Golfing is Fun

The Situation: Your Bail is hung up on the left side of a fairway bunker, forcing you to stand on the grass and play a shot with the ball several inches below your feet.

Why It’s Difficult: Almost anything can happen-a shank, a heavy miss etc.

The Solution: Spread your feet wider than shoulder width and position the ball just inside your left foot. The steeper the slope, the more the ball will go right, so aim well left of your target. Then bend your knees and drop your rear end to get your club down to the ball-don’t just bend your torso forward. When you swing hinge your wrists quickly and keep your lower body quiet to maintain balance.

Top 100 Teacher Paul  Trittler

The Situation: Your ball is under or near a tree or other obstruction that prevents you from making a full back-swing.

Why It’s Difficult: Without space to make a full swing, you’re tempted to lung at the ball.

The Solution: Keep it smooth from start to finish-all you’re looking to do is get the club-head cleanly on the ball. Plus you’ll be surprised how far you can hit it with an abbreviated swing. Since you’ll be steep going back, play the ball back so that your club-head bottoms out underneath it.

Article From Golf Magazine

The Situation: Your tee shot stops just inches short of rolling into the side of a fairway bunker, but now you have to stand in the bunker to play the ball , which is about even with your belt buckle.

Why It’s Difficult: From this position you need a baseball swing, not a golf swing, and how often do you have to play this shot, let alone practice it?

The Solution: Be practical. Advance the ball the best you can and rely on your next swing to help you save par. Regardless of your distance to the green , grab your 7-iron and choke down so that you can set the club behind the ball at address. Dig your feet into the sand for support , and make a few practice swings above the ball to get a feel for the motion. Move the club back and through with your shoulders and chest in a simple baseball-swing motion. It helps if you increase your grip pressure a little so you don’t rotate the face open or closed through impact, and bend your left elbow a little in your back-swing so your motion isn’t so stiff.

PGA Tour Player Chris DiMarco

The Situation: You want to bend the ball to the right around a dogleg.

Why It’s Difficult: Murphy’s law of Golf: When you don’t want to fade it, you fade it. When you do want to curve it slightly right, you hit it dead left.

The Solution: I like to think of this as a cut shot rather than a fade. At address, aim your line parallel left of your target and open the club-face a few degrees. Make a compact swing with a small amount of hip turn. That way when you clear your hips. Your swing automatically moves from outside-to-in, giving you the left-to-right side-spin you need.

Author Golf Magazine