Start with a wide base. Think of a driver-width stance and then add six inches. You also will want your stance relatively square to your target line. Position your hands low by flexing your knees more than you would on a normal shot. This allows your wrists to act as a hinge, which enables you to set the club head early in the back swing. Tilt your spine to the left (opposite from a normal shot), creating the feeling that your right shoulder is higher than your left shoulder. At this point, about 70 percent of your weight should be on your left side. Finally, set the clubface slightly open and lean the shaft away from the ball. This will add loft to the shot and increase the bounce on the sole of the club, contributing to good bunker play.

The key to a good bunker shot is to keep your arm swing narrow and create speed with the club head. To do this, make sure your arms stay soft as you hinge the club head upward with your wrists. You will want your arms to stay inside, close to your body, and keep the club head up and out as you set the club in the backswing. Also a very important piece of the backswing is the hip pivot. You must maintain your leftward tilt so that your weight remains on the left side as you pivot. (This will seem like a reverse pivot.) You will create club speed by allowing the club head to pass the grip before impact. Again, this is quite different from most normal swings. At impact, the palm of your right hand should be facing the sky, and the flange of the club should skip in the sand, causing the same effect as skipping a rock across a lake. The third picture demonstrates this position at impact.

3. THOUGHT TO REMEMBER

Since the objective is to create speed with the club head, it’s important that the grip end of the club stop soon after impact. This is similar to snapping a whip. To accomplish this you will “un-hinge” your wrist and elbows on the way down. You do not want to pull the grip end of the club toward the target. This is very important, because the most common mistake that contributes to a poor bunker shot is generating club speed on the grip end. It’s likely you have made this mistake if you finish the swing with your hands higher than your left shoulder. So remember, the key is to generate speed with the club head!

Golfers at all levels commonly ask themselves, “How can I stop the bleeding when the wheels come off during a round?” According to renowned sports psychologist David Cook, you have to stop defining the situation as such. “Golf is a game of one shot at a time,” Cook says. “Once a shot is over, it is over. Everything else is baggage. One of the greatest mistakes a player can make is to carry the emotion of a previous shot into the next shot. Once we do that, we have induced ‘the bleeding.’ Hit it, find it and focus on the next shot.”