The Wedge Guy: 5 indisputable rules of bunker play

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Let's try to cover the basics of sand play – the "geometry and physics" at work in the bunkers – and see if we can make all of this more clear.

First of all, I think bunkers are among the toughest of places to find your ball. We see the tour players hit these spectacular bunker shots every week, but realize that they are playing courses where the bunkers are maintained to PGA standards, so they are pretty much the same every hole and every week. This helps the players to produce the "product" the tour is trying to deliver – excitement. Of course, those guys also practice bunker play every day.All of us, on the other hand, play courses where the bunkers are different from one another. This one is a little firmer, that one a little softer. So, let me see if I can shed a little light on the "whys and wherefores" of bunker play. I’ve always challenged the old adage, "bunker shots are easy; you don't even have to hit the ball." I challenge that because bunker shots are the ONLY ones where you don't actually try to hit the ball, so that makes them lie outside your norm.

Let's start with a look at the sand wedge; they all have a sole with a downward/backward angle built into it – we call that bounce. It's sole (no pun intended) function is to provide a measure of "rejection" force or lift when the club makes contact with the sand. The more bounce that is built into the sole of the wedge, the more this rejection force will affect the shot. And when we open the face of the wedge, we increase the effective bounce so that this force is increased as well.

The most basic thing you have to assess when you step into a bunker is the firmness of the sand. It stands to reason that the firmer the texture, the more it will reject the digging effect of the wedge. That "rejection quotient" also determines the most desirable swing path for the shot at hand. Firmer sand will reject the club more, so you can hit the shot with a slightly more descending clubhead path. Conversely, softer or fluffier sand will provide less rejection force, so you need to hit the shot with a shallower clubhead path so that you don't dig a trench.

So, with these basic principles at work, it makes sense to remember these "Five Indisputable Rules of Bunker Play":

So, there you go – the five undisputable rules of bunker play.

As always, I invite all of you to send in your questions to be considered for a future article. It can be about anything related to golf equipment or playing the game – just send it in. I need your input to keep writing about things you want to know.

The Wedge Guy: Making the short ones

Terry Koehler is a fourth generation Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. Over his 40-year career in the golf industry, he has created over 100 putter designs, sets of irons and drivers, and in 2014, he put together the team that reintroduced the Ben Hogan brand to the golf equipment industry. Since the early 2000s, Terry has been a prolific writer, sharing his knowledge as "The Wedge Guy". But his most compelling work is in the wedge category. Since he first patented his "Koehler Sole" in the early 1990s, he has been challenging "conventional wisdom" reflected in ‘tour design’ wedges. The performance of his wedge designs have stimulated other companies to move slightly more mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges, but none approach the dramatic design of his Edison Forged wedges, which have been robotically proven to significantly raise the bar for wedge performance. Terry serves as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf – check it out at www.EdisonWedges.com.

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One of the most frustrating things in golf has to be missing short putts. I’m talking about putts under six feet for the most part here, but particularly those inside of four. You hit a great approach to set up a short birdie…and then miss it. Or you make a great pitch or chip to save par — or even bogey — and it doesn't go in.

When we face any short putt, several things happen to get in the way of our success. First, because we feel like we "have" to make this, we naturally tense up, which mostly manifests in a firmer hold on the putter, maybe even the proverbial "death grip" (appropriately named). That firmer hold is generally concentrated in the thumbs and forefingers, which then tightens up the forearms, shoulders and everything else. So the first tip is:

The second thing that happens when we have a short putt is we often allow negative thoughts to creep in… "Don't miss this"…"What if I miss it?"…"I have to make this"…all those put undue pressure on us and make it that much harder to make a good stroke.

So, the second tip is:

Finally, we often tend to get so focused on "just make a good stroke" that we get all wrapped up in mechanical thoughts. Forget those. Focus your vision intently and completely on the target. Most short putts are pretty darn straight, or maybe just on or outside the high side. My favorite thought on these putts comes from a favorite movie, The Patriot.

So, there you have the three keys to making more short putts:

I hope this helps all of you make more of them.

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If I had a dollar for every time I hear a golfer say, "My practice swing looks and feels great but when I go to the ball…"

Here is a major reason why that is and you will not hear this from any other teaching academy except ours (for years) for the moment. And it works for every single golfer!

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Sometimes it can be beneficial to re-introduce an old swing drill back into your training. Regardless if you felt the drill clicked or didn't click at that time, you will more than likely notice a difference this time around.

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for its not the same river and he is not the same man." – Heraclitus

Let's apply that famous quote to the golf swing. The first part, "not the same river" can apply to the physical swing itself. Chances are your swing has changed since first learning or practicing the swing drill. You can be more comfortable with the motion, or you could have made swing changes over time, making the drill feel vastly different now.

The second part of that quote, "not the same man" applies to you, yourself. More than likely, your physiology is different today and now at this very moment. Each new day you have changed. Players have gone back to a drill from years ago to find they have discovered a completely different feel and understanding of that particular drill.

For example, here is a baseline drill I have students revert back to on a regular basis. The foot-back drill both cleans up the set-up angles and gets the lead and trail side of the body moving efficiently.

This is a great drill to get the feeling of set-up angles and how the lead and trail side of the body can move in the backswing. However, further down the road, this drill can be used to get the feeling of covering the ball at impact, a multi-purpose drill depending on where you place your attention or how you feel.

As Nick Price once said, "Every player has two to three habits that cause problems, we have to be on the lookout for them." Developing baseline drills you can revert back to helps these tendencies stay in remission and can help keep the structure to your swing.

http://www.kelleygolf.com

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