Fix Your Bunker Shots with Horizontal Releases

This drill trains one of the most important skills in greenside bunker play: keeping the clubface from rolling closed through the sand. If you struggle with thin bunker shots, low bullets, or shots that won’t get over a high lip, the release pattern is often the problem. In a good bunker shot, the face stays more open and stable through impact so the bounce can do its job. This horizontal release drill gives you a simple way to feel that motion without the confusion of a full swing.

How the Drill Works

The idea is to rehearse a bunker-style release with the club moving more horizontally around your body, while the clubface stays looking more upward rather than rotating down toward the ground. That gives you a clear picture of what an open, stable face feels like through the strike.

Many golfers do the opposite. They take the club back with the face too shut, deliver it shut, and then either try to save the shot late or keep rotating the face closed through impact. That pattern makes contact unpredictable and reduces the effective bounce on the sole. Once the bounce disappears, you are much more likely to dig, blade the ball, or hit a low shot with almost no height.

In this drill, you make waist-high to chest-high practice swings with the club traveling around you. As the club passes your body, the face should feel as though it is still facing the sky or at least staying more open to your body line. You are not trying to roll the toe over. You are training the sensation that the face remains stable while the arms keep moving.

That usually comes with a feeling of less aggressive chest rotation and a bit more arm throw through the strike. In other words, you are letting the club move past you without forcing the face to shut. When you then add a ball and some sand, that release helps the club enter the sand with the bounce exposed, creating the soft thump you want in a quality bunker shot.

Step-by-Step

Set up for a standard greenside bunker shot with the face slightly open and the handle neutral. You want the club prepared to use the bounce, not leaning sharply forward with the face de-lofted.
Without a ball at first, make short horizontal rehearsal swings around your body. Focus on the clubface staying more upward-facing as it moves through the follow-through.
As the club passes your body, avoid letting the toe flip over so the face points down. The face should feel as if it stays more open and square to the arc instead of rapidly closing.
Add the sensation of the arms throwing past you. Let the clubhead move through with speed, but do not pair that speed with a rolling forearm release.
Now place a ball in the bunker and make the same motion. Your goal is to move the low point ahead of the ball so the club enters the sand in the proper spot while the face remains open.
Listen for the strike. A good bunker shot often produces a shallow, crisp bounce sound rather than a digging, chopping sound.
Watch the flight. When the face is managed correctly, the ball should come out quickly, launch higher, and land softer.
Repeat with small shots first, then gradually increase length while keeping the same face control and bounce interaction.

What You Should Feel

The most important sensation is that the clubface does not roll over through impact. If you need a hand-based cue, use one of these:

Back of the lead hand staying up through the follow-through
Trail palm facing the sky longer after the strike

Both feelings help prevent the trail hand from getting on top too early and shutting the face. In a poor bunker release, the trail hand rolls over, the lead palm turns upward too much, and the face points down too soon. That is exactly the motion this drill is designed to eliminate.

You should also feel that the clubhead is moving with some freedom past your body. This is not a hold-off, stiff action where the club stalls. The club still releases, but it releases with the face orientation preserved. That is a huge difference.

Another useful checkpoint is the sound and turf interaction. In the bunker, the club should feel as though it is skimming and bouncing through the sand rather than digging straight down. If the face stays open, the sole can glide. If the face shuts, the leading edge tends to grab.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Rolling the face closed in the follow-through, which often produces bladed or low-running shots
Taking the club back too shut, making it difficult to return the face open enough at impact
Over-rotating the chest and dragging the handle through, instead of letting the arms and clubhead move past
Leaning the shaft too far forward, which removes bounce and exposes the leading edge
Trying to help the ball up with a scooping motion rather than allowing the loft and sand to lift it
Ignoring the strike sound; if the club is digging or slapping awkwardly, the release is usually off
Practicing only with a ball instead of first learning the horizontal rehearsal motion that teaches the face condition clearly

How This Fits Your Swing

This drill is specific to bunker play, but it also teaches a broader concept that matters throughout your short game: matching face control to the shot you are trying to hit. In a greenside bunker shot, especially one that needs to fly high and stop quickly, you do not want the clubface rapidly shutting through the strike. You want loft preserved, bounce exposed, and contact shallow enough to use the sand properly.

That is why this drill is especially useful when you face a high lip or need a soft landing. If your normal release pattern closes the face too much, those shots become very difficult. The ball launches too low, comes out too hot, or never gets enough height to clear the obstacle comfortably.

As you improve, this drill helps you separate a bunker release from a stock full-swing release. You begin to understand that different shots require different face behaviors. In the bunker, the best players often look as though the face stays open for a long time through the sand. That is not manipulation at the last second—it is a trained release pattern.

Work on the horizontal rehearsal until you can clearly feel the face staying up through the follow-through. Then blend that into real bunker shots. Once that sensation becomes natural, you will find it much easier to produce the high, soft explosion shot with reliable contact.