How To… Beat Those Bunker Fears
By Paul Charman, GP Teaching Professional
THE FAULT:
Dear PC,
God knows I’ve tried to work on my greenside bunker play. I feel I’m going right by the book,
but I still tend to thin at least one in four shots straight over the green. Is there a failsafe tip you can give me?
Bill from Irvine (12 handicap)
THE FIX:
Since I first picked up a golf club, one phrase above all still rings in my ears, ‘Keep your eyes on the ball.’ Sound advice from tee, fairway or rough – until we end up in the dreaded bunker. Every month you read the latest version of a tried and tested teaching formula. The fundamentals remain the same – open your stance, soft grip, keep the clubface open, focus on a point just behind the ball, hit down into the sand, remember to execute a full follow through. Bill, it sounds to me as if you might be trying to hit a specific point in the sand and still trying to maintain your focus on the ball – that’s like trying to hit double top while staring at the bull’s eye. The following exercise is an attempt to get used to hitting the sand, not the ball. And it works.