With the ball position back in the stance, that
will encourage the club to be still swinging down, which is
going to increase the angle of approach which will make the ball
come out lower and very likely make the ball be hit before any
sand has been taken. With the ball too forward in the stance,
the club head may bottom out before the ball and actually skid
into the ball and bring about the same result as hitting the
ball first.
The weight distribution should be even – 50/50
on either leg, which is also going to help with the angle of
approach. Too much weight on the left side increases this angle
and more weight on the right side will make the club almost be
swinging on the upswing when it is supposedly going underneath
the ball. For a normal green side bunker shot there should be
some width in the arc, the same as with any other swing so
there’s no need to break the wrists earlier than normal or to
soften the arms up in the back swing because this too will
increase the angle of approach. So there should be a wide and on
plane angle of approach and along the target line swing path
when playing a normal green side bunker shot.
The distance that a ball travels out of a bunker
is going to be determined by the amount of club head speed
developed during the swing which is regulated by the amount of
backswing and through swing. So, for a small shot only a small
swing is required. When the ball needs to go a long way a much
bigger swing is needed. In the past many people would have
regulated the distance the ball goes by varying the amount of
sand that is taken. So, for a short shot you look to take more
sand out before the club goes underneath the ball or for a
longer shot less sand is taken. This method is slightly
complicated and much better results will be obtained by varying
the club head speed to regulate the distance.
In any normal green side bunker shot the ball
should come out on a cushion of sand so you should be looking at
the ball when you play your shot and just be thinking that you
want to slide the club underneath the ball and keep the club
head going. When a mistake is made in the bunker it should be
that you’ve taken too much sand before the club goes underneath
the ball. Providing the follow through is long and the club head
does continue, there should be enough momentum to get the ball
to at least get out of the bunker. The biggest mistakes occur in
playing bunker shots when the ball is hit first or when the
angle of approach is too steep and the follow through is
shortened and there is not enough momentum to get the ball
out. As with pitch shots, long and slow will make the ball go
higher and land softer. Short and fast will generally make the
ball come out lower and run more.
With buried lies, embedded lies or when the
ball is lying poorly, such as in a footprint, the angle of
approach must be made steeper so that the club can get
underneath the ball. So lots of sand is dislodged when this
type of shot is being played and there needs to be some changes
made in the set up position. The ball needs to move back in the
stance a little bit to increase the angle of approach.
The clubface should remain open to help with the
loft because the trajectory on the shot is still important, but
perhaps not as open as normal. The weight can be slightly on the
left side, also to increase angle of approach and the swing path
should be from the outside on the backswing and from outside and
in on the downswing. Picking the club up quickly by breaking
the wrists will also increase the angle of approach as the arc
is much narrower. The follow through is going to be much
shorter with this type of shot because the club is travelling
down much more sharply. The ball is going to come out with much
less spin, a little lower, so you need to allow for this. However, with correct technique, this shot is not as difficult
as it seems.
When playing the bunker shot in a down slope
situation you need to try and play this shot as though it’s a
normal lie. The same set up positions as usual however,
you need to lean down the slope and swing down the slope. The
ball is going to come out lower in this situation but it is
important that you try and swing down the slope, not try and
lift the ball up.
In a green side bunker when the ball is below
your feet, what’s going to happen is that the ball is going to
come out more to the right than normal so you need to align
yourself a little left and do everything the same as normal. However, you may want to grip slightly further up on the handle
of the club. When the ball is above you, you need to align
slightly right to allow for the ball to go to the left and try
and treat the shot the same as any other. However, lowering the
hands will help to get the sole of the club to bottom out
correctly, rather than have the toe end of the club dig into the
sand.
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Video
When
playing normal green side bunker shots, it’s important that the
swing remain almost the same as any other swing that you
make. However, there are a number of different set up positions
that need to be altered. 
