SHORT GAME MIDDLE GAME
THE RECOIL BUNKER SHOT
BY JON PAUPORE, PGA | PHOTOS BY RYAN NOLL
HAVING TROUBLE ESCAPING from a
bad lie in the bunker? I’ve got just the shot
for you that I learned from my one of my
students on the PGA Tour, Briny Baird. I call
it the “recoil bunker shot” because, quite
simply, the goal immediately after contact
with the ball is to recoil and finish your
swing in reverse.
To start, address the ball as you nor-
mally would. Open the clubface to add loft
and grip the club securely in the hands.
Then go ahead and make a normal back-
swing. On the downswing, this is where
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LONG GAME
things get interesting. The goal is to stab
the sand behind the ball with a lot of force,
and instead of swinging through and using
the sand to lift the ball, I want you to im-
mediately recoil and let the clubhead get
out in front of the hands and snap back
after hitting the sand. It’s not the most
natural method for escaping the sand, but
what it does is create a tremendous amount
of whip coming in and going out of the
sand, which both serve to lift the ball up
out of the depression in the sand and get
the ball onto the green. As for how the
ball flies, it should pop out higher than
usual and with some forward roll.
The recoil bunker shot is not a traditional
one and, no doubt, takes some practice to
get used to how it feels. Start slow and de-
velop a rhythm for it–you don’t want to in-
jure yourself swinging too hard. Once you
get it down, not only will you impress your
foursome, but you’ll find yourself getting up
and down out of the sand much more often.
Don’t miss this tip in action! Visit golftips-
mag.com/video to see Jon demonstrating
the bunker recoil shot in slow motion!
 Your Game

RECOIL!

WEDGE FLEX
Ever heard of “wedge flex” before? If not, take a fied convention of ‘wedge flex’ was born. Also,
peek into your golf bag and see if you can identi- in terms of performance, a wedge flex shaft
fy the flex of the shafts in your wedges. If it’s performs well for the vast majority of players
marked with a “W,” odds are that means it’s a including high-handicappers and slow-swing-
wedge flex shaft. Now, what’s that mean? We speed players (above 90% of golfers). Only play-
asked Scott Carlyle, a wedge guru at Cleveland ers with really high swing speeds might want to
Golf for the answers: consider using a custom shaft flex (which is usu-
“A ‘wedge flex’ shaft refers to a flex profile ally an X-flex). Slow-swing-speed players
that’s designed to work best for the vast majori- shouldn’t worry about wedge flex being too
ty of players, and it’s actually very close to an S- strong because wedges (including their shafts)
flex steel shaft on the conventional scale. are designed for precision and consistency—
Because wedges are the shortest clubs, they not max head speed like drivers. Excess flex in
have very small, almost imperceptible differ- wedge shafts doesn’t help performance.”
ences between R- and S-flex. Thus, the simpli- —Staff Report
■ Jon Paupore, PGA, is the director of instruction at the Jim McClean Golf School at Red Ledges in
Heber City, Utah. For more information, visit redledges.com.