In this exclusive Peter Uihlein Short Game Lessons series, the American explains how to play the simple, greenside bunker shot
More Short Game Lessons from Peter Uihlein How to hit:
The 40-yard pitch Flop shot Chip and run Long splash shot
In the bunker, lower body stability is probably the most important thing. Having good knee flex and maintaining knee flex throughout the entire bunker shot will help maintain more solid contact and help you control the distance.
The basic greenside splash shot is very similar to the flop shot in the setup. So I'd advise a wider base, knees forward and probably a little bit more 60-40 on your left side. In the bunker as well I prefer to use the bounce of my wedge to play the shot so I like to use a shallow angle of attack and feel like the club head is being casted in the downswing.
As you take the club away, again feel like the club is rotating going back and that you swing back down towards the ball with an accelerated force. Maintain the knee flex throughout the entire swing, especially the left knee. By doing that it’ll shallow out the swing arc and make it easier to control your distance.
One really impotant thing to think about is how much before the ball you should strike the sand and I’d say it depends on how far you want to hit the shot. You hear some pros say they hit ‘the chunk and run’ there; if they do that they probably hit around 1.5-2 inches behind the ball. This approach (of taking alot of sand through impact) gets the ball to release when it lands, runing up towards the hole. For me, I like to come close to picking it clean so I strike the sand very close to the ball. Almost feeling like I’m just brushing the sand. Some amateurs get too steep on it and try and help it out with a digging action whereas you just have to let the wedge do the work.
