Seated Bunker Release

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This concept video is the seated bunker release.

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Now in the seated series, I try to get a glimpse at what my students think that

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the arms need

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to do.

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And so oftentimes if they're standing there and I say, "Hey, what do you think

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the arms

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need to do?"

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They'll demonstrate some body movements, so I'll have them sit down and then

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they really

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have to feel, "Okay, what are the arms going to do?"

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So before I demonstrate what I like to see, I want you to try it.

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So even if you don't have a club, I want you to imagine that you're going to

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make a bunker

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swing and just see what your arms do.

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So I'll give you a couple of seconds.

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All right, we'll pretend that you took your bunker swing and it had some

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pattern to it.

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Okay.

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In general, I like to see the wrists and the arms move primarily vertically in

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the bunker

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shot.

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So I'll tend to see maybe a little bit more radial deviation into ulnar

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deviation, a little

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bit less of the motorcycle or flexion extension pattern.

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In fact, often you'll see the leader wrists going into extension to aid with

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this up

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and down movement.

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So the wrists primarily working more like that.

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Typically when I have golfers demonstrate their bunker shot, I'll see one of

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two things.

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Whether it's going to go more across, kind of like this, that tends to be one

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of the

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patterns that creates more fat and thin shots.

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Or the other pattern that I'll see is instead of unhinging and keeping it kind

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of unhinged

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on the way through, they'll tend to rehinge.

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So they'll actually do kind of a movement more like this where you bring it

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back and

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then almost a lifting action.

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The problem with that one is that really moves the low point backward.

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Those golfers tend to almost exclusively blade the ball.

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When they do chunk it, it's more from a body movement, not from the release.

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So by getting the wrist motion working more up and down, that tends to keep the

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club low.

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So then when I do my normal rotation on the way through, that is what gets the

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handle close

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to the hip and more of that kind of finished by your pocket or finished with

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the sword

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and the holster pattern.

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So this is also one of the reasons why I tend to think that most good bunker

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players have

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a weaker trailhand grip.

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You'll see a lead hand that's more on top, but you'll typically see good bunker

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players

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having a weaker trailhand.

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That's because if the palm is facing down like this, the more dominant action

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is going

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to move the wrist or move the club up and down, as opposed to you wouldn't

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really move

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it side to side with your hand on top like that.

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Typically the golfers who I see work more of this pattern will tend to grip the

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club on

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the side.

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Gripping the club more on the side or in a stronger position with that trail

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hand tends

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to encourage this movement pattern.

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It also tends to encourage the upper body getting tilted behind the ball, which

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for the

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bunker shot will tend to cause the low point to get too far back.

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So it is possible to grip it in a strong fashion and work it in more of a

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vertical movement.

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I'll demonstrate that for students who have a stronger grip, but typically

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going like

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this feels very weak and almost unathletic.

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So caution, if you did the seated release and you had a lot of side to side

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movement and

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you had the right hand more on the underside or to the side of the grip, I

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would at least

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experiment with getting that hand a little bit more on top so that you can work

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the wrist

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more up and down.

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If you combo that up and down movement with a good pivot, you'll tend to get a

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steeper

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angle of attack from a flatter path and you'll get the low point ahead of the

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golf ball

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and finishing really low.

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By getting the low point ahead of the golf ball, you're almost going to

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eliminate the

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bladed shot and for the most part, the chunk shot.

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And so your overall consistency of contact goes way up.

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As long as you can do that wall maintaining the loft, which again that weaker

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grip tends

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to support, you're going to hit these high predictable soft bunker shots.

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So hopefully this helps clarify what you may be doing wrong with your arms and

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hands

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in your bunker release.