Why should you hit the sand first when hitting a bunker shot?
I play golf sometimes and I have read in all of these books and on youtube that you should be hitting the sand before the ball for a good bunker shot.
But whenever I am in a bunker, my ball just sits on top of the sand (bacuse my ball generally rolls into the bunker), I just go for a normal hit like on the fairway and the ball turns out how I wanted it weather its on the fairway or a metre from the cup.
Is it different when the ball is just sitting on the sand like my ball does? When I do it the way I do it, there is just a little mark in the sand and then it saves time on racking.
So am I doing the wrong thing and if I am…why?….and I am doing OK from a bunker.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Depends on the shot you want to hit and what you have to work with. If you have to get the ball up quick and want it to land soft you probably want to go with a “blast” type bunker shot. A blast type shot is where you swing a little harder and hit quite a bit of sand. The sand impacted by your club actually drives the ball up into the air and the ball flies with little or no spin. Some people are able to put spin on the ball by hitting just the right amount of sand.
If you ball is sitting on top of the sand, which is as good a lie as your going to get, you have options. If the ball is plugged or buried, your options may be limited and the shot will be more difficult to execute. In those situations, I’m happy to just get the ball out back on the fairway or anywhere near the green.
I wouldn’t worry about saving time raking. Make the type of shot you want to rather than assess how much you’re going to have to rake afterwards.
If you have an approach shot from a fairway bunker you probably want to pick the ball clean. Again, it depends on what you have to work with.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:06 am
What you are doing is OK if you never hit it fat.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:10 am
if the front hangover ledge it pretty great loft is needed. to quickly get it up in the air you need to get under the ball.
February 5th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
It’s about minimizing your mistakes. If you take a normal swing, and hit the ball first, you hit a good shot. If you hit a little behind the ball, it will stay in the bunker. If you Take a hard swing and hit the sand two inches behind the ball, you will end up good. If you hit an inch behind the ball you go a little long, and three inches behind a little short. That’s why the pros do it that way.
If you always make clean contact, and your play a course that your ball never sinks into the sand, and you always hit it were you want your way, then stick with it. The only right way in golf is what you score in the end.
February 5th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
If the ball is really sitting up, or if the sand is very wet and firm I’ll do the same thing you just described. I’ve found it works just fine for me too, unless the ball has settled (fried egg) or I’m really short sided. In that case hitting behind the ball and actually catching sand instead of the ball surface does a few things, namely…
1) The sand softens the contact considerably, meaning you don’t have to rely quite as much on touch.
2) The corse nature of the sand works to grab and spin the ball more than a standard shot from the same distance giving you a chance to get the ball to stop fairly quickly, a big bonus when you’re very near the green. The best spin shots I hit are usually from the sand.
Whatever works for you is the most important thing here, but the bunker blast is another shot to add to your arsenal. Good luck.