Make these shots a lot easier with this self-help guide
If you park your drive in a fairway bunker, what’s your mindset for the next shot? Just advance it up the fairway? Just get it out? Hello, double-bogey? I get it. Fairway-bunker shots are among the least practised, mostly because it’s hard to find a spot to work on them. I’m also guessing your expectation of getting on the green is fairly low (the PGA Tour average was just better than 50 percent last year). Let’s see if you can help yourself boost your confidence – and odds – of success.
Start by getting in a more stable stance. Widen your feet and lean your ankles inward. You can even dig in if the sand is soft – all of this helps keep you from swaying or slipping as you swing. Also helping you make better contact with these shots are to grip down on the club and play the ball so your sternum is a touch ahead of it. Finally, stand a little taller over the ball. That will really help you clip it off the sand.
Now here are a few swing thoughts: assuming you can clear the lip with a club that can easily reach the green (it’s best to club up from the sand), playing a fade gives you the best chance of knocking it on. A fade encourages a steeper club path, which helps with ball-first contact, and the open clubface in relation to your swing path helps get the ball up.
Now focus on making a smooth, three-quarter swing. Keep your chest more on top of the ball and your lower body quiet [main image]. If you get comfortable with this stance and these swing thoughts, your confidence from the sand will soar.
David Leadbetter is one of Golf Digest’s Legends of Golf Instruction.
Photographs: J.D. Cuban
