Green side sand shots

If you are leaving your ball in the sand after your hit, you probably are coming in too steep of an angle, so try flattening or rounding out your swing instead. Instead of chopping wood, imagine swinging a bucket of water starting from the right side of your body, throwing the water out to your left side and slightly up and behind you (your right hand is holding the bottom of the bucket and the left hand is holding the lip or top edge of the bucket), this will round out your swing. 

Here is another way to feel what it is like to flatten your swing plane,  imagine your knees resting in the sand bunker, you then choke up on the club and then hit the ball from that position. This sensation helps to develop a shallow swing plane and if you've watched the proper swing action from a green side bunker, the golfer will finish with his hands low, and close to his left hip pocket, with the face of the club open and facing up towards the sky.  

This is an outstanding lesson for hitting good sand shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhniJ-elDVg. Key points in this lesson are as follows: Set up with your body and center of gravity lower to the ground by using a wider stance than normal and with your left foot turned slightly open and your left knee pointing to your left toe; slightly open the club face at set up;  ball should be in line with your left heel; Take a shallow cut of sand under the ball using the bounce of your club to make contact with the sand; maintain this loft and bounce throughout the shot; at impact release the club with your right wrist and feel that the right wrist is working under your left wrist (at finish your left hand is cupped, or into its extension and facing upwards).  

NOTE: Unlike your regular full shot swing where some golfers right forearm will rotate over their left forearm at their release, with the sand shot you need to keep your right wrist under your left wrist at impact, this to keep the face open. See 2:30 mark in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeWItQ8j21c.