Ryuji Imada: Stick It From The Sand

By Ryuji Imada

With Ron Kaspriske

Edited by Peter Morrice

Photos By J.D. Cuban

May 2009

Where I grew up in Japan, there was a driving range I used to go to all the time. We had to hit off of mats for full shots, but for chipping and sand shots, they had a real short-game area. It was a lot more fun for me to chip on grass and hit actual sand shots than it was to hit from those mats, so I spent a lot of my practice time on the short game. What I learned about greenside bunker shots was to keep it simple. Although you might encounter all kinds of situations and lies in bunkers, the adjustments you have to make from shot to shot are minimal. Here I'll show you how to hit the four most common greenside bunker shots by making a few easy changes.

TIP+VIDEO: Master the greenside bunker shot

Standard lie

When the ball is sitting up, the key is to make a swing where your wedge glides just below the surface of the sand. That's why I stand a lot wider than normal. This puts me lower to the ground and helps me swing on a shallow path.

I open the face so the club can ride through the sand on its flange (the bulge on the bottom). I also keep more weight on my front foot throughout the swing. Hanging back promotes a scoopy motion and affects the club's entry point into the sand.

Buried lie

When the ball is partially buried, you have to make a steeper swing to get the club under the ball. To do this, I keep most of my weight on my front foot and hinge my wrists quickly as I take the club back. With all that wrist hinge, I don't need to make as big an arm swing as I do from a standard lie, and the club still should enter the sand an inch or so behind the ball. It's not a dig, and it's not a skim. Feel the wedge exploding the sand.

Uphill lie

I grip down for control on all my bunker shots, but it's really important with an uphill lie because you're likely to bury the club if you don't shorten it. It's also important to make your stance as stable as possible and to angle your lead shoulder upward to prevent a steep entry into the sand. When I swing, I try to create a figure-8 loop: I take it back outside the target line and then bring it into the ball from the inside. This shallows out the path and allows the clubhead to swing along the slope.