Tiger Woods
Stay tall in fairway bunkers
For great contact, avoid dipping into the ball
1. Choke down; then keep your chin up as you make a good turn.
I've been working hard on keeping my upper body and head from dropping as I move into impact with the driver. Maybe I should start pretending I'm hitting from a fairway bunker, because I know that staying tall on those shots is all-important.
The two big factors I focus on in fairway sand are spine angle and knee flex. Most amateurs increase one or the other on the downswing, which moves them closer to the ball and forces a last-second adjustment to avoid a mis-hit, usually a fat shot.
Try this in fairway bunkers: Choke down, play the ball in the center of your stance, lift your chin a little at address as a reminder to stay tall, and then maintain those body angles as you swing through impact.
3. Clip the ball first then the sand as you accelerate through.
4. Make an abbreviated, punch-type follow-through. This will help you stay in control and maintain your balance.
Tiger Woods writes instruction articles only for Golf Digest.
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- Tiger Woods,
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- fairway,
- posture,
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