How To Hit Out Of A Sand Trap Even With Hard Or Wet Sand?
Let me begin the article by describing one common situation that many players come across in golf. You’ve hit the shot to set the ball flying in the direction of the bunker. And now you’re wondering why you did that, right?
You’re hoping for the golf ball to fly in another direction. But that doesn’t happen. So there you have it; a sand trap. But not all hope is lost as yet.
What I mean to say is that you can learn how to hit out of a sand trap. Yes, that’s true!
In this article, I’m going to talk about the easiest way to get out of sand trap. So, next time there will be no panic and no disappointments.
All you need is a proper technique to take the unfortunate shot. And once you know to hit out of a sand trap, you will enjoy facing the challenge occasionally.
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How to Hit Out of a Sand Trap: The Instructions
1.Think Before you Take the Leap
When stuck in a situation like this, all you’re thinking about is to get the ball away from that bunker. But before you act on it, pause for a second and evaluate the next shot. Many golfers simply just want to strike any spot they can find on the green. But why do that when you can make the most out of that shot?
What I’m trying to tell you is that you can easily chip the golf ball backward. This adds a single stroke. And what’s better; one definitive stroke or multiple strokes that may land into yet another unfortunate sand trap? The former seems more preferable, doesn’t it?
2.Relax your Stance
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When you’re tensed about hitting out of a sand trap, do you know what happens? It interferes with your swing movement. And that’s always a bad idea. So what you need to do is consciously relax the muscles of your body.
This helps in achieving a wide, relaxed stance. And such a posture goes a long way in hitting out of a sand trap successfully.
3.Get the Golf Club Under the Ball
To be able to do this, you need to rotate the face of the golf club. That means the club face needs to be facing up. Because getting out of sand trap requires you to take the chip shot. And for any standard chip shot, the golf club should be under the ball. This helps in easily lifting the golf ball up and sending it away from the bunker.
4.Check the Position of your Elbows and Hands
You don’t need a lot of backswing when you want to achieve greater loft. So to create shorter backswing, bending the elbows and keeping the hands close to the body are essential.
If you want to learn how to hit out of wet sand or shallow sand, you require a backswing that’s even shorter. So in such cases, it’s best to keep the whole swing compact and short. It should not be a drive at any cost.
Hitting Out of Hard or Wet Sand
5. Swing with an Open Club Face
The toe needs to comply with the heel of the golf club. And why? Because that helps in rotating out the club. So to support this movement, you must strike with an open and wide club face. The goal is to be able to connect your club to the sand as close as possible to the golf ball.
Credit: thesandtrap.com
Properly swing through the entire shot to make sure that the club carries the sand and the ball. It must first come in contact with the sand before hitting the golf ball. This prevents the ball from traveling to the green’s farthest side or out of reach.
On the other hand, if you strike the sand a tad too early, it can wreck your swing power. As a result of which, the golf ball will not move far enough.
Sand shots made easy
Stuck in the greenside or fairway bunker? Or is your golf ball buried deep in the bunker? Let’s discuss to hit out of a sand trap in all such scenarios.
1. Greenside Bunker
Credit: pga.com
To drop the golf ball in the desired spot, what you need is the loft. This is necessary when the greenside bunker is placed beneath the green. So open up the club face of the sand wedge and make sure that you don’t hit the golf ball directly.
In such situations, all you need is a push from the bunker. This can be achieved by keeping the golf ball up in the stance. Also, ensure that you hit at least three inches away from the ball.
As for your position, push the body weight forward, keep the club shaft vertical and arms soft. During the swing movement, pretend that you’re pitching from about 40 to 50 yards. But don’t swing with excessive strength. Instead, keep the swing more natural. Complete the follow through to achieve a perfect finish and optimal landing.
How to Hit Out of a Sand Trap?
2. Fairway Bunker
Credit: bunkersparadise.com
How to hit out of a sand trap from the fairway bunker? The answer is simple to understand, but it needs some practice to execute. When you’re stuck in the fairway bunker, you are nowhere close to the green. So you don’t need to use the lower iron.
When it comes to fairway bunkers, the initial impact needs to be made on the golf ball. So in such a scenario, grip your golf club as strongly as you can. And make sure to keep the golf ball in the middle of the stance.
Your stance should be open and well connected with the ball by the punch shot. And the thing about punch shots from fairway bunkers is that they work pretty well with an open stance.
In fact, punch shots turn out to be successful when you have the strongest grip. Keeping the golf ball towards the middle of the stance also contributes to hitting an excellent punch shot.
3. Buried in the Bunker
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I’m going to discuss the easiest way to get out of the sand trap when your golf ball is submerged deep in the bunker. All that you need to do is close the club face while swinging hard. Make sure that you strike the sand first and then the golf ball. But, at the same time, don’t forget to put the golf ball towards the back of the stance.
Once you close down the club face and swing aggressively, the ball will get dislodged and sweep into the green. (Improve your swing to get out of sand traps)
Wrapping it up
So the next time you see the golf ball sailing into the sand trap, there’s no need to worry. Because now you know how to hit out of a sand trap. Golfers don’t realize how easy or hard it is to get out of a sand trap until they step onto the bunker to take the shot.
Once you know the proper technique, it doesn’t matter if the trap is shallow, deep, damp, or dry. So practice how much ever you can and learn how to chip out of the sand.
Did you follow the instructions discussed in the article? Are there any other helpful tips that you would like to add here?
The more useful information we share, the better it becomes for us to achieve our goals on the golf course. So please feel free to drop in your comments in the section below.
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Sources:
1. http://www.westviewgolf.com/golf-tips/sand-shots
2. https://www.overstock.com/guides/how-to-hit-out-of-a-sand-trap
3. http://www.northamptonvalleycountryclub.com/tips-for-hitting-out-of-a-sand-trap/
