Bunker shot video

European Tour player Brett Rumford shares his expertise on playing the greenside bunker shot.

Bunker shot video

Start by shuffling your feet into the sand, this will give you a nice, stable base from which to swing. Importantly, my stance is never too open for bunker shots – you hear a lot of coaches – certainly in the past – getting their players to stand way open.

But as you swing across the ball, you’ll create spin from left to right, which will take control away from you.

By standing squarer and swinging less across the ball, this sidespin will be minimised and you will be able to get the ball closer to the hole more often.

So I like to stand maybe a fraction open, if not square - I’ve drawn lines in the sand to show how open I am to my club-to-target line.

From there, I open the clubface and flex my knees to lower my centre of gravity, this also lowers the butt end of the grip which in turn will increase the angle of ascent, giving your swing more of a v-shape.

Once you are in the right position at address you should aim to make a fairly full, rhythmical swing and as long as you get the strike right, you should be able to find a soft-landing shot with plenty of control.

Lesson checklist

• Shuffle your feet into the sand
• Don’t stand too open
• Open your club face at address
• Flex knees to lower centre of gravity
• Make a dull, rhythmical swing

Try experimenting with different clubs to see how far each one carries and how much spin your are able to generate with each one.

Then you can best choose which club to play given a certain situation. The longer the bunker shot, the less loft you should use.

Trying to vary the distance by how much sand you take is a risky way to vary carry distance, especially for amateurs.

Varying the club you use is a far less-risky way to have a variety of shots in your bunker play armoury.