You drove it into a fairway bunker. No problem. You can still reach the green with a few simple tweaks to your setup and swing.
First, the setup: Take a slightly narrower stance, position the ball just for – ward of center and set 60 percent of your weight over your front foot. Each of these adjustments make it easy to create ball-first contact. (You don’t want to take sand like you do in a greenside bunker.)
As far as your swing goes, the key move is to remain centered, keeping your nose over the ball throughout your motion. If you sway, you’ll catch it fat, because the sand is too soft to push off of to get back on top of the ball. I ask my students to swing to the top, then dangle their hybrid from their nose. It should point to the spot just behind the ball. That proves that you’re centered.
Finish it off with a full upper body turn as you swing through, getting your chest to point at the target. Congrats! You’re on.
Kevin Sprecher is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and is the director of instruction at Sleepy Hollow CC in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y
