Hot Tip: What Causes Fat Shots in Golf?
- Ball Positioning. A golf ball may be positioned in a variety of ways, depending on the stroke you’re playing or the sort of golfer you are.
- Weight Transfer. Golfers who hit the ball fat frequently exert too much weight on their rear leg during the takeaway and downswing.
- Movement. ...
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 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 hard can you hit a golf ball?
The golf ball will travel furthest only when the hips are involved and uncoil during the downswing. Engraining into your head the thought to hit the ball hard – and thus far – your mind will make sure to get your hips involved which in turn provides a protection against the swing-with-the-shoulders-alone golf swing error.
How do I stop hitting it fat in golf?
4:208:39HOW TO STOP HITTING BEHIND THE BALL INSTANTLY (No Joke)YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThis practice swing you're gonna lift the heel. Three or four inches with irons. Five or six inchesMoreThis practice swing you're gonna lift the heel. Three or four inches with irons. Five or six inches with driver if you're drop kicking. So you've got that.
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 does it mean to hit a golf shot fat or thin?
Golfers thin the ball when our swing bottoms out in the wrong place. If your swing bottoms out behind the ball, the result is a fat shot. If the swing bottoms out ahead of the ball, the result is a thin shot.
What does fat hit mean?
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.
How do you stop fat shots?
4:1315:34GOLF: How To Stop Hitting Fat Shots - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo if I am from the top let's say I'm let's say I'm good to the top 50/50. If I come back and stayMoreSo if I am from the top let's say I'm let's say I'm good to the top 50/50. If I come back and stay too far back on my right side. Too long the odds of me hitting behind the ball increase from the top
How do I stop hitting fat iron shots?
Shifting your weight forward correctly on the downswing is another way to stop hitting it heavy. As you draw the club back, your weight should shift to your back foot. To eliminate a heavy strike, shift your weight back across to your front foot as you finish your downswing.
How do I stop hitting fat and thin golf shots?
3:456:41Stop Hitting Fat, Thin and Topped Shots with this Simple Golf Swing FixYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo it's a short backswing. To there and then open your body up the goal is is to get enough rotationMoreSo it's a short backswing. To there and then open your body up the goal is is to get enough rotation in your body. So that the hands lead now when we do it. Again.
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.
What does hitting it 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).
Why do I keep hitting the ground before the golf ball?
When a player hits the ground before the ball it is generally because their club is attacking the ball from too shallow an angle. Golf coaches refer to this as the "Angle of Approach".
Why do I keep hitting the ground behind the golf ball?
Golfers usually hit behind the ball because of poor pressure movement and casting. Usually the two go hand and hand and are seen to occur together. I would recommend that golfers practice small swings focusing on pressing into the lead foot to start the downswing.
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.
Does early extension cause fat shots?
Early Extension is one of the most common swing faults. It can cause heavy shots, thin shots, pushed shots, hooked shots, high ball flight and inconsistency.
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.
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.
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 ...
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 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.
Why do you need to lower the bottom of the swing arc?
Doing so will reduce the number of possible positions the bottom of the swing arc can be found and should allow you to produce purer shots on a more consistent basis.
What Causes a Golfer to Hit It Fat?
A noted above, a fat shot is caused by hitting behind the ball: Your golf club contacts the ground before it contacts the golf ball. Another way of saying the same thing: Your swing is bottoming out behind the ball.
What is a fat shot in golf?
A "fat shot" happens when the golfer's club hits the ground prior to making contact with the golf ball. That's not something the golfer ever wants to do (except with bunker shots), ...
How do golfers talk about fat shots?
Golfers might talk about "fatting it," or say, "I fatted that one" or "I caught that one fat" or "I hit it fat."
What is it called when you put sod over a golf ball?
That is embarrassing. (But every golfer has done it!) This is called "laying the sod over it" or "laying the turf over it."
How to get rid of fat shots in golf?
Make sure the golf ball isn't positioned too far forward in your stance. Check the Mishit Tip Sheets feature for a checklist of possible additional causes of fat shots.
What does it mean when you hit behind the ball?
Most people who hit an occasional (fat shot) move their heads backward as they start their downswings, which means that they hit behind the ball.". A similar approach to stop hitting the behind the ball (one using an object to block the club from bottoming out too early) is demonstrated in a YouTube videos.
