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Newsletter - Issue 19 Date 05/11/07
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Golf Tip: Sand Shots
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If anyone has a golf question that they would like answered, 
please email your question to: teachingpro@bataviacc.com and 
I'll do my best to answer it in an upcoming newsletter.

Q: Pat S. had this question: " Perhaps you can simplify sand shots. 
Everything I pick up or read indicates some other technique. I used 
to do well with sand shots, but have lost the touch completely. 
Could you please give a simple summary? Some tips still work 
great, like having the ball forward in your stance when you need to 
get the ball up quickly to get over a deep-lipped bunker and back in 
your stance if you want more distance. But, when in a greenside 
bunker, do you use a full or abbreviated swing for best results. Should 
you always open the face of the club? And for fairway bunkers, should 
you stand up straight and "pick it clean"?

Any help would help, if you know what I mean.

(I participated in your putting lesson at the Buffalo golf show...putting 
is definitely getting better...thanks!)

Ed. Note: Pat is a sweetheart of a lady that I met at a clinic that I put 
on at the Buffalo-Niagara Golf show, glad to hear that your putting is 
getting better Pat!

A: Good questions Pat, and timely too!  I was in Florida for the 
past two weeks and had the occasion to play a couple of rounds 
at a great course in Naples - The Grandazza  with my golf teacher, 
Terry Downs, formerly of Oakfield NY.  My sand play wasn't up to 
par on the first day, so I got a quick refresher lesson from Terry 
and it straightened things out.  My problem was that I was playing 
the ball a bit to far forward in my stance and my swing wasn't 
bottoming out at the right spot.  As a side note, this is one of the 
benefits of having someone with a trained eye watch your swing. It 
felt right to me, but it was off just enough to make the result not quite 
good enough.

I'll get to the answer about the specific sand questions, but one of 
Pat’s comments really intrigued me because of the absolute truth of it. 

You have an interesting comment about  “Everything I pick up or read 
indicates some other technique.”  I know you are referring to sand 
shots, but I think that it’s very true for all golf swing theory in general, 
because there are a lot of different ways to get the club to make 
square, impactful contact with the back of the golf ball ( or a spot in 
the sand ).  What’s right or wrong can be as simple as personal 
preference, or perhaps a physical limitation. This means that they all 
probably have some merit, and what it means for you is that you need 
to filter through your reading, find the author who’s techniques seem 
to work best for you, and stick with that person.  You could also find a 
teacher that you feel comfortable with and stick to that teacher’s advice.  

The absolute worst thing to do is to drastically change everything as 
each issue of your favorite golf magazine comes out with new tips.  

Pick a mentor - a teacher or author - and stick with their advice.

I get lessons from my friend and golf mentor, Terry Downs, when I 
go to Florida.  I go to him for two reasons: he knows my swing, and 
also because we are both disciples of the Jim McLean eight step swing 
theory. That’s the swing I teach most often, but not always, because 
some students have physical issues that mandate another method to 
get the most out of their efforts.  

Thanks for that comment Pat, I'll bet it clears up some thoughts for 
a lot of our readers. 

On to your main questions:

1) “….when in a greenside bunker, do you use a full or abbreviated 
swing for best results.” 

2) “Should you always open the face of the club?” 

3) “And for fairway bunkers, should you stand up straight and 
"pick it clean?"

OK Pat, here are my answers, which might not jibe with something 
you've seen in Golf Illustrated, but I guarantee that what I say works.

1)“….when in a greenside bunker, do you use a full or abbreviated 
swing for best results.”

A: That totally depends on the texture of the sand, your lie, the size 
of the lip of the bunker, the location of the hole, and any danger that 
may lurk behind it.

ON ALL SAND SHOTS, GOAL NUMBER ONE IS TO GET THE 
BALL OUT OF THE SAND.  

Sometimes that might mean that you are not aiming at the flag, but 
that’s the breaks  maybe goal number one should be take enough 
club and don't hit it in the sand?  Anyway, that’s why I place a lot of 
emphasis on becoming the absolute best putter that you can be.

