Written by Steven Orr on Monday 7 December 2009
Do you suffer from… • Inconsistent strike from sand • Poor bunker distance control Why does this happen? Inconsistency from sand usually stems from a poor set-up position. If your clubface is too square at address it will dig down into the sand at impact, not using the bounce of the club. Incorrect positioning of your weight will create either a too steep or too...
Written by Dan Frost on Sunday 11 October 2009
Every golfer wants to get more spin with their wedges. Whether it’s from a tight lie in the fairway, fluffy rough or soft sand, spin is the one thing we love to brag about to our playing partners. But it’s one thing wanting spin and another creating it. So as a visual golf drill, try drawing some radial lines on your...
Written by Dan Frost on Saturday 10 October 2009
Are you fed up of hitting your bunker shots fat and leaving your ball in the bunker every time you find the greenside trap? Then this is the tip for you. Tape a champagne glass to the face of your sand wedge. This will help you visualise what the face of the club is doing during your golf swing. If you...
Written by Dan Frost on Saturday 10 October 2009
The 30-yard bunker shot is one of the hardest shots in golf. The key to achieving the distance, which is the hardest aspect of the shot, is in the angle of attack. This angle is dictated by the shoulders, so use this cane drill to get the visual feedback you need to set the shoulders up correctly. When you have a...
Written by Rory McIlroy on Tuesday 8 September 2009
Want to play fearless golf? Try perfecting this to impress your friends. With a tight pin and little green to work with, the high explosive bunker shot that stops within a foot of landing is just the job. I’ll be honest with you, this is not for the faint-hearted! A normal bunker shot and you’re looking to take the sand a...
Written by Nick Clemens on Tuesday 25 August 2009
How often do you find a fairway bunker with your tee shot and become automatically resigned to making a bogey or worse? Well with this video tip from TG Instructor Nick Clemens, you’ll give yourself far more chances at making par by being able to hit more greens from fairway bunkers. A lot of golfers fail to understand the subtle adjustments that...
Written by Paul Broadhurst on Friday 24 July 2009
Many of us love a good fried egg on a Sunday morning – but not if we’re on the golf course and certainly not if we find ourselves in the sand. A plugged lie in a bunker is many golfers’ worst nightmare. Playing out of a bunker isn’t easy for many amateurs at the best of times so anything that makes...
Written by Scott Cranfield on Friday 26 June 2009
Hitting the ball from a fairway bunker is a shot that fills many players with dread. If you mis-strike it you may not get the ball far enough out to give you a shot at the green or, worse still, you may leave the ball in the bunker. TG Top 12 Teaching Professional Scott Cranfield says your weight should favour the left side...
Written by Dan Frost on Friday 12 June 2009
There’s nothing worse than finding your ball right up against the edge of the bunker with nowhere for your feet inside. It looks like a horror shot but with a clever set-up you can still splash the shot out with success. All you need to do is exaggerate your knee flex to lower your body down towards the sand. Do so and...
Written by Adrian Fryer on Friday 12 June 2009
Time and time again golfers leave the ball in the bunker and it’s because of two fatal errors. Either they leave their weight on the back foot and don’t get sufficient moment to get the ball travelling forward out of the bunker, or the club decelerates into the sand and they totally quit on the shot. TG Top 12 Teacher Adrian Fryer...
Written by Adrian Fryer on Thursday 11 June 2009
Your success out of greenside bunkers is dependent on whether you get your set-up correct and commit to the stroke. TG Top 12 Teacher Adrian Fryer runs you through the set-up fundamentals you should use in a greenside bunker and demonstrates the committed stroke you need to make to lift the ball up and out onto the green. The quality of your set-up...
Written by Lee Scarbrow on Monday 18 May 2009
Sometimes when you arrive at the bunker you’re not greeted with the ball sat on a beautiful fluffy lie, but instead it’s resting on a hard base of compact sand. It’s easy to thin the ball over the green from this tricky lie, but with a couple of small adjustments to your set-up and technique it can be overcome. TG Top 12...
Written by Adrian Fryer on Thursday 14 May 2009
Few club golfers use the two features that are built into your sand wedge to help you effectively. That’s the bounce on the wedge and the built-in loft on the club. A simple way to ensure that both are put to full effect is to strengthen your grip a touch so that your left hand is stronger. TG Top 12 Teacher Adrian...
Written by Lee Scarbrow on Friday 8 May 2009
The 30-yard bunker shot is one of the toughest shots in golf. It’s mid-way between a fairway bunker and greenside bunker shot. That makes it tough to practice. To counter this place an upside down umbrella into the ground 30 yards away from your practice bunker. TG Top 12 Teacher Lee Scarbrow demonstrates the simple keys you need to follow to make...
Written by Adrian Fryer on Tuesday 14 April 2009
When you’re in a fairway bunker it is imperative that you use a club with plenty of loft to get the ball up and over the lip. The other keys to fairway bunker play are to build a set-up and use a swing that will ensure you catch the ball cleanly before clipping the sand.
Written by Dan Frost on Wednesday 18 March 2009
The most common fault we see in bunkers is golfers standing too tall at address. The first thing you need to change to improve your bunker play is to widen your stance and flex the knees. This gives you a chance to hit the sand first and not the ball. The second thing you to try is to draw a circle around the ball into a...
Written by Alexander Noren on Thursday 12 March 2009
Amateurs typically have trouble controlling distance from sand. In my view, this is often because they overcomplicate the issue by bringing in too many variables. In pro-ams I will watch them opening or closing their stance and clubface, or trying to take more or less sand. It’s not a recipe for consistency. My approach is minimise the differences between a long...
Written by Tiger Woods on Monday 19 January 2009
I’m always amazed at the confusion over the lower body’s role in greenside bunker play. Here’s a rule of thumb: quiet lower body on the backswing, active lower body on the throughswing. A lot of amateurs fail to consistently execute greenside bunker shots because they lock the lower body in place and get handsy or armsy with the swing. As...