Tip-of-the-Month June ’10: How to Play Bad Lies in Sand Traps
TIP-OF-THE-MONTH JUNE ’10: HOW TO PLAY BAD LIES IN SAND TRAPS
Watching your ball sail into a sand trap can be very disappointing. Arriving to that sand trap only to find your ball in a bad lie can not only be disappointing, but also very intimidating. Now how are you going to get the ball out? Just getting out of a sand trap is a challenge in itself for many, but getting out with a bad lie can be almost impossible.
Unfortunately for all of us, sometimes when you hit your ball into a sand trap you’ll find your ball plugged/buried, fried-egged, in a rake track, or even worse, a footprint (how dare they not rake the bunker after exiting it, right?). If your ball does end up in one of these predicaments you have to play it from there. I’m going to teach you how to play a shot from these lies so you can get your ball out of the sand trap successfully to continue your round without ruining it.
First, I’d like to emphasize the importance of coming down steeply into the sand for this shot. In order to get your ball out of the sand trap with a bad lie, you must enter the sand at a very steep angle. Thinking about entering the sand at a 60 degree angle will help you for this shot. This may sound easy, but it’s not. If you think you’re coming down at 60 degrees, try doubling it. Why is it important to come down steeper you may ask? With the ball sitting down lower than the surface you must get under the ball to get it out. If you enter the sand at your normal angle of attack, the wedge will bounce off the sand into the equator or top of the ball which will drive the ball into the lip of the bunker most of the time, if your lucky (you’d be unlucky if it missed the lip and flew about 50 yards over the green). Thinking about digging for this shot would be better than thinking about bouncing or sliding the club off the sand.
How to execute this shot
- Place approximately 70% of your weight on your lead leg – this will help you come down more abruptly into the sand.
- Close/hood the clubface* – this will help the club dig under the ball.
- Hinge the club up as quickly as possible with your wrists – try hinging the club up keeping your hands inside your back foot. Try creating a 90 degree angle as soon as you can with your lead arm and the club shaft.
- Swing the club down trying to pop the sand right behind the ball – normally you’ll hit the sand about 2-3 inches behind the ball in the sand. For this shot, you’d like to enter the sand much closer to the ball.
- Rebound the club back after hitting the sand – I actually want you to rebound the club away from the target for this shot after it enters the sand. If you can do this, it means you entered the sand at the proper angle. Most likely, you’ll struggle with this at first because you’re coming down too shallow, but eventually you’ll get it and it will dramatically improve your results for this shot. Some prefer to leave the club in the sand for this shot, which is fine too. I prefer rebounding the club to ensure I came down steep enough.
- Allow for roll – because the ball is sitting down lower it will exit the sand lower and roll more than a typical sand shot.
Hitting shots out these bad lies in sand traps can be challenging for sure. The key is to not try to help the ball out. If you do, you’ll come into the sand too shallow and leave the ball in the trap. You must trust that the club will do the work for you when you enter the sand on a steep angle. Try your hardest to not allow the club to pass the spot where the ball was. If your club passes that spot then you came into the ball too shallow.
Another note I’d like to make is most of the time you will need to swing with more effort for these shots compared to normal lies in the sand traps. Since the ball is sitting lower, you will be moving more sand so more effort is typically needed.
Good luck and thanks for reading!
*For more advanced players you can open your clubface for this shot to get the ball to come out a little softer. If you try this, you want to try to hit the sand right behind the ball with the hosel of the club. Sounds funny, I know, but it works. I hit these shots this way, but I have also practiced them quite a bit.
Fundamentals Of A Bunker Shot
FUNDAMENTALS OF A GREEN-SIDE BUNKER SHOT
Definition: A shot hit out of the sand near the green. Typically, this shot is hit with a Sand or Lob Wedge.
Goal: The goal is to hit the sand about 2 inches behind the ball allowing the sand to carry the ball out of the bunker. The Sand Wedge is designed to strike the sand first with the trailing edge of the club in order to help the club bounce off the sand instead of digging into the sand.
Setup:
- Open the clubface of the club, then take your normal grip (if done correctly, the lines/grooves on the clubface will point to your toes of your left foot, give or take a bit)
- Place ball off the inside of your left heel
- Take a wide stance to stabilize your base
- Aim slightly left of your target to offset the open clubface
- Weight should favor target-side foot
- Keep hands behind the ball to allow the trailing edge to hit the sand first
Execution:
- Take a swing that is about the same as your normal swing (you do not need to cut across the ball)
- Strike the sand about 2 inches behind the ball
- Resist the urge to help the ball in the air (the sand wedge will do the work for you)
- Feel like you’re slapping the sand with the sand wedge instead of hitting or digging (you’re looking for the club to slide through the sand making a 4-6 inch divot)
- The longer and faster you swing the farther the ball will come out
- Accelerate all the way through to the finish
The three most common errors I see in the bunker are:
- Square clubface at address – Squaring the clubface at address makes the sand wedge dig into the sand.
- Deceleration/not swinging hard enough – Decelerating or not swinging hard enough makes it very difficult to get the ball out of the bunker and/or all the way to the pin. With the added loft from the open clubface and the resistance of the sand, it takes quite a bit of effort to get the ball out of the sand all the way to the pin. Go ahead and swing aggressively at it.
