The greenside bunker shot step by step: open face, sand behind the ball, full acceleration. With rules (Rule 12.2), a line drill and mental training.
In the greenside bunker shot you do not hit the ball but the sand behind the ball. The club glides under the ball with an open face, and the sand carries the ball out on a cushion. The secret: you swing fully through and trust the sand.
Why do beginners fail? Because they want to hit the ball directly. Then it either flies too far or stays in the sand because the club digs in too steeply. A bunker shot works differently from everything you practiced before: the club must enter the sand for the ball to come out. In an iron shot you want the ground only after the ball. Here you touch the sand deliberately before it. That is the plan.
The teaching knowledge comes from practice, not from studies, so all technique details here are marked as practice. What is documented is how you learn: a study with 32 players at county to international level had them practice bunker shots for six weeks. All improved, but the group that combined practice with an exact mental image of the shot improved most [3].
In the bunker you do not hit the ball. You move the sand, and the ball rides along.
Open the clubface to the right first and only then take your grip. That way it stays open even when the grip changes. An open face lets the club glide over the sand instead of digging in (practice).
Stand slightly open to the target, work your feet one to two centimeters into the sand and keep your weight rather forward (practice: about 60 percent forward). The ball sits farther forward in the stance. Digging in the feet is expressly allowed [1].
Choose a spot about five centimeters behind the ball (practice). Your club should enter the sand exactly there and glide under the ball. In a practice bunker you may draw a line in the sand to help. On the course this is not allowed (see next step).
Before the stroke you may not touch the sand with the club directly in front of or behind the ball, nor in a practice swing or in the backswing. Touching in other ways, such as digging in the feet, is allowed [1]. The penalty is two strokes in stroke play. So make practice swings next to the bunker or outside the sand.
The swing is medium to long, but with even acceleration. Braking in the sand is the most common beginner mistake. Swing to a high finish. "Pushing" or "scooping" would not be a fair stroke, but a clean sand shot is a normal stroke with the clubhead [2].
Milestone: of 10 bunker shots, at least 7 reach the green (practice target).
Also note the sand condition (practice): in wet, firm sand the club glides through more easily, in deep, loose sand you need a bit more swing. So do not test the sand with a practice stroke, just watch how your foot sinks in.
High bunker faces and rakes are underestimated risks: enter the bunker at its lowest point and leave rakes the way the course requires. Bunker shots load wrist, elbow and shoulder because the club has to move through the sand. A review of golf injuries names overuse and swing mechanics as the main causes [4]. Take breaks, warm up and stop at pain. Rake your marks smooth. This guide does not replace supervised training.
Learn bunker shots with a clear mental image: before you hit, imagine the shot, the sand spraying away and the ball flying out, with the feeling in your body, not only as a movie. In the study, combined practice and imagery improved performance most [3]. In the study this ran for six weeks with one physical and one mental session per week.
Open the clubface, stand slightly open, dig in your feet and enter the sand about five centimeters behind the ball. Swing fully through to a high finish.
Not with the club directly in front of or behind the ball, in a practice swing or in the backswing. Digging in the feet is allowed, among other things [1]. A breach carries two penalty strokes in stroke play.
Usually a sand wedge. What matters is the bounce, the curve on the sole that lets the club glide through the sand (practice). The exact model matters less than technique.
Usually the club braked, or the face was not open enough and dug in too deeply. Swing fully through to a high finish, open the face before gripping and choose a sand spot just behind the ball.
With a line on a lawn or a towel that you hit behind the ball. Mental training also helps: one study found the largest improvement from the combination of practice and mental imagery [3].
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