Monthly Archives: March 2020

Bunker Technique

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The majority of the bunker technique that is described in books, on tv, or the internet use concepts that is foreign to most golfers.  The various phrases are “hit a dollar bill out of the bunker,” slide the club under the ball,” “knocking the sand from under the ball,” etc.  These analogies are the what accomplished bunker players “feel” when they execute a good bunker shot.  But this does not tell the average golfer how to create those feelings.  This blog article describes how to create those feelings using the upper body, the arms, and the hands.

The basic bunker shot is all about using the correct technique.  It must be noted that the basic bunker technique has nothing in common with the efficient full swing technique because the objective is to move the sand and not about ball contact.  The full swing’s objective is to swing the club down from the top of the back swing and up to the finish using the chain sequence of the lower body, upper body, arm and hand.  The bunker technique’s objective is to focus on swinging the club to move the sand using the left shoulder, right arm, and the wrists.

The bunker swing needs to be forceful in order to use the speed of the club head to make the sand control the ball.  The focus is to splash by controlling the speed of the club head.  The sand comes out first, followed by the ball.

Learn by Standing on One Foot

Lee Trevino said Gary Player taught him the bunker technique by practicing by standing on one leg.  The video below shows Lee doing the swing on one leg.  When I did this drill, I was able to consistently get the ball out of the bunker.  This showed me that the bunker technique was based on using the action of the body, the hands, and the arms.

This demonstrates how the bunker technique is very different from the full swing motion.  This body, hand, and arms action in the bunker shot is different than the action in the full swing.  This drill also shows the power that can be created by using coil of the body and the snap of the hands and arms.

Grip

Position the left hand in a normal grip.  Open the club face by rotating the left forearm clockwise so the first two knuckles of the left hand are visible.  The right hand is a little weaker so that the right thumb is just to the left of the top of the grip.  Splashing the sand requires using the bounce of the club.  This grip allows the club to maintain the angle of the bounce into the sand.  The grip pressure should be fairly light to allow the stretch in the forearms and hands in the back swing and the down swing.

Setup

Aim the body a little left of the target and position the ball one-inch left of center.  Take a wider stance with the toe of the left foot open to the left to create a slightly open stance, dig the feet into sand, and squat down to align the hands just above the knees.  Keep the weight on the left foot and position bottom inside corner of the right rib cage even with the ball.  Feel the knuckles of the left hand move forward of the left wrist.  This puts a slight bend in the left wrist to position the hands behind the ball.  Hover the club above a point in the sand that is one-inch behind the ball.

Back Swing

To initiate the back swing, feel the right side stretch up, feel the left side stretch down, feel the right ulna bone stretch up, and feel the outside of the heel of the right hand stretch down.  The grip pressure is light to allow the wrists to cock up and to feel of the stretch in the hands and arms to swing the club up steeply.

Down Swing

The focus in the down swing is to be quick and forceful in order to quickly snap the heel of the club under the surface of the sand and past the holding left hand in the down swing.  As the back swing reaches the desired length, feel the bottom of the palm pad of the left index finger stretch down to the left, feel the top outside corner of the palm pad stretch up, and feel the right ulna bone “bounce” up to slide the heel of the club down under the surface of the sand. The sequence of right hand and the left hand causes the body to turn toward the target as the heel of the club enters the sand.

The snap down of the outside of the heel of the right hand causes club head to snap past the hands, with the palm of the right hand facing up, and finish with a vertical club shaft on the left side.  The light grip pressure of the hands and fingers allows the wrists to efficiently create the club head speed.  Feel the strength of the snap down of the outside of the heel of the right palm determine the speed of the club on the down swing to control the distance of the shot.

Learn how varying the ball position, the loft of the club, the speed of the left side and the right hand, and the plane of the back swing affects the distance, trajectory, and spin of the shot.

The basic bunker shot requires practice in order to learn the unique bunker technique.  This technique gets the ball out of the bunker, but there are a variety of other techniques that need to be learned in order to become an accomplished bunker player.  There are many books and YouTube videos that discuss the various techniques of the bunker game.  Learn the basic bunker shot and move on from there.

These three videos of Pete Cowen teaching his bunker technique is the basis of my bunker technique.  I found that once I could do the basic bunker shot, I was able to execute the soft bunker shot and the high bunker shot quite easily.

Pete Cowen Bunker Tips – Setup

Pete Cowen Bunker Tips – Basic Shots

This video of Stan Utley showing the basic bunker shot:

Pete Cowen Bunker Tips – Various Situations

This video of Lee Trevino discussing the various situations is very helpful:

 

 

One Plus One Equals Three

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The mind is always trying to be logical.  As adults, we have been trained to think logically.   Golf is an illogical game.  Good golfers embrace the illogical nature of golf.  My golf blog, “The Mental Game,” describes the illogical concepts of golf.  The most illogical concept in golf is that you are not trying to hit the ball.  Learning the golf swing is like learning how to dance.  Like dancing, golf is a series of motions that must be done in a rhythmic and precise manner.   Once the steps are learned, it is the ball that indicates whether or not the motion was performed in a rhythmic and precise manner.  If the ball does not travel straight and long, it means the motion or “steps” were not done in a rhythmic and precise manner.  Either the rhythm was too quick or one of the steps was not executed precisely.  That sounds illogical!

If I proposed the illogical concept that 1 + 1 = 3, most golfers will not accept this concept.  That is not logical.  But in order to play consistent golf, the mind must be able accept the illogical concept that 1 + 1 does equal 3.  That means that the mind must accept that the motion is the focus, not the ball.  This means that the golf swing will never be “natural” because what is natural is trying to hit the ball or help the ball into the air.  So, the main practice in golf is to train the mind to always focus on the motion that is happening on the right side of the body, not the golf ball that is in front of the body.  Easy to say, but hard to do.  1 + 1 = 3.

If you watch the swings of the greatest ball strikers, golfers like Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, Moe Norman, and Count Yogi, you will see them doing the SAME pre-shot routine and swing, exactly the same, every time!  A swing cannot be executed the same way every time unless the focus is on doing the same thing during the swing every time and the focus is NOT on hitting the ball!  They have accepted the illogical concept that they must focus on doing the same thing EVERY TIME.  Each of them may focus on their own peculiar things during the swing, but they make sure they do them.  The result of this illogical thinking is a very consistent golf swing.

My blog posts, “Feel an Efficient Swing,” “How to Use the Fingers.” “How to Feel Rhythm,” and “Patience In the Golf Swing” describes concepts that sound very illogical but must be done in order to develop a consistent golf swing.