Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Bunkers can be scorecard killers for recreational golfers. While pros and high-level players make escaping the sand look easy, for weekend hacks it’s anything but.
For lots of high-handicappers, just getting out of the sand is cause for celebration. But if you really want to become a stick, you’ve got to learn not only how to escape, but to give yourself a reasonable chance at making your ensuing putt, too.
The problem recreational golfers face with bunker shots is either typically a lack of understanding of the proper technique. Sure, many of them are familiar with the basic tenets (open clubface, hit behind the ball, etc.) but in practice they still are making critical errors.
Heck, I struggle with this, too. While I do know how to hit a proper bunker shot, sometimes I still struggle to execute correctly.
Luckily, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Joe Plecker showed me a trick that makes hitting bunker shots a breeze. Check it out below.
This hack fixed my bunker game
In the past, when I lined up to hit a bunker shot, I gripped the club like I normally would. However, this turned out to be a huge mistake.
With a neutral (or even strong) grip, I was making it far too easy to close the clubface as I approached impact.
“That is the worst thing you can do in a bunker release is close the clubface,” Plecker says.
To combat against this, Plecker suggested weakening my lead-hand grip by rotating it more toward the target. With my hand pre-rotated in this direction, it made it harder to shut the clubface — and dig the leading edge — in the sand.
“If you were really struggling with your bunker shots and were closing the club too much,” Plecker says. “The easiest thing you can do is move that [lead] hand across the club, get it a little more in that weak position and make sure you can’t close the clubface.”
If you do that, you’ll find that popping your ball out of the bunker becomes a breeze.
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