1) How your ball is sitting in the sand.
2) The type of sand.
3) The depth of the sand.
4) How you want the ball to react.
As with most shots in golf, the lie determines your options. This is very true in the bunker. Bad lies leave you very few options and good lies give you many more.
The type of sand has to do with texture and size of the particles. Fine sand reacts very differently than coarse sand. Coarse sand will make the ball come out more easily so be aware of that.
The depth of the sand is determined by your feet. As you “dig” in to take your stance, you’ll get a good idea of how much sand you are dealing with. Less sand requires more dig in the strike, and more sand requires more skim in the strike. Check here for how bounce effects how the sand wedge works.
The closer to the ball you enter the sand without hitting the ball the more spin you will get. The further away from the ball you enter the sand the more roll you will get assuming it was shallow enough to get the ball out.
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