SHORT EXPLOSION: PICTURE A "V"
Most players have trouble with very short explosions because they are scared of hitting the ball too long. The result is a tentative, decelerating swing that results in a mishit. Or, abandoning any hope of getting the ball close, they blast to a safe spot on the green nowhere near the hole. There is a better option.
Take your sand wedge, or better, a 60-degree wedge, and lay the face wide open, so much so that it points straight up to the sky. Set up as you would for a normal explosion-open, with the ball just ahead of your right heel, except with your feet a little closer together than usual-just inside shoulder width. To swing the club on the proper path and pop the ball up high and short, picture a large letter "V," with the ball at the bottom.
Concentrate only on making the clubhead travel abruptly upward and downward, along the line of the "V," and striking the sand two inches behind the ball. You don't have to follow through by completing the other side of the "V"; you don't even have to worry about powering the club through the sand. As long as you accelerate firmly downward behind the ball, you will generate enough force to produce a steep, but short trajectory.
LONG EXPLOSION: PICTURE A "U"
A shallower, more sweeping swing is required for a long explosion, so picture a wide letter "U." Use your pitching wedge, which has less loft and will make the shot fly lower and longer, and open the face. Take a slightly open stance, your feet shoulder-width apart. Swing back along the path of the "U": low and shallow. Swing forward on that same path, contacting the sand about an inch behind the ball and sweeping it forward.
In this case, follow-through is important: Make a full finish to guarantee that you get the club through the sand and send the ball forward on its low, long flight.
