Five Things to Help You Deal with Buried Bunker Lies

Walking up to the bunker and seeing your ball buried deep in the sand is a bad feeling. Not only are you frustrated for having hit the ball into the sand to begin with, now you have to deal with a buried lie that is going to make a good shot nearly impossible. While you are never going to want to have your ball buried in a bunker, the following five tips can help you minimize the damage.


Buried Lie Tip #1 – Lower Expectations

The first thing you have to do when dealing with a buried lie is lower your expectations for the shot. If you still try to hit the ball close to the hole like you would from a good lie, you are only asking for trouble. Rather, make your goal to get the ball out of the bunker and safely back on the grass.


Buried Lie Tip #2 – Swing Hard

There is no getting around it – you have to swing hard to get the ball up and out from a buried lie. Using your sand wedge, lay the club face open and make sure to keep your head down through the shot. If you look up too early to see where the ball is going, you are likely to hit the shot thin and leave the ball right at your feet.


Buried Lie Tip #3 – Weight Left

If you are a right-handed golfer, your weight needs to be leaning left at address when you are getting ready to hit a shot from a buried lie. Leaning left will help you to create a steeper angle of attack into the shot, and give you a better chance of forcing the ball up and out of the bunker.


Buried Lie Tip #4 – Dig Your Feet In

Since you are going to be making a big swing to get the ball out of the sand, it is important that you dig your feet into the sand to build a good base. The last thing you want is to slip while making the swing, so just a quick wiggle of your shoes down into the sand should do the trick.


Buried Lie Tip #5 – Bend Your Knees

Keeping some knee flex during the swing helps to engage your leg muscles and allows you to make a more powerful swing. When chopping through the heavy sand to get the ball out, you want to be able to make as athletic a swing as possible in order to generate swing speed, and flexed knees is a good start.

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