Most fat shots occur when:
- The golfer fails to transfer weight from the right side to the left (for a right-hander) during the downswing. ...
- The swing is too steep, causing the club to impact the turf before the ball.
- The ball is too far forward or too close to your body. ...
What causes you to hit a fat golf shot?
What Causes a Golfer to Hit it Fat?
- Ball Position This is the most common mistake I see among amateur golfers. Fortunately, it’s also the easiest to fix. ...
- Pressure Shift I talk about pressure shift a lot. It may seem overly simple, but trust me: When my students get the pressure shift right, they see major improvement ...
- Angle of Club Shaft
How to stop hitting a fat golf shot?
Video Drill To Stop Hitting The Ball Fat
- Have a friend take a video or record your own (preferably a slow-motion video if possible) of you hitting a golf ball.
- Then, draw a circle around your head at address, using a free app like “Hudl Technique.”
- As you watch the video, focus on your head. ...
- Be sure to notice your biggest tendencies. ...
How do you stop hitting golf balls fat?
How to Stop Hitting Fat or Thin Golf Shots – 5 Quick Tips 1. Check Your Setup. A vast majority of the issues amateur golfers face can be traced back to a poor set up. If you’re hitting fat golf shots, make sure the ball is positioned properly in your stance by using your breast bone (middle of the chest) instead of your feet.
What causes hitting golf ball fat?
What Causes Hitting Behind the Golf Ball?
- Overview. Hitting behind the golf ball, or hitting it "fat," is a common problem, especially with high handicappers.
- Ball Position. Perhaps the most common problem for fat shots is playing the ball too close to the front foot, especially with shorter clubs.
- Sliding the Hips. ...
- Head Slide. ...
- Loose Leading Arm. ...
- Back Shoulder Dip. ...
- Improper Weight Transfer. ...
What is a fat or thin golf shot?
Generally speaking, a thin or fat shot is caused by having your swing center too far behind the ball at impact. This error causes your club to bottom out too far behind the ball and will cause you to hit the ground first (a fat shot) or hit the top of the ball (a thin shot).
What is hitting it fat?
In golf a fat shot – or a golf shot hit fat – is one that sees the club penetrating the ground before making contact with the ball. This is in contrast to a better shot that sees the clubhead making contact with the ball before it proceeds to penetrating the ground, as should happen in shots made with irons and wedges.
How do you get rid of fat shots in golf?
7:1315:34GOLF: How To Stop Hitting Fat Shots - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe more you open your body from the top the odds of you hitting fat shots decrease.MoreThe more you open your body from the top the odds of you hitting fat shots decrease.
Can a strong grip cause fat shots?
Fat shots. One of the other signs of an overly strong grip is the tendency to hit the ball fat, especially on short iron shots. As mentioned above, a strong grip makes it easy to release the club on the way down, and an early release could cause you to stick the club in the ground behind the ball.
How do I hit my irons pure every time?
Start back with your arms: Achieving a sound position at the top is critical to hitting pure irons tips. But you can't achieve a solid top position without executing a proper backswing. If your backswing is off, your top position will be off. If your top position is off, your downswing will be off.
What causes hitting fat golf shots?
A very common reason we hit a fat shot is because we stay on our back foot. This limited weight transfer will deliver the club behind where we setup. By placing the ball slightly more forward in our stance, we may be able to encourage ourselves to transfer our weight in our golf swing.
What causes hitting the ball fat?
Fat and thin shots are caused by the same problem: The club bottoms out before the ball. The cause often is that the swing is out of sequence. When I get out of sync--say, an overactive lower body--I feel I'm late with my hands, so I release the club to catch up. And I hit it fat.
Why do I chunking my irons?
Chunked or fat shots are often the result of having a “low point,” the vertically lowest point of the swing's arc, too far behind the ball. What we see with many golfers that chunk their irons is the upper body bends too far forward in the downswing and then stays there during the follow-through.
What does hitting fat and thin mean?
J.D. Cuban. A lot of golfers never get over the instinct to lift the ball off the ground. They swing off their back foot or flip their hands through impact, both of which make the club bottom out too soon. As a result, they hit the ground first (fat shot) or catch the ball on the upswing (thin shot).
How do I stop hitting fat?
5:398:39HOW TO STOP HITTING BEHIND THE BALL INSTANTLY (No Joke)YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipMove right there you're using your arms to release early so that would be hitting with your arms.MoreMove right there you're using your arms to release early so that would be hitting with your arms. You're up here you're pulling the club.
Why do I hit shots fat?
The main reason that a fat shot occurs, though, is that a player has unnecessarily moved their “swing center.” You can think of your center as one of two things, either your head or your sternum. I tend to use the head reference more often because it doesn't twist throughout the swing as the sternum does.
What does hitting it thin mean in golf?
Golfers who hit a lot of thin shots tend to swing the club too steeply into the ball. That's because they slide past the ball on the downswing and have to force the club down to make contact. When they slide too far, they catch only the top half of the ball, hitting it thin.
What is a fat shot in golf?
