So in this article I’m going to give you a great bunker drill that will train you to swing and not hit the golf ball. The ironic thing about this bunker drill is you do not need a bunker and you can even do this bunker shot drill at home! Then after this I’m going to give you another great bunker drill that will help you to hit better bunker shots.

Ok, to do this first bunker drill you simply need a place where you can tee up a ball and swing. Again, you can do this at home in your backyard because you will not be hitting the golf ball. IF you’re afraid you’re going to hit the golf ball after reading these bunker shot drill instructions simply use a whiffle ball.

Tee up a golf ball quite high and get out the club you normally play bunker shots with. Then setup to the golf ball on the tee as though you are about to play a bunker shot.

Once set then swing as you normally would but don’t try and hit the golf ball instead try and hit the tee underneath the ball so that the golf ball just falls to the ground.

This bunker drill will help to give you feeling of swinging and not hitting the golf ball.

It’s a great bunker drill.

Practice it often and you’ll reap the benefits of better bunker shots. With better bunker shots you’ll shoot lower scores. It’s a win/win all around.

Once you have the feeling down of hitting bunker shots without hitting the ball then do this next bunker shot drill. To do it you’ll need to get a thin plank of wood that is about 4 feet long and a foot wide.

Then go to your practice bunker and bury this plank of wood just beneath the sand and make sure its length is pointing at your target. Once you’ve covered the board with a good layer of sand, place a ball over the top of the middle of this plank.

Then setup to your ball as you normally would and swing just like you did when the ball was on the tee. Try to enter the sand about 2 inches behind the ball and make a big follow-through so you accelerate through the ball.

By doing this bunker drill you’ll get the feel of hitting underneath the ball and the bounce of the club getting the ball out because the plank of wood stops your club from digging too deeply and bounces the club for you.

Hit about 20 shots off this plank of wood and then hit bunker shots normally keeping the same feeling.

If you do these two bunker shot drills you’ll learn the success keys for better bunker shots.

Ok, you should know that to hit good bunker shots you must NOT hit the golf ball first. There are a few exceptions to this rule but for your average bunker shot you should not hit the golf ball first.

So you must hit the sand first for good, consistent bunker shots. But how far behind the ball should you contact the sand?

Well, the distance will be different depending on the sand in your bunkers but here’s a great drill that will show how to get more consistency from your bunker shots and how far you can expect your average bunker shot to go.

To do this drill go to a practice bunker with 10 balls. Then line up your 10 balls all in a line so you can hit one after the other towards your target. Before you try and hit them to your target however get the butt end of your sand wedge and draw a line about 1½ inches behind the balls.

Once this is setup then setup to the first ball and set the goal of striking the sand directly on this line you have drawn in the sand.

When you first start doing this bunker drill you’ll quickly learn why you are so inconsistent out of bunkers. You will probably very rarely strike the sand 1½ inches behind the ball.

Set a goal of contacting the sand 1½ inches behind the ball for each of the 10 shots. When you can do this see how far your balls are going. To hit the ball either further or shorter from the bunker you should still hit the sand in the same place you just need to alter your swing length and pace.

You should also experiment with drawing the line either further away from the ball e.g. 2 inches or closer to the ball e.g. 1 inch to see your bunker shot results.

Who knows, for your local bunkers it might be better for you to try and hit the sand 2 inches behind the ball.

The important thing for bunker shot consistency is that you can consistently enter into the sand at a specific point you want (e.g. 1½ inches behind the ball). When you can do this your bunker shot consistency will rise dramatically and so will your confidence.

So do this bunker shot drill the next time you’re at the golf course to see if it’s the reason why you lack bunker shot consistency and then you know what to do to fix it.