By Sven Nielsen, Head Golf Professional, Trump International Golf Club Dubai
A lot of time during the round we find ourselves ‘short sided’ after being too aggressive or going ‘pin hunting’ rather than playing for the middle of the green. Let’s have a look at the high, soft landing bunker shot that can help you get that ball stopping quickly with the little amount of green you have to work with.
Grip
Firstly, we need to look at the grip, it’s key to get this correct to give us maximum loft. The top hand has to be in a very ‘strong position’ or, you have to be able to see most of your knuckles when you grip the club. The bottom hand now needs to go in a slightly ‘weaker position’ or, make sure the bottom hand sits over the top hands thumb.
Wrist movement
The feeling we want is a very wristy swing, the club head should feel like its overtaking the hands at the moment of impact, this way we will have maximum loft. Combine that with the body movements, and you have the correct feeling to hit a very high soft landing bunker shot.
Swing speed
The key with this wrist action though, is speed… Do not hesitate, get the swing speed high! So to re-cap, three things: speed, wrist action and the correct grip! This will get your ball flight much higher out of those bunkers when you have short sided yourself!
For any more information on the Golf Academy at Trump International, please contact [email protected]
