Instruction
How to hit bunker shots different distances
I have a student named Trisha, who is a junior in high school. She is an excellent ball-striker, but her bunker play is below par… that was until her last lesson. I took her down to the short-game area where we talked for a while before getting started.
“You said you were having trouble getting out of a bunker,” I asked.
“Yes, in my last round I bladed the ball over the green and into the water,” she said. “I had to take a drop behind the hazard, and then I chunked my wedge shot into the water. I ended up taking a nine, and worse, at the time I was only 2-over par for the day.
“Why do you think you bladed the shot,” I asked?
“I’m not sure, but since then I’ve been afraid to really swing at the ball,” she said. “Now, I’m leaving every shot in the bunker.”
“I’m guessing that you moved forward on the downswing,” I said. “In playing these shots, you have to stay absolutely centered.”
I went on to tell Trisha that in bunker play, you must limit the number of factors — and there are only two factors:
- Width of Cut
- Depth of Cut
In terms of controlling distance, the depth of cut is the constant while the width of cut is the variable. I asked Trisha to make some practice swings with her 56-degree wedge while just skimming the surface of the bunker.
“Yes, that’s right,” I said. “You’re keeping the depth of cut consistent. The next step is to begin controlling the width.”
I then drew a channel in the sand that was 6-inches wide. I explained that the objective was to remove the sand from the middle of the channel, while at the same time managing both the enter and exit points.
“Are you ready to give it a try?” I asked after showing her the technique.
“Sure,” she said. “I think I can do that.”
I had drawn a series of channels in the sand, and as she moved from one to the other I remained quiet. She wasn’t hitting a golf ball… just skimming the sand. After she was done, we studied the first channel together.
“What do you see?” I asked.
“Well, I entered past the front line of the channel,” she replied.
“Were there a ball there, what do you thing would have happened,” I asked.
“I guess I would have bladed it just like I did the other day,” she said.
“Yes, that is right,” I said. “Let’s look at the next one. Here you entered behind the front line. How do you think the ball would have reacted to this swing?”
“The ball probably would have stayed in the bunker,” she answered.
“Yes, right again,” I said. “I don’t think we need to look at the rest. What this suggests is that you are moving your center of mass during the shot. You can only be consistent when there is no lateral movement in your swing.”
“How do stay centered,” she asked?
“I’m glad you asked that question,” I said. “I’ll show you, but there are a few details we need to cover first.”
I stepped into the bunker.
“In playing bunker shots, you need a weaker grip. First, move your left thumb to the center of the handle with your right-hand squarely on top of your left thumb. The “V” formed by the thumb and forefinger of your right-hand should point at your chin.”
“Like this?” she asked, showing me the revised grip.
“Yes, that is correct,” I said. “The second step is to assume your setup, which includes: widening your stance, centering the ball between your feet, positioning the club shaft in a neutral position neither leaning forward or back, and then lastly, lowering yourself down while pushing your tailbone back and up to anchor your lower body.”
“I think I’ve got it,” she said climbing into the bunker.
She worked her feet into the sand, choking up on the club to make up for the difference in length. And then she duplicated my setup position.
“Did I get it right coach?” she asked
“Yes, that’s correct,” I said.
“What’s next?” she asked.
“Let me show you,” I said, climbing back into the bunker.
“I’m going to turn my stomach out from underneath me in both directions without moving any other part of my body,” I said. “At the same time, I’m going to allow my arms, hands and wrists to react to the weight of the club, paying special attention to my right wrist, which must hinge to have enough energy to work through the sand.”
“I understand,” she said. “What’s next?”
“As we talked earlier, you are going to just skim the sand entering and exciting an imaginary channel.”
“I understand,” she said. “This time I’ll pay more attention to that part of my swing.”
She then set up to the ball and swung. She bladed her first shot, sending it over the green. Then she left her second shot in the bunker. She looked at me with a frown.
“You have to stay centered, ” I said. “Keep trying.”
The next time she anchored her center and on striking the ball, it floated up into the air landing softly onto the green.
“I bet you can’t do that again,” I said.
I had given her a challenge. I could tell by her body language that she was determined to prove me wrong. Her next shot was like the first.
“How’s that coach?” she said with a big smile on her face.
Now that she had tasted some success, she was anxious to move on.
“How do I control distance,” she asked.
“You vary the width of the channel, but that may take a little practice,” I said. “I suggest that we work on that at your next lesson. How do you feel?”
“I not scared anymore, she said. “I think with some more practice I’m only going to improve.”
“I agree,” I said, and we climbed back into the cart and made our way back to the clubhouse.
What I’ve found in teaching this technique to other students is that their bunker play improves immediately… just like Trisha. And with a little practice, they are able to begin to vary the distance of their shots. You can do the same, but just remember the formula:
The depth of cut is the constant. The width of cut is the variable.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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fred
Jul 25, 2018 at 7:15 pm
this article made me turn my stomach
Tricky R
Jun 29, 2018 at 1:19 pm
So, you don’t know how to hit it different distances out of the sand either? Your article should have been called “Hey all you 25 handicappers, here is how to hit the most basic sand shot.”
I would like that 3 minutes of my life back please.
george
Jun 28, 2018 at 2:12 pm
Imagine a headline that reads: “Hot to hit bunker shots different distances” and then you write an article about how to get the ball out but keep the secret to different distances to yourself.
Briny Baird
Jun 27, 2018 at 7:47 pm
My two sand thoughts.
Imagine the ball is sitting on a classic tee which is under the sand. Aim to break tee in half.
Sand soft, swing hard; sand hard, swing soft
Greg V
Jun 27, 2018 at 3:49 pm
I’m going to turn my stomach out from underneath me in both directions without moving any other part of my body,”
How do you do that? OR is it a feeling?