Tee Drill
This drill will encourage you to
allow the flange of the sand wedge to take a shallow cut of sand from
under the ball, sending the ball out of the bunker onto the green. Place
a ball on a tee in the sand. Push the tee into the sand so the ball is
level with the sand. When you swing, let the sand wedge clip the tee out
of the sand. The tee should fly out of the bunker toward the hole.
Sand Pile Drill
To sense how much acceleration is
required to execute a bunker shot, place a pile of sand just outside the
practice bunker with a ball on top. Select a distance of about 30 yards.
First make a pitch shot from the grass at that distance. Then execute
your shot from the pile of sand with the ball on top. Notice the degree
of acceleration and length of swing needed from the sand compared to the
grass.
Varying the Club Drill
A challenging and advanced drill is
to hit bunker shots with different clubs: pitching wedge, 9, 7 and 5.
Lay the clubface wide open and position the ball forward in your stance.
Find out what kind of swing you must execute to hit the ball out of the
sand. After this practice, a basic bunker shot is really easy!
Splash Drill
This is an acceleration drill to
allow you to swing through the sand with enough pace to send the sand
out of the bunker, which in turn sends the ball out. This drill uses the
practice and experience you have gained from doing the first three
drills. Draw an oval in the sand about the size of a dollar bill. Place
a tee in the center of the oval. Your goal is to begin to feel the
amount of acceleration necessary to land the ball specific distances.
- Splash sand from the bunker that lands
on the first third of the green.
- Splash sand from the bunker that lands
on the second third of the green.
- Splash sand from the bunker that lands
on the back of the green.
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