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
What happens when you hit a golf ball fat?
The main consequence of hitting it fat will be seen through a notable reduction in the distance travelled by the ball. This is caused by the fact the clubhead will be slowed down significantly by the ground as it travels towards the ball.
Why do golfers get fat shots?
Jack Nicklaus once said that the most common reason for a fat shot is sloppy head movement.
Why do I hit it fat when I try to swing?
And I hit it fat. This usually happens when you try to do something you shouldn't do, like hit a very hard or very soft shot. That's why it's critical to learn one swing, and adjust your grip or stance, rather than changing your swing. The late Jim Flick always said, "Measure yourself to where you want to be, and then stay level."
Why does my golf club bottom out behind the ball?
Cause #3: You leave your weight on your back foot. If you leave your weight on the back foot through the downswing, you will tend to lean your shoulders and body backwards (away from the target) and your club will bottom out behind the ball, thus hitting it fat.
How do I stop hitting the golf ball fat?
7:1515:34GOLF: 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.
Why am I hitting my golf iron shots fat?
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 and thin golf shots?
0:467:33How to stop hitting topped, thin and fat iron shots - 3 Causes - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd at the same time you want to make sure that we've got the shaft leaning forward. So if we canMoreAnd at the same time you want to make sure that we've got the shaft leaning forward. So if we can get the the shallow path with the club leaning. Forward we'll eliminate all of those fat thin.
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 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.
Why Do I Hit Fat Golf Shots?
There are a number of potential reasons. First your center might be behind the ball, your weight is stuck on your back foot or you have casted the club. All three of these swing faults lead to poor contact and make the fat shot possible.
How To Stop Hitting Fat Shots
Practice the low point control drill for 30 straight days. Remember to keep your center in place, set your weight with 60% on your front side, and throw the club from the top. This will all but eliminate your poor contact shots.
Final Thoughts: Why Do I Hit Fat Golf Shots
There is nothing like heading to the course without having to worry whether you are going to chunk a shot or thin a shot. You can spend time focused on hitting the shots that the golf course demands. Once you have achieved the fundamental #1, you can start to play the game and develop your draw and fade to help you reach the next level.
Why is it important to shift weight in golf swing?
It is important in any good golf swing to shift your weight when transitioning from the backswing into the downswing. This will encourage a swing arc that is more forward relative to the ball, and it will increase your chances of hitting the ball first.
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.
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 ...
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”.
What happens if your swing 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.
What is a fat 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. This normally does two things: it slows the club down immensely and it throws up a layer of sod/turf between the clubface and the ball. This typically results in poor contact, reduced ...
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.
Why is hitting the golf ball thin so destructive?
At the same time, on the course, it is quite a destructive shot because the ball generally does not go all that far. If you hit the ball thin, which may be a little higher up the golf ball, it can go a similar sort of distance as a full shot. At the same time, when you hit the ball fat, you lose loads of distance.
What does it mean to hit a golf ball with weight forward?
Weight Forward. When you are hitting the golf ball, you need to be careful and make sure that you have got your weight forward, forward meaning your lead leg. Having the weights forwards and having a decent amount of rotation in the entire body, it allows the hands to get delivered ahead of the golf ball.
What is the worst shot in golf?
One of the worst shots in golf is a fat shot. A fat shot occurs when the golfer’s club finds the lowest point of the swing behind the golf ball and hits the ground way earlier before actually striking the ball, or in other words, when you hit the ground before hitting the ball. Many golfers usually hit a high percentage ...
Why do you need to ensure that the ball position is correct at the setup?
You need to ensure that the ball position is correct at the setup. This will vary depending on the club that you use as well as on the golf swing that you have. This is because it will be different for every golfer and every club. Not everyone uses the same club or has the same golf swing, and hence, this deviates from each.
Why do you cast your golf club in the downswing?
It lowers down the golfers’ speed and it is very weak.
What happens if you swing a golf club on a plane?
Likewise, if you swing the golf club onto upright of the plane, the club will go up too much and eventually hit too much of the ground.
What does it mean when your golf club is steep?
A steep fat shot occurs when the position of your club is too steep, and your angle of approach is too sharp to the ground. When you hit a steep fat shot, you make your club dig in the ground way too deep and end up hitting fat. An easy way to identify a steep shot is when you have a “V” shape.
