But when you get into trouble and you have to dig the ball out, then the ball must be played back. Use a club that is practical for the point to which the ball is positioned between your feet.
So if you have a cuppy lie, play it back, nearer the right foot, and it will be amazing how readily a spoon shot can be picked off a hard surface, how readily a ball will come out of deep grass or how easily it will come out of a cuppy lie.
Shots into the wind
Using a straightfaced iron in this same manner (back off the right foot) will produce a low, powerful shot. This technique has often been referred to as being a push shot, one that only expert golfers can execute. But if you are topping the ball or failing to pick it up on fairway lies, just move the ball back towards your right heel and your troubles may disappear.
Sandtrap shots
If the ball is not buried in the sand and if it is not necessary to loft the ball sharply, there is no more reliable shot than the one just described. By playing the ball back opposite the right foot, a clean contact can be made with the ball-actually the ball will be on its way before the club encounters the sand. It is a reliable way of getting out of a sandtrap.
However, if it is necessary to raise the ball quickly, then instead of playing the ball opposite the right heel with the club in a closed position, it becomes necessary to play the ball opposite the left heel with the club in an open position. Be sure to keep the club in this open position throughout the swing.
With this technique it will be possible to actually fluff the ball out of the sand and drop it onto the green with no more roll than an Easter egg.
Gene Sarazen, winner of the U. S. Open, the P.G.A., the British Open and the Masters Championship, once played a course with extremely hard fairways and many bad lies. He deliberately aimed for the sandtraps around the greens, so that he could "explode" the ball next to the cup with a definite control. continue unusual shots in golf...