You would generally use a full swing from soft sand, with a good lie; 
your stance and clubface would be open for this shot, more so if either 
there was a high lip or the flag was relatively close to the bunker; ball 
placement should be forward in your stance, but not too much so.  
This is generally referred to as an explosion shot. Normally you would 
try to have your club enter the sand two or three inches behind the ball, 
but if you wanted the ball to stop rather quickly you'll have to hit closer 
to the ball, which takes a lot of practice.  

You might need to use the next technique if your lie is on a severe 
upslope to minimize the chances of a double hit on the shot, a la 
T C Chen who is remembered for losing the 1985 U.S. Open at 
Oakland Hills GC near Detroit because of his double-hit chip during 
the final round.  He was using the explosion shot -  the open stance 
open clubface technique -  for a deep rough shot.  I never heard his 
name again, you don't suppose that the Chinese government……
 
If you have a fried egg  partially buried - lie in soft sand, your stance 
and your clubface would be more square to the target, your club 
would still enter the sand a couple of inches behind the ball, but on 
this shot the technique I teach is like a power chip.  You enter the 
sand forcefully to help the sand push the ball out, but there is an 
abbreviated follow through and the wrists don't break.  The ball is 
played anywhere from the center of your stance to towards the rear, 
depending on how high you need to hit it. Expect the ball to run on 
this type of shot, so direct the shot carefully.

It the sand is extremely firm and your ball is laying flat on top of it, I 
think percentages favor a simple chip shot.  This is a shot that I 
personally use very frequently where I play because the sand is firm.  
I use a club with a small degree of bounce, an abbreviated follow 
through, and no wrist break, very similar to a simple chip shot.  It’s 
very important to maintain your spine angle through the shot, peeking 
too early spells death for this type of shot.

2) “Should you always open the face of the club?”

A) No…some examples are in the answers above.  If you need height, 
open the clubface and open your stance.  Remember that the first 
objective is to get out of the sand trap.  Also keep in mind that opening 
the clubface increases the bounce on the club, so if the sand is firm 
and your swing tendency is flat vs. vertical, it increases your chances of 
skipping the blade edge of the club into the back of the ball and skulling 
it to who knows where (usually not a good place).  When you open 
the clubface of a wedge, you increase the bounce effect by the same 
amount as you  increase of the loft of the face.

For a frame of reference, a common recommendation for bounce on 
a sand wedge is 14 degrees, pitching wedges normally have 7 or 8 
degrees of bounce, lob wedges run from 6 to 8 degrees of bounce.  
You have bounce options when you buy wedges, so choose according 
to your swing tendency.  If you tend to be a picker, like me, favor clubs 
with a low degree of bounce.  If you are a digger, favor clubs with a 
high degree of bounce.

3) “And for fairway bunkers, should you stand up straight and "pick 
it clean?"

A) That depends on the lie  remember that the first rule is to get the 
ball out.  If you have a great lie, try to hit a regular shot for the distance 
involved, but take one more club.  You will normally dig your feet into 
the sand to get a firm foothold, which also means that you have to 
choke down on your club the same distance that you dug your feet in 
so that your swing bottoms out where you expect it to.  If your lie is not 
favorable, just get it out as best you can and keep on truckin.

One last thought on sand shots - there’s no absolute rule that you have
to use a sand wedge.  I use everything from a lob wedge to a putter 
and everything in between. I've got myself brainwashed into thinking 
that I'm a really good putter, so I don't panic if I can't direct my sand 
shot directly at the hole for whatever reason.  If the sand is very hard 
and the lip isn't too bad, I'll putt it out in a heartbeat, because my overall 
swing tends to be more flat than steep.  Utility clubs work for the shot 
too; don't be afraid to be creative, and don't forget to practice from 
different conditions if possible.

Hope this helps,

Enjoy, Tom