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    2 Most Common Causes Of Penalty Strokes

    Aside from knocking your ball into a hazard or out-of-bounds area, the two ways most commonly found to pile up the penalty strokes are from lost balls and unplayable lies.

    When you hit the ball in a wooded area on the side of the fairway, and the location is not considered to be out-of-bounds, you can dig around and try your best to find the ball. In doing so, one of the following three things is bound to happen:

    1. You may find the ball and then attempt to hit it onto the fairway.

    2. The ball might be located in an unplayable lie, which means that there is no chance to make a shot. You're only two options are to pick up the ball and move over by two club lengths or hit the ball again from where you originally took your last shot. Either way, you pick up a one-stroke penalty.

    3. The ball may not be easy enough to find, and can be declared lost. This means that you have to go back to the area where you hit your last shot, shoot over, and take a penalty stroke.

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    How To Become An Expert In The Bunker (6)

    By Foursome

    The best shot to take out of any sandy situation is the splash shot. However, there are times when exploding the ball, although a common shot for golfers that are unskilled in the splash shot, is actually the better strategy.

    Such examples when the explosion shot from the bunker is the best choice include: the classic fried egg landing, when the ball is completely buried, and of course, those front bunker shots where the hole is too close on the other side.

    Here are the basic, fundamental moves to playing the explosion shot:

    1) The number one goal and primary focus of the explosion shot is to dig the club down into the sand. For those of you that have practiced the splash shot, you will notice that this goal of digging the club down with the explosion is the exact opposite motion.

    Think of the clubhead like a shovel, digging underneath (and behind) the ball for a quick, forward-traveling amount of sand to help lift the ball up and towards the green.

    2) Always do your best to play the explosion shot from a square stance. You want the clubface to be square to the target line, therefore, if you open up your stance as you would when initiating a splash shot, you may end up leaving the ball in the bunker or yanking it wildly to the left.3) When playing this shot you want to lean your body in towards the target. When you set up to the ball, place most of your weight on the left leg. You should feel as though your head is ahead of the ball. Keep these two feelings throughout the entire swing.

    4) Forget the follow through. When playing the explosion shot properly, and in the right circumstances, you really should not have the room for a follow through due to the angle of the club when it strikes the sand.

    5) Position the ball as far back as you can right along the inside of the right shoulder. This tip is important because you want the club to come into the ball at a very steep angle. And the deeper buried that the ball is, the farther back in your stance you will want it during address.

    6) Choose the right club. The best club to use for the explosion shot is a personal choice on your part. Keep in mind that the deeper the ball is buried in the sand, the harder it is to get the sand wedge far enough down in order to bring it up. Some players choose the pitching wedge. You could even give the 8 iron or 9 iron a go, depending on how far you want the ball to roll once it lands on the green.

    Topics: Sand Bunkers, Tips & Practice | No Comments »

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