In order to properly shift your weight, you first must load up your weight on the inside of your back leg on the backswing. To help you to achieve this move, at address, simply pinch your back knee toward the golf ball, and press your big toe into the ground so you can feel the weight shift to the inside of that back foot. This way, you can still shift weight away from the target on the backswing.

To hit better bunker shots, you have to make a few key adjustments to your normal golf swing. First, in a regular shot, your body weight naturally shifts from your center, to your right, and finishes on your left. With a bunker shot, there's much less weight shifting, as your weight should start on your left stay on your left and finish on your left!

Practicing your chip and pitch shots with a 7 - SW to help you better feel the clubhead and see more creativity on the green. First, feel the face open and try to get some extra loft out of it to make the ball travel like a high, soft pitch shot over a bunker that needs to land and roll very little. To set this loft, you may also need to adjust your setup by lowering your hands to allow your wrists to hinge sooner. Next, push your hands forward so the ball is back in your stance. This delofts the club and makes the ball stay low and run out. Try to see how low you can hit it while making solid contact. Then try a standard chip shot that goes about knee height with some roll. You could even try using it to get out of a bunker! Once you've hit all three shots with your 8-iron, try the same thing with your sand wedge: open the clubface and make the ball go high and low, make it run out and make it spin. Once you've mastered this drill with both clubs, you'll have a better understanding and feel for how to set up and use the clubface to control the height and amount of roll on your shots. Also when you get to use your sand wedge for a pitch shot, it will seem much easier than that 8-iron.

Criss-Crossed
If you're aim is crooked at the start, you're likely to be crooked at impact, as well. In this photo, my lower body is aimed right (in an effort to prevent coming across the ball-or so I think), but my upper body is still way to the left. This setup position is typical of most slicers who tend to hand a big, bellowing slice that starts right and slices even farther to the right. Also typical are reverse pirvots caused by little room for the hips and lower body to rotate through impact with the ball.

Too-Open
The obvious slice fix is to aim farther to the left, right? Not so. If you're a slicer, the more you aim to the left, the more pronounced your slice will be. As you can see here, my upper body and lower body are, in fact, aligned, but my clubface is still facing the fairway. This means I'm going to cut across the still facing the fairway. This means I'm going to cut across the ball and make my slice bigger. Also, when you open up too much and don't reposition the golf ball relative to your stance, the ball effectively moves back, making the slice even worse.

The first and most important key to getting rid of a slice is to stop opening your stance (as you can see in the photo on the opposite page). Doing this will force a swing path that cuts across the ball from outside to inside the target line, adding more slice spin. The solution? Square your shoulders so they're parallel to the target. As for your feet, they should be square, or even slightly closed (also opposite page) to encourage an inside-to-outside the target line path. Also the correct way to start your downswing is to transfer your weight to your front side this will help to keep the clubhead behing the body and hit more inside to square.
Why does aiming left cause you to slice? In most cases, it's because many slicers think they're aiming to the left, when in actuality they aren't. When you set up and then open your stance, you're actually moving the ball back in your stance. Also, when you do this, and you don't close the clubface as well, you're in position to hit an even bigger slice!

When it comes to your grip, again, things may seem a bit counterintuitive. To help avoid slicing, the more you turn your hands to the right, the more inclined you'll be to start hitting your shots straight, or even a little to the left. This is what's sometimes referred to ass a "strong grip". But I think that's a bit of a misonmer. I prefer to call it an "active grip", since many think a strong grip means gripping the club firmly, with a lot of pressure. However, the firmer you grip it, the less your wrists will roll and close the face through impact, so don't do that! Position your hands as you see here, and maintain a firm, but supple, grip pressure. Don't tense up; instead, let the position of your hands do its job and get the hands more active during the swing. I'll bet you see fewer slices right away.

Make an adjustment in your setup by tilting your shoulders away from the target. See how my right shoulder, and even my right hip is slightly lower than my left at address? This tilt will encourage my body to take the club back and to the inside. If I set up with my shoulders level to the ground, I'll be more inclined to swing along or away from the target line, thus forcing me to swing from the outside in, causing me to swipe across the ball and impart a lot of slice spin.

Make a normal backswing and you'll notice that you've increased your arc (notice how much wider it is in the two photos). From there, at the top of your swing, it's vital that you shift your weight correctly in the downswing. Opening up your foot will help you do that. In fact, it produces a much better turn through the ball and makes shifting your weight to your left side that much easier.

From there, make sure your upper body is parallel to the target line. Now turn your lower body 45° closed. The reason you do this is to stop your left side from turning through the shot. That will force you to release the golf club. Another key factor to consider is ball position. Place it so it's actually in the center of your body, opposite your shirt buttons. The result from such an extreme setup? A big, sweeping hook that'll teach you how to release the clubhead! Now, take that feeling and apply it to less extreme shots.

