17 replies to this topic

[mcthommo]

Whilst I know I am never going to be the best golfer ever, I do on average manage to hack it around near par or just over, I cannot for the life of me figure out bunker play

Anything under 30yrds is really difficult to get short- any tips as I've tried short and stabby, long and slow and still no joy

 

 

[Crow357]

What swing method?

[LeazesNDR]

Short take away and full follow through is good for RTM swing. You'll soon get the feel for it.

[Ted_Ball]

If you are using RTS....

 

1.   I would recommend having a 64W in your bag.

 

2.   Caddy says 82 ft for a full splash. It tends to go a lot further on the fly and can roll out a lot in certain conditions. I try to avoid hitting a full splash with that club. 

 

3.   For a flat lie I use a rule of thumb of 45 feet for the club head coming to 9 o'clock. Adjust with experience. A couple of minutes practice will establish the distance for 9 o'clock.

 

4.   There is a strange anomally at short distances where a small backswing will still generate a bigger swing on the animation and still throws the ball a significant distance. It's the same with pitching. Adjust with experience.

 

5.   I still leave the ball in the trap sometimes if I've short-sided myself. You have to get it out so take your medicine and rely on your putting.

 

6.   Nice and steady with the backswing to get that o'clock position close. It is a touchy movement with short backswing shots and you can throw out your tempo. 

 

7.   Don't get too technical because you can lose your rhythm if you concentrate too hard on the length of the backswing. Eventually it will become a simple exercise.

 

8. If you use anything other than RTS ignore the above.

[frank70]

One tip if you are short sided: Aim a little too the left and try to hit a slower ratio (slower downswing). This produces a lower ballflight (to the right) but the ball has less energy and a good amount of spin. So it comes to a rest faster. It's risky because if you don't have enough power on the shot it could well happen that you won't make it over the bunker lip and the ball lands back before your feet. But if you have to make the up and down at all costs it is a risk-and reward-play.

[MimicPS]

One tip if you are short sided: Aim a little too the left and try to hit a slower ratio (slower downswing). This produces a lower ballflight (to the right) but the ball has less energy and a good amount of spin. So it comes to a rest faster. It's risky because if you don't have enough power on the shot it could well happen that you won't make it over the bunker lip and the ball lands back before your feet. But if you have to make the up and down at all costs it is a risk-and reward-play.

 

Additionally to Frank's suggestion, to take some of the risk out of the shot, crank the shot hard over to either left or right in the shot-shaper and hit your normal shot. You will find that the shaper has no effect on the actual ball flight off of the clubhead, but leads to it landing 'softer' and not rolling out anywhere near as much.

[mcthommo]

RTM using and thanks for the tips I will give them a go

[LeazesNDR]

If you are using RTS....

1. I would recommend having a 64W in your bag.

2. Caddy says 82 ft for a full splash. It tends to go a lot further on the fly and can roll out a lot in certain conditions. I try to avoid hitting a full splash with that club.

3. For a flat lie I use a rule of thumb of 45 feet for the club head coming to 9 o'clock. Adjust with experience. A couple of minutes practice will establish the distance for 9 o'clock.

4. There is a strange anomally at short distances where a small backswing will still generate a bigger swing on the animation and still throws the ball a significant distance. It's the same with pitching. Adjust with experience.

5. I still leave the ball in the trap sometimes if I've short-sided myself. You have to get it out so take your medicine and rely on your putting.

6. Nice and steady with the backswing to get that o'clock position close. It is a touchy movement with short backswing shots and you can throw out your tempo.

7. Don't get too technical because you can lose your rhythm if you concentrate too hard on the length of the backswing. Eventually it will become a simple exercise.

8. If you use anything other than RTS ignore the above.

I was going to say exactly the same thing but I didn't have the time. Well put, old bean!

[Ted_Ball]

Thanks Davy

 

It's not an exact science and nor should it be. This will illustrate it a bit better.

