With the set up giving us a solid foundation in which to execute a good bunker shot its now time to talk about how to create consistency with the shot. Something I mentioned earlier is that the margin for error in a bunker is far greater than a shot from grass. For instance, when hitting from the fairway, if we catch a pitch/chip shot slightly heavy, say ¹/₄” behind the ball, we would likely still see the ball advance forward and possibly finish on the green, or maybe even close to the hole if we’re lucky. Now if we catch a bunker shot ¹/₄” behind the ball, the additional sand that will get between the ball and the club face will significantly deteriorate the strike and severely affect how far the ball travels, which could result in the ball not even getting out of the bunker. This works the other way too, for instance if the ball is caught too clean then there’s a pretty good chance the ball will go flying across the green. Now for the average golfer its fairly common and acceptable to mis-strike a shot by only ¹/₄”. However neither of these two outcome are likely to result in us having a putt with our next shot. So before hitting any shots were going to talk about a fantastic, yet simple, drill which you’ll need to master in order to develop and progress your all round bunker play. But before we delve into the drill I want to touch on precision and accuracy.

Precision and Accuracy

Over the course of my career I’ve seen and come across many methods and drills being taught, with the intention of improving your skills out of the bunker. Many of which are great exercises which can help many golfers improve, however I rarely see or hear about the importance of accuracy and precision when executing a bunker shot. Using a generalized focus over a bunker shot may be great for a well raked sandy bunker with a perfect lie, but it may not adequately prepare us for what we can experience on the course. Focusing and having much more control and accuracy over the club will not only improve your skills out of the sand, but make you a great bunker player.

Impact Drill

This exercise is designed to create a much more consistent entry point in which the club makes initial contact with the sand. Draw two parallel lines in the sand the sand a golf ball with apart (like I mentioned in the first section). The forward line is going to resemble them golf ball and the back line will help us asses the entry point of the club int the sand. We use a golf ball width as this club entry point can be used with various different types of lies, such as; deep lies, tight lies, heavy and light sand. Now getting set up like mentioned in the previous sections make five, medium length, practice swings along the line with the focus of getting your contact point as close to the back line as possible. The first time you do this I would almost guarantee that your divot will start before the line, which is fine, as we are constantly used to trying to make contact behind the ball when in the bunker. After you make your five swings assess the divots in the bunker. The size and depth of the divot isn’t of importance at this point, its primarily where the club is entering the sand. Now were not looking for ‘roughly’, you should be as critical as possible. ¹/₄” behind or in-front of the line can still create inconsistency with a ball. Rake the bunker and try 5 more practice swings. Again be critical of yourself when analyzing the divots. If you feel you’ve produced 5 swing with accurate results, then hit some shots, placing the ball on the front line with the intention of entering the sand on the back line. How do these results compare with your practice swings? How did the ball come out of the bunker? Again….. be critical of the entry point. With some good practice you should be able make contact with the back line regularly. Now whether or not the ball flies out of the bunker you should be able to see some consistency with the ball flight in relation to where the club enters the sand. Its also worthwhile to observe how the ball is affected when the club misses the line. As I mentioned I’ve found that using a golf ball width allows this method to be best applied for all sand surfaces however players have personal preferences and if you feel more comfortable changing the width of the line thats fine, but ensure that when ever you practice or are on the course that width remains constant.

Eye-line Focus

Ive worked with many students who struggle out of the bunkers. And when completing this drill some students find it very difficult to get the club up to the line, and often find the entry point always falling short. Now an interesting concept I often discuss is where their eyes are focused.  Some players look at the ball, some at where they want the club to enter the sand. Now theres no rule or law that dictates where we have to look. So if you do struggle to hit the line but find that the entry point is constant, say ¹/₄”, ¹/₂” or 1” behind the ball then shift the focus of your eyes the appropriate amount. This may result in you focusing on a point in-front of the ball, but give it a try, both on your practice swings and shots. You should see a significant difference as to where the club enters the sand. As a side note, I often find this can give struggling players a welcome distraction, and in doing so help relieve them of negative thoughts.