Golf. 5 Top Bunker Shot Tips To Help Lower Your Handicap In 2009

Article by Roger Carter

Greenside Bunker Shots – Bunker Shot Tips

Top Tip No.1

Good Lie in Bunker – Bunker Shot

Open your stance a little by keeping your left foot back ( right handers) and also open the clubface slightly. Swing the club parallel with your feet with an out to in action causing a steeper swing which makes the ball rise quicker and also produces backspin which means the ball will stop quickly on the green. Aim slightly left of target as the ball should tend to fly to the right.

Top Tip No.2

Plugged Lie in Bunker – Bunker Shot Tips

Instead of opening the face of the club you should keep the club face square.This shot should be approached with reasonable speed following through keeping the clubface square and therefore digging into the sand behind the ball with the sand and the ball coming out of the bunker together. The very action required to come out of the bunker from a plugged lie means that there will not be any backspin and the ball will roll on some distance.

Top Tip No.3

Downhill Lie In Bunker – Bunker Shot Tips

If the ball finishes on a downhill lie in the bunker open the clubface and adopt an open stance with the weight on your left foot. The shot should be played near to your left foot trying to follow the slope of the bunker. At impact the weight should be focused on your left foot allowing the ball to be sliced out of the bunker providing you complete a full follow through.

Top Tip No. 4

Uphill Lie In Bunker – Bunker Shot Tips

For this type of shot you do not need to adopt an open stance or open up the face of the golf club. Instead follow the uphill slope of the bunker and position your body parallel to the slope and swing solidly also parallel to the slope.The golf ball should come out of the bunker with a higher trajectory and therefore not run on too far

Top Tip No.5

Stating The Obvious! – Bunker Shot Tips

Whether you are playing out of a greenside bunker from a good lie, a plugged lie, on a downslope or on an upslope or however you are placed in the sand one of THE most important tips is to keep your head still, eye on the sand 1 or 2 inches behind the ball, until the shot is executed.You could otherwise have an excellent technique but it will probably go wrong if you come up to look for your golf ball too quickly.This may sound like stating the obvious but it is a very common error made by many mid to high handicap golfers and is often brought about because the player is anxious and nervous about playing bunker shots.Have you ever said

The Golf Swing Slice

Article by Garry Booton

The slice is often a very common problem among golf players and once you have an understanding of what creates the slice you are in a better position to remedy your golf swing slice.

The slice is caused by the face of the club looking to the right of the course the club is moving through at the time of impact with the ball. This leads to clockwise spin on your ball making it curve towards the right. Typically the club will also be travelling towards the left significantly increasing the angle on the glancing contact even more.

To begin with we need to distinguish between a slice and a hook shot. If you happen to be right handed and the ball is going to the right when you hit it that’s known as a slice. If the ball is moving too far to the left then this is a hook. One of the causes of your slice is that you may have been trying to hit the ball far too hard and you had no feel for what the club face was really doing.

So what can you do to cure the slice shot?

You will need to have a feel for squaring the club and there is an easy exercise you can apply to achieve this. You need to use a 5 or 6 iron and hit the ball softly so that it travels no more than 30 yards. You need to make sure that you square the face on the shot so the ball goes straight. When you can achieve this you need to use the same club and hit the ball so it is travelling about 100 yards. Remember to be sure that the club face squares up with every shot and that the ball is moving straight.

Keep carrying out the same exercise in time moving up to your driver. Do exactly the same procedure as before by hitting the ball no more than 50 yards in a straight line. It will pay off if every now and then you move through your downward swing in slow motion and slow it right down so that you stop right behind your ball, feeling and seeing the position of the club face at that stage.

By taking some time to generate a feel of squaring your club your body will adapt for the swing you are working on, and soon it’s going to become second nature for you to present the club face correctely to the ball consequently preventing a golf swing slice.

About the Author

I also developed a slice shot in my game and put up with for months before finding a simple way to eliminate it.http://thegolfswingslice.com