In the left and right photos, I'm demonstrating how to hit a slight face and draw. Basically, the same rules apply whether you want to hit a draw or a fade-all you have to do is the opposite to produce the desired result. First notice how my clubface is aiming straight down the line at the target and how my body lines (feet, waist, shoulders) are aiming either slightly to the left or right. From there, I swing along my body lines. I keep my clubface where it is but swing as if I'm hitting the ball to the left or right. This starts the ball out to the left or right and then, because the clubface is aiming straight, brings the ball back on that line. Nothing fancy here, just a sound setup that produces a curving ballflight.

Notice, in the three black-and-white photos, how inefficient my backswing is? In each example, I haven't rotated my body completely. In the color photo, however, my shoulders are 90° to my target line, and I'm creating major torque. And the greater my torque, the better chance I'll have of hitting the ball far. Practice as I'm doing here and then retain that feeling when you swing a club. The better you can turn in the backswing, the more separation you can get between your hips and shoulders in the downswing, creating the torque you need for greater speed. Make a full, complete backswing while resisting with your lower body, then unwind first with your lower body and let the club whip through impact.

Note the differences in my ball position and how high I've teed it. With the ball teed a little bit farther ahead in my stance and lower, I'll have to hold off my release which will keep the face open so I hit a little cut. Try this on the range and notice how it impacts your shot shape.

To hit a high pitch, I like to keep things simple. Address the ball as you normally would with your high-lofted wedge, with the ball positioned center or slightly forward of center. Only now, concentrate on releasing the hands faster through impact. With a quicker release, the clubhead will outrace the hands and add both loft and bounce to the club. Because of this, don't be afraid to hit down aggressively onto the ball and use the club's bounce to avoid hitting a fat shot. As for your finish, the shaft should be vertical, as you see in the photo to the left. This a sure sign of a quick, handsy release through the ball.

As with a high shot, I play the ball in the center to slightly forward in my stance. Only now, instead of concentrating on a faster release of the hands, I try to delay the release of the hands to help hit the ball lower and with forward roll. I'm not intentionally trying to keep my weight on my left side, nor do I intentionally try to keep my weight on my left side, nor do I change my impact position all that much (for proof, check out the two sequences and note the similarities). Instead, by delaying, or slowing, the release of the hands, I'll make contact with less loft and create less backspin. The key is to remember to rotate the body and finish the shot with the shaft below the hands, as you see in the photo to the right.

In this case, I need to hit a draw around a tree to have any chance at a birdie. To start, align your clubhead as you normally would: right at the target. As for your body, aim to the right. The face will look closed, but trust you're setting up correctly.

To hit the draw, the hands have to release, and the clubface has to close through the shot. Notice how the shaft is parallel to the ground? Now look at the clubface. It's facing down, further indicating I've hit a draw/hook effectively around the tree.

The key here is to trust your alignment and swing out to the right! Don't feel as thought you need to tug the clubhead back to the left. Because the clubface was square to the target (and closed relative to your body line), a draw is imminent. Swing closed relative to your body line), a draw is imminent. Swing along your body line and be ready for a right-to-left ballflight.

To make good ball-first club contact, you must adjust your setup accordingly. First, place the ball slightly back in your stance. When the ball is back, the club will hit the ball first before bottoming out and hitting the sand. The other setup key is to grip down slightly on the club about half an inch. Doing this makes the club slightly shorter and more difficult to hit the sand too soon during the swing. As a result, take one extra club (if you'd usually hit an 8-iron, try a 7) so you can make a controlled swing.

In golf, you never want to "scoop" the ball, but especially for this shot, you must hit down on it to escapte the divot and get it airborne! To hit down on it, place the ball slightly back in your stance and your hands slightly ahead of the ball. You want your backswing to be a little more upright as you hit down on the ball. Make sure your wrists are relaxed so they hinge a little earlier in the backswing. Make a three-quarters swing and hit down on the shot. Expect a shorter follow-through, and as a result, a more descending blow.

1. Align & Visualize
To draw the ball, the first thing you need to have is the right image. Begin by setting your sights on a spot to the right of your target. This is your starting line. Now, imagine your ball beginning on that line (illustrated in white, above) and curving left, back to the target. Visualizing your shot will send valuable information to your muscles and help turn that image into a reality.
When setting up for a hook, it's a good idea to close your stance a touch, as well. (Note how my left foot is slightly closer to the ball than my right).

2. Bend Forward
A steep swing encourages an open clubface and, thus, a slice. To fix this, you have to swing on a flatter plane, and that starts at address.
Begin by bending over more during setup. This steepens your shoulder plane. Your arms now will swing on a flatter arm swing also will encourage your clubface to close through impact, thus bending the ball to the left.