Jay Golden: Hi! I'm PGA Member, Jay Golden, and in this series we've been talking abut Common Faults and Cures. Right now, we're going to talk about the Sand Shot. Common fault, high handicap golfers, when they're in the sand, they fear the sand because they've had almost no success. Either they hit too far behind and leave the ball in a trap, hit too close to the ball and hit over the green, occasionally hit a good shot, but they are too inconsistent because they don't know the bedrock fundamentals.

Number one, open up the club face so that it's facing the sky. Number two, since the club face is open, you have to aim to the left. Number three, know the exact spot behind the ball that you want the club to enter the sand, which is probably two-and-a-half to three inches. Number four, take a full confident swing and looking at that spot, hit that spot behind the ball.

A great drill to learn how to hit that spot is to make a line in the sand, and when you practice, keep swinging, trying to hit that line. If you're hitting too far behind the line, move that line back. If you're hitting too far in front of this line, move the line up. Find the spot where you could hit that line.

Tremendously important also, when you hit your sand shot, instead of putting your club right behind the ball, try putting it right behind the spot that you want to hit, two-and-a-half to three inches behind the ball. Look at that spot, study it. During your whole swing, look at that spot, look at that spot, look at that spot, and even after you hit, did you hit that spot? Your assignment is not to look where the ball goes, your assignment is to see whether or not you hit that spot.

In summary, open the club face, aim left, put your club behind the spot that you want to hit and take a full swing and hit that spot. We've talked about common faults and cures, I truly hope that they have helped your game.