Tee in the Sand
All
”
permanent
”
golf improvement is developmental. Quick fixes are only good on
the golf course. To take the fear out of sand, a golf tee can help
give you the confidence you need to be adept from the sand. But
before we start you have to own a sand wedge
– trying to get out of a sand bunker with a pitching wedge won’t
work.
Tee in the Sand
All “permanent” golf improvement is developmental. Quick fixes are only good on the golf course. To take the fear out of sand, a golf tee can help give you the confidence you need to be adept from the sand. But before we start you have to own a sand wedge – trying to get out of a sand bunker with a pitching wedge won’t work.
Get a bucket of balls a hand full of tees and your sand wedge. Step into the bunker and make a circle about six inches in the sand. Now hit the sand in the circle onto the putting green. While you are doing this pay attention to what you are feeling. You should be feeling the head of the club accelerating through the sand. If you took a shovel full of sand and through it onto the green, that is how it should feel.
After doing this for a while draw a six-inch circle and put a tee in the middle of it. Push the tee down so you can see the top and none of it is above the sand. Now hit the sand out so that the tee lands on the green. If you can recreate the same “shovel full of sand” feeling, you shouldn’t have a problem accomplishing this. Deceleration is the reason most people have trouble getting out of greenside bunkers.
Now get set up the same way with the tee in the sand, but this time put a ball on the tee and, using the same motion, hit the sand, tee and the ball onto the green. Don’t let the ball affect your swing, it is the tee you need to be focused getting onto the green. Keep in mind the head of your sand wedge never touches the ball. Get the tee on the green. After awhile you won’t be surprised that the ball will end up there also. So when you find yourself in a green side bunker just remember the tee.
Congratulations to Chuck Serafini, he was the first correct e-mail answer to last week’s question. You can carry as many putters you want during a round as long as you don’t exceed 14 clubs.
If you have any golf related questions, from rules to club fitting, e-mail me at
sk*****@ea**********.com
. Or, if you would like to read some of my past tips, you can do so at www.pinnaclenews.com. And don’t forget, if you’re not having fun call your local PGA or LPGA instructor. We will help, that’s what we love to do. We are the shortest distance between you and better golf.