In golf a fat shot – or a golf shot hit fat – is one that sees the club penetrating the ground before making contact with the ball. This is in contrast to a better shot that sees the clubhead making contact with the ball before it proceeds to penetrating the ground, as should happen in shots made with irons and wedges.
How to explain hitting fat shots?
Hitting fat shots from fairway bunkers are commonplace and can be explained by how deep your feet are dug in at address. Indeed, a sandy lie brings with it another variable in how deep your feet dig into the ground, in relation to the ball.
Why does swinging make you fat?
Swaying can lead to fat shots because it moves the bottom of the swing arc away from where it was set at address.
Why do fat shots occur?
The fundamental causes behind fat shots relate to the arc of the swing itself and more specifically to the position of the bottom of the swing arc. Indeed, in order to produce a shot that sees the club penetrating the ground before contact is made with the ball – such as the case with fat shots – the bottom of the swing arc needs ...
Why is my golf ball so far forward?
Is the ball located too much forward? One of the reasons your club may penetrate the ground before it hits the ball has to do with the placement of the ball itself in your stance , in relation to your feet. A ball placed too much forward – towards the target – can prove tricky to hit cleanly and can result in fat shots.
What is the error in golf that leads to fat shots?
A typical error that golfers make which can lead to fat shots is that they fail to keep this spine angle constant throughout the golf swing.
How to swing at full speed?
The general guideline for swings at full speed is to place the ball in the center of your stance for wedges and short irons and to incrementally move your feet back in order to find the ball forward as the length of the clubs increase.
What Causes Fat Golf Shots?
A typical golf swing works in a pendulum motion. In order to connect with the ball properly, the bottom of the arc of the swing should land a couple of inches behind the ball. This means you’re striking the ball on your downswing and taking a divot after you’ve hit connected with the ball.
Why do golfers hit the ball fat?
But many golfers will hit the ball fat because they address it too far forwards in their stance.
What is hitting the ball fat?
Updated April 26, 2021. Hitting a golf shot sweet is one of the best feelings in sport. But a lot has to go right for you to hit the perfect shot and one of the most common issues golfers suffer from is what’s known as hitting the ball fat. A fat golf shot is when a golfer miscues his swing and chunks the ground with their club before they hit ...
What happens when you hit a fat shot?
Typically, when you hit a fat shot, your downswing comes down a lot shallower onto the ball, meaning that your club will connect with the ground a couple of inches before the ball, preventing you from striking the ball flush.
What is the line A in golf?
Line A shows the swing arc of a good golf shot, connecting with the ball on the downswing, and bottoming out behind the ball. Line B shows the arc of a fat golf shot which hits the ground first and bottoms out before or underneath the ball. This shallow swing trajectory can be caused by a number of factors, from where you place ...
How to swing a golf ball?
Stay upright, but keep your head and body as still as you can until you make impact with the ball where the natural motion of your swing should cause you to rotate your pelvis into the shot, straighten your legs, and rise up opening your chest after impact.
Why do you have to have the ball slightly forward?
This is to keep the club central to your body, to help you connect with the ball at the right point in your downswing.
How to correct a fat shot in golf?
Correct a "fat" golf shot by hitting the ball cleaner for greater distance. “Fat” shots occur when you take a divot before you even touch the ball. Hitting the ground is not only bad for your golf stroke, but it is hard on your body. Sometimes a fat shot is the result of a new golfer being told “keep your head down,” or it's the result ...
How to prevent fat shots on downswing?
Shifting your weight forward properly on the downswing will prevent a fat shot. When you take the club back and it is parallel to the ground, your weight will transfer to your back foot.
How to hit the ball fat?
Hitting the ball fat is the result of a steep golf swing. Take the club back with the arms as you rotate your shoulders around your spine. The movement is around your body, rather than a steep up and down motion.
How to stop hitting the ball fat?
Straighten Your Posture. To stop hitting the ball fat, make sure your posture is correct during setup. Although your knees should be soft or slightly bent, you should lean forward just 20 degrees from the hips, and your back should be close to straight.
How to check your posture on golf?
To check on your posture, put the club a few inches behind the ball before hitting. The club should not reach the ground. If it does, you are bent over too much. Low posture promotes a fat shot.
Is hitting the ground bad for golf?
Hitting the ground is not only bad for your golf stroke, but it is hard on your body. Sometimes a fat shot is the result of a new golfer being told “keep your head down,” or it's the result of a too-steep swing. With practice, though, you can eliminate the fat shot and bring more distance to your golf game.
What is a fat golf shot?
A fat golf shot is what occurs when you attempt to hit the ball, but you hit the ground first which results in a poor shot that hardly goes any distance followed by a large divot.
Why is weight transference important in golf?
As previously mentioned, weight transference during your swing makes a big difference when it comes to how well you hit the ball. This is why you need to learn how to properly transfer your weight when you swing the ball.
How far should your body be from your hips when hitting the golf ball?
When you are getting ready to hit the ball, make sure you are leaning forward and your body is about 20 degrees from your hips. You should also make sure that you aren’t dipping your body because low posture can lead to fat golf shots.
