There are few things more demoralizing than having visions of executing a tidy up-and-down from a greenside bunker and then thinning it over the green. Or worse — hitting the lip and ending up right back where you started.
It’s a mistake GOLFTEC coach Brad Thorberg sees often. But there’s good news: it’s easily fixable!
The cause
According to Thorberg, players often take the club too far back on these greenside shots, which results in a deceleration at impact. The result? Catching it fat or thin.
How to fix it
You want to accelerate through the ball, Thorberg says. So the best thing a player can do is to take a swing to waist high on the way back and try finishing at shoulder height. That will help ensure that you’re accelerating through impact.
“Think of your wedge like a matchstick,” Thorberg says. “And you’re trying to light the match right under the ball.”
When the drill is executed properly, voila! The ball pops out like magic.