This action is called “cupping of the wrist” and it is very necessary in producing quality sand shots. Since this motion prevents the club from closing, the ball is lifted in the air with backspin.
You will want to have a neutral grip on the club. You don’t want to use a strong grip for bunker shots because it’s absolutely essential that the clubface slides under the ball and into your finish without the club face closing.
A neutral grip is one that has the back of the left hand facing parallel to the target line and the right palm facing the same direction. Slap your hands together in front of you and you’ll instantly see what I mean. You can also choke down on the club in an effort to gain more control.
Aim the club face down the target line which should be just left of the hole. You’ve heard all the hype about opening the club face and such and that’s fine if you hit a lot of bunker shots but most folks don’t so aim the club face down the target line which should be just left of the hole. The target should be just left of the hole because this method will impart some left to right spin which will move the ball from left to right once it gets on the ground.
Aim your feet on a 20-30 degree angle to the left of the target line. The greater the angle you create between your feet and the target line, the higher and softer the ball will come out of the trap. Practice these shots a bit with varying angles and you’ll see what I mean. Find the angle where you’re most comfortable and which produces the best results and stick with it whatever it might be.
This all works for balls that are lying on top of the sand, but what do you do if your ball is buried? The technique is different.
When your ball is buried (fried egg) in the bunker, you do not want to swing super long and follow through. The idea is to pick your sand wedge up abruptly, swing down steep, stick your club in the sand, and leave it there. What will happen is your ball will pop out. It won’t have any spin on it because of the lie, but the chance of it getting out of the sand are much better than if you were to follow through.
Why is this so…? You want a very steep angle of attack and no follow through on this shot because it allows for the club to get more underneath the ball. With some of the ball resting below the surface, you need to compensate to get underneath it. That is where a short, steep, punchy type of swing works best.
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