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PGA Teaching Professional Todd Kolb, here with another segment of "On the Lesson Tee."
One of the most misunderstood shots in golf is a fairway bunker shot. A lot of golfers
just simply don't know what club they should use, what length of swing they should have,
and really where they should be positioning the golf ball. If they can understand a couple
of these key simple, easy things, they're going to be able to hit some quality shots.
So the first thing I want to tell you about a fairway bunker shot is that you always want
to grab a little bit more club than the yardage calls for. As an example, if it's 150 yards
and your normal club for that distance is an 8 iron, I want you to grab a 7 iron. That
little less loft on the golf club is going to allow you to make the swing that you need
to. Let's talk exactly about that swing. What you want to do is the swing should be about
three quarter length. You never want to make a full out, full throttle swing from a fairway
bunker. Simply, it's not a good idea; it's very difficult to control where you catch
the ball and things like that. So that's the second thing I want you to know, is the length
of the swing should always be about three quarter length.
The last bit—and very important also—is where you position the golf ball. It's key
that we catch the golf ball first, and then the sand. Now in order to do this, I'm going
to move the golf ball back in my stance a little bit, slightly back of center. And if
I do that, I'm going to create clean contact between the face and the ball. So understanding
how to hit a fairway bunker shot can allow you to execute the shot the way that you want
to. Make sure number one, grab an extra club. Number two, three quarter length swing. Finally,
make sure to move the ball back a little bit in your stance to ensure quality contact.
If you do those three things, you're going to see better shots, you're going to have
a better round of golf, and hopefully you're going to enjoy your time on the course.