Learn to hit the line to be a better bunker player - Technical Thursday #86.
Learn to hit the line to be a better bunker player - Technical Thursday #86.
Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC. We conduct 1, 2, and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993. We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.
Golf Blog by the Mel Sole Golf School.
To be a better golfer takes practice. And because the golf game has so many facets, it takes a lot of self-discipline to be good but consistent. Practice and consistency go hand in glove. Today we talk about a drill I have taught for many years in the golf school. Learning to hit a line about 2" inside your lead heel to be a better bunker player.
The Method.
Go to a practice bunker and draw a line in the sand at 90 degrees to your target. Place your lead foot in a position about 2 inches in front of the line. You do not need a ball for this drill. In fact, it is better to do this without a ball for the first few times. This is what I call incremental learning. Learning in a step-by-step fashion with no pressure to perform.
There are two keys to improving your bunker technique.
- Grip Pressure. Hold the club very lightly in your hands. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say I am a 2 or 3.
- Use the weight of the clubhead. Go to a 9 - o - clock position on the backswing and then let the club drop onto the line. Don't try and increase the speed just yet. Feel the weight of the clubhead drop consistently on the line, as demonstrated in the video. Once this is accomplished, you can start swinging through to about the 3 - o - clock position on the follow-through.
By using this method, you are removing the pressure to hit the ball. Once you can swing and consistently hit the line with about 8 to 10 swings, you can then introduce the ball and start aiming at a target. Use the length of your backswing to control the distance. I usually swing twice as hard as a pitch shot of the same distance. So, if you have a 30-yard bunker shot, you would swing as hard as a 60-yard pitch shot. The sand texture will influence this to a certain degree, but this is a pretty good rule of thumb for judging how hard to swing.
https://youtu.be/bkBjXqVFDaM
Source: Mel Sole Golf School.
Thanks for watching - Learn hit the line to be a better bunker player - Technical Thursday #86.
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Another way to line up correctly.
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