You know this shot. You set up fine, the face is open, the stance looks right. Then you swing, the club runs away through the sand, and the ball either skulls across the green or stays buried. Most golfers lose bunker shots at impact, not at setup.
The fix comes from Ben Hogan, and almost nobody talks about it. Two things happen together. First, you create and maintain the angle with a cupped right wrist. That keeps your wrists from flipping at the ball, which is what causes skulls and chunks. Second, and this is the part everyone misses, you exit the handle left around your body through impact.
When the handle exits left, the face stays open and the bounce of the wedge keeps working. That is what produces the high, soft explosion shot that lands and stops. When the handle leaks out to the right instead, the face closes, the leading edge digs, and you get the skull.
Here is how to train it. Set up in the sand with an open face and open stance. Make a few rehearsal swings where your only thought is the handle exiting left around your body. Keep that right wrist cupped through impact. No flip. Then splash a few shots while rotating your body, not your hands. The ball will tell you the truth. High and soft means you did it. Skulled or left in the sand means the handle leaked right.
The common mistake: trying to help the ball up by flipping the wrists. In a bunker, flipping delofts the club and turns the leading edge into a knife. Trust the bounce. Let the club do the work.
Don't let the club run away through the sand. Maintain the angle, exit the handle left, and bunker shots go from scary to automatic.
Want this feel drilled into your game? The Pro Vault has 220+ drills just like this for $1 a month at coachellapro.com. And if bunker play keeps costing you strokes, book a lesson and we will fix it in one session.