How to hit the ball properly in golf?
To hit the ball properly, your golf swing should turn around the body, not make your move in an awkward up and down motion.
Why is my golf swing so steep?
This is also the reason they slice the ball a lot. The reason that their swing is so steep, is because their angle of approach is way too sharp. If you find yourself doing this, it means that you are tilting your shoulders too much, instead of just turning them.
Why is posture important in golf?
When it comes to golf posture is very important, because it affects how you hit the ball. Before you swing your club, make sure that you have the right posture, which means that your chin should be up and your head should be away from your chest. This will make it easier for you to swing through and hit the ball very well.
Why is it important to swing the club on the opposite side?
When you are swinging the club, it is important that you move your weight to the opposite side when you are on your downswing. Having too much weight on one side causes the body to twist like a bow and makes it difficult to get the lateral movement you need to hit the ball properly.
Why does a fat shot rarely hit?
Unlike a thin shot, the fat or “chunked” shot rarely reaches its target because little or no clubface actually contacts the ball. It's especially devastating when hitting over a hazard like water or sand, where the fat shot usually lands.
How to fix fats on golf ball?
Adjust your ball position/stance: Fixing your fats may be as painless as moving the ball closer to the middle of your stance. If that doesn't work , inch slightly farther from the ball to flatten your swing and put the clubhead on a shallower attack angle.
Why are golf clubs fat?
Clubs that are too long can lead to fat shots simply because you won't have enough room to swing them down to impact without first catching the turf behind the ball. Golf clubs can be adjusted either longer or shorter based on your needs, so visit a professional club fitter to have your set checked.
What does it mean when you swing down toward the ball?
When you are swinging down toward the ball, you need to trust in your swing completely. When that trust starts to waver, you may slow down the movement of the club in an effort to 'guide' the club face to the ball.
What does it mean when your golf club hits the ball fat?
Hitting the ball fat is one of the worst feelings in golf. As soon as your club digs in to the turf, you know that the shot is going to come up short of your target. You don't even want to look up to watch the ball fly, because you know the end result is not going to be a good one.
Why is my golf swing so steep?
The swing is too steep, causing the club to impact the turf before the ball. The ball is too far forward or too close to your body. If the ball is to the left of the spot where your swing naturally bottoms out, you'll either hit it thin or fat. Standing too close to the ball creates an overly upright (steep) path.
How to do a heel up on a golf swing?
2) Lift your right heel so that only your toes are touching the ground. 3) Make your normal swing. Lifting the heel raises your right shoulder and makes it easier to transfer weight to your left on the downswing while promoting a downward strike on the back of the ball.
What does it mean when a golfer hits a fat shot?
Proper control in the downswing will prevent fat shots. A "fat shot" is a term used to describe a shot that travels less distance than expected due to a swing that takes a large divot behind the ball. When a player hits it fat, it usually means that he failed to strike down on the ball.
Why does a shot come up fat?
Most often, a shot comes up fat because a player has failed to get his weight forward before the moment of impact. By keeping the weight on the back leg, instead of transferring it onto the lead leg, the player is leaning back at impact, causing him to hit too far behind the ball.
How to get a good finish on golf?
Begin by standing over the ball in the ideal contact position, with the straight line from your lead leg through your lead wrist and arm, and your trailing wrist breaking so that the club is ready to hit where a ball would be. Bring the club back slightly and swing forward, being sure you maintain this form at the bottom of the swing. Continue to gradually increase the length of the arc of the swing until you are taking a full swing with the proper drive down on the ball.
How to get proper impact in golf?
To get proper impact, the first motion in the downswing should be a slight flexing of the legs, lowering the center of gravity. The player should then move parallel to the ground toward the lead leg, so that the player's center of gravity is slightly forward of the ball when contact is made.
What does it mean when a golfer hits the ground too far back?
A fat shot means that a player is striking the ground too far back in the swing process. In an ideal swing, the club strikes the ground in front of the ball, after contact, creating a divot in front of where the ball was resting.
How to hit fat golf shots?
If you are hitting fat golf shots, the first place to start is with your address position. With your mid irons, the ball should be positioned slightly forward of middle in your stance so that your sternum is over the ball. Importantly, your hands should be a fraction ahead of the ball. This will encourage the downward angle ...
What is fat golf?
Hitting fat golf shots is one of the most frustrating faults in the game. It doesn’t matter how forgiving your irons are, if you are striking the ground before the ball, some technical swing changes are needed. Here, we will look at where hitting fat golf shots comes from and offer some pointers for how to improve your ball striking.
Where should weight be in golf?
The basic key here is that your weight should move towards your back foot in the backswing and then towards the target in the downswing. For some golfers, there is a desire to lean back through impact to help the ball into the air.
When hitting irons, should your divots start after the ball?
When hitting irons, your divots should start after the ball. For the best possible iron contact, you should aim to strike the ball and then the ground. This is a useful image to have in mind for any player who is struggling hitting fat golf shots.