 

[mcthommo]

Ted

Thanks for that will give it a go- I just cannot get to grips with the lack of a tempo or swing for bunker play compared to the full swing

[bortimus]

mcthommo,

Good tips posted by Ted above.

 

I play all of my splash shots with a slightly fast tempo (.24 or so) and aim to the right of the target to account for it.  I never try to hit the .25 tempo for 2 reasons:

1.  Because you are taking the club back slowly to be more precise with distance control, you will naturally have a tempo that is too fast if you swing down normally.  

2.  If you are trying to hit the .25 tempo, but accidentally hit a splash shot with a slow tempo (.26 or more), the results are worse and tend to leave the ball short in the bunker.  It can be useful for a few situations but for the most part I'll always hit splash with a slightly fast tempo.   Better to avoid the duff and the 3 second rule altogether.    

 

Yes you will get more roll out when swinging this way, but with a little practice you will get used to it.   Try to find your sweet spot of aiming away from the flag to account for the ball going left.  

Also try to find 3 or 4 animation clues at different points of the swing to give you a reference for distances.  Then you can just visually adjust your backswing to fill in the gaps.  

This is the same approach I use for all pitch shots as well (Aim right of the flag and hit it with a slightly faster tempo) 

[Pappy]

mcthommo,
but with a little practice

Wonderful tips above but the best overall, imo, is the above. Don't know if it's older age or what but there are some things I just have to deal with so I practice with that in mind. I have a play chart that I'm sure is not the same as others and would probably not help anyone else - it's just the way I swing just like irl. So don't feel if the results aren't like someone else's that that's not good etc.The results is what counts:)

[Crow357]

I had never thought about just playing the short shots with a different tempo!  Brilliant!  Off to Woody's for me!

[mcthommo]

Have been playing a lot recently and have managed to shoot underpar for a lot of rounds recently which for me is really good!

I still struggle with bunkerplay as no matter what tempo I try to use- even with the various tips and tricks mentioned- for any shot under 30 feet it is still luck as to get it close in my book.

I would like the option just for bunker play to have a half distance meter- you would still have to do the tempo, length of swing but it might give a bit more freedom and authenticity to it

Not complaining but just a thought!

[frank70]

In former games we had the option to determine a striking point. For bunker play that would mean how much sand you will take before the ball. Then you apply more power and still get it out softly for shorter bunker shots. Right now the short ones are the most difficult but two meters aren't that realistic imho.

It's no weakness of the game by no means, but hitting down on the ball (Garcia) or picking it more of the ground (Kuchar) isn't in there. I imagine it to be very difficult to implement (physics), but it would give a lot more shot making options - for greenside bunker play as well.

[Armand]

I try to swing with a slower ratio on greenside bunker shots, but I don't know what tempo I get (or even aim for).  I aim left of the flag and then with the slower ratio, the ball flies a bit right.  It seems a bit natural to me to swing that way from the bunker, otherwise with my "normal" ratio swing, the ball goes quite long and left of target.

 

Too slow, and I leave the ball in the bunker or sometimes between the bunker and green.  I still get the odd shot that is too far and left, but that happens in my real game as well. 

[mcthommo]

I am not complaining or asking for a method that turns it into TW08 where it was no hazard or punishment at all but I just wish that it would be possible to hit the different bunker shots that I (used) hit in real life - the hard swung zippy spinner or the long spinless dump shot. Due to the nature of  the tempo meter and distance control, it is not possible to use any method at all as far as I can see!!!!!

I understand it mush be incredibly difficult to program something like this but would really love for something like this to take the game to the next level as it is quite an important element to a lot of courses and rounds

[wim1234]

hmmm, on mouseswing- h here, i can do a shortish floplike shot from bunker and a longer one too.

it took me some time to figure it out how to, tho

for the floppylikeshot, i just do the forward swingpart real fast.  you can play with the shotshaper too.

and no, its not like in real, i think you should lower that expectation.

programming real live behaviour, is very very difficult and needs supercomputers.

at best we can get here a reasonable approximation.  and i think its not bad at all as it is now.