Bunker Play- Need Help!!

ok, i use a taylormade rac 58*, 12* bounce wedge out of bunkers. now the two courses i mainly play the bunkers r the same, mostly, the one course is in the process of changin their sand to the white ohio sand traps. its soft sand. now the other type of sand, isnt really sand, its like dirt and its hard and compact. not much of it in the bunkers. so ur club hits the bottom of the bunker. now, i struggle mostly out of the white sand traps. only greenside bunker shots. not fairwa or like 50 yard bunker shots. but from these traps, i play with an open 58* wedge, an open stance, and i swing along my target line wit the ball, not my feet. could that y im hitting them fat and barely getting them out. any advice helps. i dont want to just go in and just get them out, i want to eb able to go in and think of getting them close. any tips of trying somethng new or different to help me

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Whats In My Bag

Driver: Nike 450 10.5°, stock stiff
3-Wood: Nike T-40 Tour 15°, Aldila one 85-x
5-Wood: Taylormade 200 Steel, 18*
58* Wedge: Taylormade RAC Chrome, 58*, 12* Bounce
Putter: Taylormade Rossa Daytona Sport-1, 35 Inches
Ball: Nike ONE Platinum


Extras
Never Compromise Voodoo, 35 Inches ---> On the Way
Titleist 983K, Aldila NV-75S ---> On the Way
Mizuno MP-001, 10*, Stock Stiff, Stock Grip
Titleist Pro V1, Nike ONE Gold, Nike Mojo

Soft sand is dificult, more so then hard packed. You get away with a lot more errors from hard packed, but your BAD misses can be REALLY bad - skulls across the green and into the next county if your not careful.

The only part I saw about what you said there that I would change is the "swing down the target line". You swing path should be down your feet/shoulder line. So if you open up your stance, you aim your BLADE at your target, but swing down the stance line. This exposes the sole of the sw and gets the needed bounce. Regulate the distance 2 ways. Swing power and/or distance at impact from behind the ball. The harder you swing the more spin is on the ball making it stop faster and carrying it further. The further back you hit behind the ball the more run you will get. The less affective way to regulate distance is to open up your stance more and more. Do this only in extream cases were you have to hit the ball very high and get it to land very short. This very open stance option (45 degrees) will increase the error rate dramitically. Keep your stance open about 15-20 degrees as a standard and go from there.

Hope this helps.

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I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

alright cool. tyvm.

Getting it close is hard. I believe theres a lot of feel to playing bunker shots. So check the distance. You can tell what the texture of the sand is like with your feet and use some common sense, you should be fine.

In my experience (and from what I have read/seen) if you open the face and swing along your feet you are reducing the bounce on the club, a square face (swinging along the target line) give the full bounce and is not always what you want.
Though maybe I'm picking it up wrong.

You've got it backwards, Gree. The more you open the face, the more you increase the bounce. You can see it on your carpet or kitchen floor. Hold your sand wedge normally, resting on the floor. Now, twist it open. The leading edge will raise up off the floor even more. This is what happens when you open the face, creating a bigger 'leading edge' helping the wedge to bounce as opposed to dig.

yeah, now that I think about it that has to be true.
I read it somewhere a few days ago but I must be remembering it incorrectly, cant find the article to make sure now though...

Agree with Gregs advise.

One minor point, weight should be more towards the left foot to promote a steeper swing.

One other option - especially from hard sand, is to use a putter (texas wedge) if you do not have lip to deal with.

yeah, weight has to be forward and hands ahead of the ball, swing the club along your feet keeping the face open, head down and it will get out 99% of the time.

hi greebowman:
beside get too tecnical make sure aim behind the ball one or two inches (with the blade) backswing slow three quarter , downswing accelerate thru..accelerate thru,,accelerate thru...practice and let me know how much you bunker shoot improve!

Good advice. Many people think of hitting directly behind the ball, the same they would any other shot. How far behind the ball depends on how far you want it too go. Also remember too accelerate through the down swing otherwise youll just stay in the bunker. When i practice my bunker shots I draw a line in the sand and aim for that spot, obviously you cant do this in comp but it will help if you do it enough. Another thing people do wrong is they think they are hitting through sand and skimming underneath the ball. You should be thinking in your mind that you are thowing the sand out of the bunker by hitting down on it.

I see a lot of people putting the ball back in their stance, presumably to encourage a steep swing, but I am a big believer in placing it forward in my stance, grounding out before the ball (sand first contact), and following through (throwing sand). Another thing that helps me is bending both my knees much more than on other shots. I need to take a very solid stance to power through the sand. I also take an open stance and open clubface.

play the loose fluffy sand shot like the ball is sitting on a tee buried beneath the sand.

accelerate through the shot and blade the imaginary tee.

I use this one too, you can actually have success with up to 6" of sand between the ball and entry point, depending on the fluffiness.

My course uses this fine white quartz like sand that, by the time you've got your feet planted comfortably you can hardly see the tops of your shoes Nothing but a high bounced SW for these shots

Try to hit the sand before the ball into the hole. Works for me

Take a large bucket of practise balls dump them in to a bunker. Then just have fun, trying different stuff. Then pick them up and dump them in again. Think about what you did with the shots before. You will love sand shots after about three buckets being dumped and retrieved. Just have fun and try doing different stuff.