Why is the golf ball traveling shorter distances?
That kills much of the energy of the shot, resulting in the ball traveling shorter distances. The more severely "fat" the ball is hit (meaning the more turf is between the club and ball), the shorter distance the ball will travel.
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 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.
How to move weight in the wrong direction?
Laterally moving backwards on your downswing and pushing your hips out behind you will move your weight in the wrong direction, favouring your back leg. This will move your swing arc back a couple of inches, causing you to to come down much sooner and narrower on the ball, chunking the turf too early.
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.
What happens when you get to the top of the backswing?
2. By the time they get to the top of the backswing, their torso and pelvis have “re-centered” back over the ball.
Do fat shots recenter late?
Inevitably, they’ll often re- center too late, which causes inconsistencies and fat shots.
How to beat the fats in golf?
FIGHT THE FATS. Grab your 7-iron, take your address position, lift your right foot off the ground, and then hit balls while standing on your left foot only. With all your weight forward, you’ll make a descending blow and ball-first contact. To beat the fats, strive for this front-sided feeling when you play.
What is fat iron shot?
Fat iron shots are the scourge of the average player. The club hits the ground behind the ball, turf goes flying — and the ball goes nowhere. If you can get to the fat shot’s root cause — hanging back on your right leg through impact — you’ll fix it quickly.
What does it mean when a golf club is farther behind the ball?
The farther behind the ball your club makes contact with the ground, the fatter and shorter the shot.
How to fix a fat shot?
The best way to go about fixing the fat shot is to look at your own swing and try to determine why you’re hitting the ground before the ball. You can look at your own swing recorded on video, or you can get someone else to look at your swing and try and isolate the problem. Also note that it is impossible to eliminate fat shots completely — every ...
What happens when you try to kill the ball?
Also note that when a less experienced golfer tries to force a shot or “kill” the ball, they become much more prone to making a sharp transition at the top of the backswing and coming into the ball too steep. As noted above, this will tend to cause a fat shot.
Why are fat shots called fat divots?
Fat shots are often steeper, so that the club produces a larger and deeper divot than normal. These divots are sometimes called fat divots, and that may very well be the origin of the term “fat shot”.
Why is my divot bigger?
Cause #2: Your swing path is too steep. If your swing is too steep, your club will tend to reach the ground quicker and your divots will tend to be larger. This problem is common in over-the-top swingers who also tend to have issues with slicing the ball.
Why is my swing arc bottom out?
Cause #1: The ball is too far forward in your stance. This is fairly straightforward. If your ball is too far forward, your swing arc will bottom out before you reach the ball and you will hit it fat.
What is the opposite of a thin shot?
The opposite of a thin shot, a fat shot is a shot in which the club (typically an iron) makes contact with and digs into the ground before it reaches the golf ball.
Why do golfers' heads move?
Many top golfers' heads do move a little downward and to the right in response to the targetward thrust of the lower body. But if the motion becomes accentuated, they--and you--will surely catch the ground before the ball.
Why is it important to learn one swing?
That's why it's critical to learn one swing, and adjust your grip or stance, rather than changing your swing.
Understanding Low Point Control
As a golfer, you may have heard that ‘low point’ is important, which begs the question, “ What is low point? “
The Swing Is Circular
In the downswing, the club head makes a circular movement, similar to a big hula hoop (although it is not perfectly planar and not perfectly circular). From a front on view with a 2D camera, it looks something like this:
Go Low Like A P ro
A professional golfer will have a low point which is in front of the ball for almost every shot which is struck with the ball resting on the ground. This is seen below:
Low Point Is NOT Ground Contact
One of the biggest misconceptions I see with not only amateurs but even teaching professionals is the idea that low point is the strike with the ground. It isn’t!
High Handicap P roblems
For a higher handicap golfer, the lowest point of the swing can be behind the ball, as shown below.
How to Get Better?
Having the ability to control your low point and arc height is absolutely vital if you want to strike the ball solidly like a professional. Combined with an improved center face contact, these are the most important determinants of your handicap level and golfing ability. This is something all professionals do, and is a must if you want to improve.
