This common mistake kills your bunker game. Here’s how to fix it

Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series where the game’s brightest minds share their tips to help you, well, shave strokes! Today, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mark Durland explains a common swing mistake from the bunker — and how you can fix it.

Bunker shots are a huge struggle for lots of recreational golfers. While the pros make the shots look easy, weekend warriors make them seem borderline impossible.

Part of this struggle happens because of a lack of practice. At other times, it’s because casual golfers have a fundamental misunderstanding of the technique needed to hit a proper bunker shot. Today, we’re going to cover a little bit of both.

In the text and video below, Top 100 Teacher Mark Durland explains a common mistake he sees that kills the recreational player’s ability to escape the sand — along with a few tips on how to practice the right technique.

The common bunker flaw

What are you doing that’s killing your bunker game?  You’re hitting way too far behind the golf ball! 

The reason it’s so hard to identify this mistake is that it results in two completely different misses. One miss is simple to detect and occurs when the ball lands two or three feet in front of you. This clearly happens because you take too much sand. 

The opposite miss is when you send the golf ball into the trees or the water on the other side of the green. This often is the result of the same swing fault — but golfers fail to diagnose it properly because the result is so different. They convince themselves it must come from a completely different swing error. 

The reality is you’re still hitting way too far behind the golf ball, but instead of digging, the clubhead is bouncing into the golf ball. Below, I’ve got three great ways you can practice correcting this fault.

1. Use a line

A great way to improve your bunker play is by drawing a six-inch line to the outside of the golf ball. This will help you identify your clubhead’s entry point into the sand after your shot. You’ll quickly discover you hit way farther behind the ball than you think! 

The other benefit to using the line is you’ll hit a proper bunker shot and discover the correct distance behind the ball you should be hitting, whether it’s two, three, or even four inches behind the ball. Once you understand how far behind the golf ball you should hit for a successful bunker shot, simply draw a six-to-eight-foot line in the bunker and get really efficient at hitting the proper amount behind the line. 

It’s a penalty to touch the sand in a bunker on the golf course, but it’s not a penalty in a practice area, so swing away! Learn how and what it feels like to interact with the sand properly and take that knowledge out on the course.

2. Splash some sand

Creating a proper weight transfer is another way to stop hitting too far behind the golf ball in the bunker. A lot of golfers stay on their trail foot in the bunker, or they create a reverse weight shift to scoop the golf ball into the air. 

A great way to stay aggressive and transfer your weight in the bunker is splashing some sand onto the green. This helps you finish with your trail toe in the ground and your belt buckle facing toward the target. A lot of golfers make a wonderful backswing and then hit the sand and stop. The reason they do this is that they’ve seen the ball go way too far. 

To become a great bunker player, you must make a lengthy swing. So, stay aggressive!

3. Erase the dot

Another way you can stop hitting too far behind the golf ball in the bunker is by drawing a small dot in the sand just in front of your ball with the butt end of your club. Of course, you’ll only do this in a practice bunker and not on the golf course. This helps to draw your focus in front of the golf ball to prevent hitting too far behind it.

Conventional bunker wisdom is to focus on a grain of sand behind the golf ball, but unfortunately this leads to some golfers hitting way too far behind it. So next time you’re in the practice bunker, put a dot in front of the golf ball and focus on erasing it on your follow through. This will help you hit closer to the golf ball for some sizzling bunker shots.