig down nice and firmly. Try and blast the ball out on a big cushion of sand. Now an easy shot this one because I’ve made that lie incredibly bad for myself, I’m not doing myself any favors here. So I've been able to blast it now look at it roll, still rolling, still rolling; so it’s run all the way across the green there, took a huge big divot, look how long that divot is. Just to give you an example there; my feet are size 11s and that was more than a full size of my foot so well over a foot length into the tuff. So it was a bad lie, lots of grip pressure, lots of aggression, and blasted it out, and run it all the way down there towards the black flag.
2014-11-11

If we’re talking about a blast bunker shot firstly we need to understand what it is, how it works, and when we can use it. We generally classify bunker shots as a blast or a splash. So a blast bunker shot is going to be much more aggressive, much more club head speed, much more sand, probably needing a little bit more distance as well. And it’s a sort of shot you would generally play when you’ve got a bad lie, you know the ball is sitting down a little bit. I’ve dropped a ball here which is kind of those little grooves where the rakers rake the ball and it’s sitting down a little bit. But if we were to make the lie worse, put a little bit of sand behind it; I’m looking at it and I’m think that’s got to be blasted out and certainly any plugged ball that needs blasting as well.

I’d expect the ball to come out here a little bit lower and roll a little bit further than if I was trying to play a splash shot. But if I’m playing up to that back flag then that’s okay. I’ll dig it out as hard as I can, land it on the surface, and run it out there. So my blast shot I play the ball back in my stance ever so slightly, I don’t have the club face too opened up so maybe just open the club up to a one o’clock position, grip the club quite aggressively, and dig down nice and firmly. Try and blast the ball out on a big cushion of sand.

Now an easy shot this one because I’ve made that lie incredibly bad for myself, I’m not doing myself any favors here. So I've been able to blast it now look at it roll, still rolling, still rolling; so it’s run all the way across the green there, took a huge big divot, look how long that divot is. Just to give you an example there; my feet are size 11s and that was more than a full size of my foot so well over a foot length into the tuff. So it was a bad lie, lots of grip pressure, lots of aggression, and blasted it out, and run it all the way down there towards the black flag.