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The Range :: Tips & Drills, Golf Lessons, Practise
Bunker shots |
22 / Aug / 2005 |
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| In the latest of his tips and drills, Paul Lawrie shows us how to perfect the bunker shot.
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| Paul Lawrie: info@paullawriegolf.com |
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STEP 1
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| As you can see I am actually quite square to the target. In years gone by I would have been very open and then opened the blade and swung across my feet hitting the ball out with a lot of left to right spin. The modern method is to start square open the blade slightly and allow the modern design of the sand wedge to release the ball on line with literally no side spin. This is far easier to control. |
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STEP 2
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| I have the ball in the middle of my stance with my weight tending to be evenly spread. When I set up I shuffle my feet in the sand to lower myself which makes it easier to allow the club to go underneath the ball at impact and gives me a firm footing during the shot. I also have plenty of knee flex, which also lowers my body. |
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STEP 3
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| The length of the back swing should be as long as you can make it still felling comfortable. A bunker shot should be played with an even paced swing, no real massive explosion during the shot it should always be under control. My weight hasn’t transferred much at all and it is a shoulder and arms swing with no real movement of the lower half. |
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STEP 4
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| The length of the follow through should match the length of the back swing. Again it is my upper half, which has taken the club through and my lower half has remained quiet. My weight has moved predominantly on to my left side. |
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SUMMARY
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My overall feeling in a bunker shot is how much sand I am trying to remove during the shot. I don’t actually hit the ball, I am removing sand underneath the ball which helps create the flight of the shot. The more sand I take the less distance the ball will fly and the reverse of that is the less sand I take the further the ball will fly.
My advice to amateurs is to get the ball out in your first shot every time. Don’t try and play some cute little greenside shot that will only come off 1 in every 10 goes. Get the ball on the green and leave yourself a putt every time.
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