Things You'll Need:
- Sand wedge
- Possibly Lob wedge
- A practice bunker
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Step 1
The first way and my favorite way to make a bunker shot is this: Use a sandwedge, find your target, have your clubhead aim towards your target. Place the ball in the center of your stance. Open your stance, meaning pull your left foot and open your left leg (if your right handed). Another way to think of this is to make a triangle with equal side: The ball is the apex or center point (center of your stance) of the triangle and your feet are the base of the triangle. You will want to grip down on the sandwedge a couple of inches because this should give you more control of the club. Hang the clubhead about an inch behind and above the ball because this is where you will want the club to hit the sand during your swing. You should feel like you are leaning over the ball a lot. Usually the regular golf swing is an even swing plane with the bunker shot you will want to swing from the outside (backswing) to the inside of the swing (follow through), but keep the clubface square or aiming towards the target. This is where it gets a little tricky. You may want to practice this without hitting any balls until you get the feel for what I am saying.
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Step 2
Now, most of you probably already know this but I have to tell you. You cannot ground the club in the bunker when setting up to the ball. If you do, this will increase your score. Now, back to the swing, as you take the club back you will want to swing the club in a more upright position while keeping your upper body over the ball, this will help give the ball a higher trajectory when you make your shot. Also, when you swing down and through the shot you must take a lot of sand unless the sand is wet or if you need the ball to go further. The sand helps the ball get out of the bunker and also helps stop it on the green.
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Step 3
This takes a lot of practice and have patience with yourself. The next way to set up for the bunker shot is to take a regular fullswing stance and simply open the clubface. Then, follow the instructions for the rest of the instructions, after the setup, above. You will have to figure out which way works best for you. Spend a couple hours practicing these techniques to see which one gives you the best results. Lastly, for both type of greenside bunker shots, you will have to decide on how steep to bring the club up in the back swing and in the follow through. Usually, the steeper the swing plane the higher the ball will go out of the bunker. I like the first technique because once you get it down, you will find it easier to have more consistent greenside bunker shots. Visit my video page to see a video of this shot.