- Cutting across the ball too much – Cutting across the ball too much puts a lot of side-spin on the ball and it can cause the dreaded shank because the hosel of the club is leading the way too much. This is why I recommend swinging normal and aggressively out of the sand.
Drill: This drill will help you get out of the sand every time and up-and-down more often. Here’s what to do: draw a line in the sand about 10 feet long. Take your stance in the sand with the line placed at your left heel. Practice swinging at the line in the sand trying to hit the sand about 2 inches behind the line every time. This drill is pretty cut-and-dry. At first, you may miss the line by a lot, but be patient with it. Practice this drill as much as you can to get consistent with it. The more consistent you are with this drill, the better you will be in the sand.
Also, it is against the rules of golf to test the sand before you hit your shot. This means you’re not allowed to ground the club in the sand or take practice swings striking the sand.
$ Bill Drill: Get Out Of The Sand Everytime
$ BILL DRILL – GREENSIDE SAND SHOTS
Getting the ball out of a sand trap and on the green is a challenge for many players. One of the ways to improve your bunker play is to understand the shot better. When you hit a proper sand shot, your sand wedge actually does not make contact with the golf ball. It enters the sand behind the golf ball, about 2-3 inches, and the sand actually carries the ball to the green.
A great visual and practice drill to help you with this is to practice hitting sand shots using a dollar bill. Here’s how: First, bring lots of money! Just kidding. Start by setting the dollar bill in the sand pointing to the target. Next, place the ball right in the middle of the dollar bill. Then, take your setup with the dollar bill forward in your stance. Finally, try to blast the dollar bill all the way to the green. Imagine the dollar bill is carrying the ball to the green like it’s on a small pillow. Believe it or not, a dollar bill is very similar to the size of the divots you’ll be taking out of the sand when you hit a sand shot.
After doing this drill, you’ll have a better understanding of the dynamics of a sand shot and how much effort is needed to get the ball out of the trap all the way to the green. By the way, I have yet to see a dollar bill tear from this drill. Good luck!
About
KYLE VOSKA, PGA PROFESSIONAL
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated from St. Michael’s, St. Xavier, and Miami University. After graduating from Miami with a Finance degree, I moved to Florida to pursue my professional golf dreams. After a few successful years and a couple of difficult years, I stopped playing full-time. After a year of caddying on the LPGA Tour for Young Jo, Kim Williams, and Angela Stanford, I moved back home to Cincinnati. Currently, I live near Sharonville with my lovely wife, Lindsay, our kids, Maclin and Ellie, and our dog, Nora.
Teaching golf for over a year in Florida and having taken and watched many lessons from PGA Certified Master Teaching Professional Carl Rabito, becoming a golf instructor was something I really wanted to do. Fortunately, I was able to find a home at Sharon Woods Golf Course in Cincinnati, my old home from the 90′s, to further this new career path. As I enter my 6th season as a golf professional, I’m excited how my role is taking shape. I assist in managing and supervising a staff of nearly 40 while teaching golf lessons to over a 100 students. Hopefully, someday I’ll have the opportunity to mentor some future golf professionals like myself.
Email: kvoska@hotmail.com
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- PGA Member – June, 2009
- 2008 PGA National Assistants Champion
- 43 Professional Tournament Victories
- 2010 Southern Ohio PGA Section Player-of-the-Year
- 2010 Southern Ohio PGA Southwest Chapter Player-of-the-Year
- 2009 Cincinnati Chapter Match Play Champion
- 2009 Southern Ohio PGA Assistant’s Champion
- 2001 and 2010 Southern Ohio PGA Open Champion
- 2000 PGA Buick Open Contestant
- 1998 Miami Athlete-of-the-Year
- 2-Time NCAA Division I All-American
- Mid-American Conference Sportsman and Player-of-the Year (1998)
- 2-Time Cincinnati Met Amateur Champion (1997, 1998)
- Cincinnati Met Amateur Medalist and Runner-Up (1996)
- NCAA low scoring average on Par 3′s (2.91) in 1998
- Low competitive round – 62 (3 times): Four Bridges CC (’01), Oasis CC (’09), and Juniper Hills GC (’02)
- Low non-competitive round – 61: Browns Run CC – White tees
- Won a 54-hole Developmental Players Tour event by 9 shots shooting 19 under par with no bogies (64,64,69)
- 4 career Holes-in-One and 3 career double eagles
MY PGA MENTORS:
Tom Bach – Head Professional at Sharon Woods Golf Course
George Long – Kenwood CC PGA Professional/Head Pro at The Mill Course (17 Years)
Carl Rabito – PGA Certified Master Teaching Professional (Top 100 Instructor)
Mike Bender – 2009 PGA National Teacher-of-the-Year (Top 100)
Craig Shankland – 2001 PGA National Teacher-of-the-Year (Top 100)
Jim Suttie, Ph.D - 2000 PGA National Teacher-of-the-Year (Top 100)
Bill Madonna – Bill Madonna Golf Academy (Top 100)
Andrew Park – The David Leadbetter Golf Academy
Chris Toulson – Jim McLean Golf School at Doral
As you can see, I’ve been very fortunate to have learned from some of the best PGA Professionals in the country. I feel privileged to pass on the wealth of knowledge I’ve gained from spending time with these great gentlemen.
