Hitting it fat

[Chazb]

No matter what I try I can’t stop hitting the ball fat keeping weight on left foot helps some doing the weight transfer makes things worse.I need a way to start the downswing to stop hitting the ball fat with some drills to work on.

[bluedot]

If there’s any way to do it, get a lesson.  Chances are there is a pretty easy fix for this, but anything you get told here is going to be about why WE hit it fat and what WE do to fix it.

 

FOR ME, fat shots are all about an arms only swing without a good turn.  And that’s MY cure; thinking about taking my left shoulder and knee toward the ball to start the swing.  I can’t unwind unless I wind up, and if I don’t turn, I hit to the ball instead of thru it.

 

But that’s ME…

[Hawkeye77]

Maybe it’s not starting the downswing. Get some good eyes on your swing!!

[phizzy30]

Lessons would be the answer.  With that said, I used to hit my irons fat a long time ago but have moved past that issue.  The former head pro who was my swing instructor at the time at El Caballero CC recognized it when I saw him for a lesson.  For me, it was lack of weight shift on the down swing.  As soon as I had the feel of getting to my left side with the proper hip action, I started to hit ball first then turf.  My ball striking with irons is one of the strongest parts of my game since then. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by phizzy30

[nlk10010]

I am actually working on my second PhD in hitting fat and echo the advice given above to get eyes on your swing. Just get the RIGHT eyes, I actually had an instructor tell me he had no idea why I couldn't get my weight forward.

 

The above out of the way, the idea that "more is better"; i.e. if I'm hitting it fat then I should shift my weight forward MORE, will kill you. There's a recent thread on these forums about an Eric Cogorno drill (others have employed it, it was just his version that was posted). It focuses on seemingly post-impact moves and trains your lower body to participate in the swing. It's the only thing that has enabled me to at least partly get my weight forward.

 

Good Luck. 

[GungHoGolf]

This live lesson may help:

 

 

[Zitlow]

Casting the club causes fat shots, unfolding the trail arm before the shift causes fat shots. Swinging the arms independently from the shoulders causes fat shots and hanging back causes fat shots. 

[bortass]

An easy drill is to take a small towel and place it 4 inches or so behind the ball. Hit the ball but not the towel. It will help you get the low point forward. If you really struggle, you can probably just move the towel back some and then close the gap as you improve.

 

Another drill, if you have access to a practice bunker, is to just draw a line where the ball would be and make a swing, trying to get the divot to be in front of that line. Don't even need a ball.

 

So the above should help you out but may not fix the core issue which is where the lessons that people mentioned above come in.

[bortass]

11 hours ago, Chazb said:

No matter what I try I can’t stop hitting the ball fat keeping weight on left foot helps some doing the weight transfer makes things worse.I need a way to start the downswing to stop hitting the ball fat with some drills to work on.

Oh, the weight transfer part could cause low point issues if you do it wrong. Some people see weight transfer and they slide instead which shifts their center of gravity backwards, along with the low point. Not saying that's an issue with your swing but it's a possibility. You may want to get some swing video and post it in the swing video section to get feedback as well.

 

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

Just to bring a different thought, were your clubs fitted for length?

[MonteScheinblum]

As others have said, there’s a specific reason you’re hitting it fat.  Any random drill is likely going to make it worse long term.  You have to address why.  As counter intuitive as it sounds, it could be as simple as the ball is too far back in your stance.  That’s common.  Arms trailing in sequence.  Poor shift.  Late wrist set.  Upper body lunging…or some random combination of the aforementioned.

[Shilgy]

7 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

Lessons would be the answer.  With that said, I used to hit my irons fat a long time ago but have moved past that issue.  The former head pro who was my swing instructor at the time at El Caballero CC recognized it when I saw him for a lesson.  For me, it was lack of weight shift on the down swing.  As soon as I had the feel of getting to my left side with the proper hip action, I started to hit ball first then turf.  My ball striking with irons is one of the strongest parts of my game since then. 

Corky?

[me05501]

When I hit it fat it's almost always because I cheat my turn in some way...either not turning back enough or not turning through aggressively. 

 

The other occasional cause is letting my trail shoulder dip on the way down but that doesn't happen if I focus on making a good turn. 

[MPStrat]

8 hours ago, Zitlow said:

Swinging the arms independently from the shoulders causes fat shots  

Ya this is a big one. 
 

The old tried and true internet causes for a fat shot are generally overrated and too oversimplified IMO. 
 

Inefficient movement and poor sequence which are often closely related are usually the culprits. Many people will go down the list of symptoms, but things tend to go off the rails very early in the swing. 

[virtuoso]

If it is "drop-kick" fat vs "dig-a-trench" fat, that will probably mean branching off to a different solution. All fatties are not created equal.

[Zitlow]

42 minutes ago, MPStrat said:

Ya this is a big one. 
 

The old tried and true internet causes for a fat shot are generally overrated and too oversimplified IMO. 
 

Inefficient movement and poor sequence which are often closely related are usually the culprits. Many people will go down the list of symptoms, but things tend to go off the rails very early in the swing. 

 

I can relate because I used to sabotage myself right off the ball and get off balance from the get go. From there everything was a series of compensations just to get the club on the ball.

 

Occasionally l managed to get off a good shot and say the worst 4 words in golf, "I got it now".  

[iacas]

5 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

As others have said, there’s a specific reason you’re hitting it fat.  Any random drill is likely going to make it worse long term.  You have to address why.  As counter intuitive as it sounds, it could be as simple as the ball is too far back in your stance.  That’s common.  Arms trailing in sequence.  Poor shift.  Late wrist set.  Upper body lunging…or some random combination of the aforementioned.

 

You probably see the same vicious cycle as I see pretty often:

• Player hits it fat, so they move the ball back.
• It helps temporarily, but they hit the ball too low, so they tip back a little to hit it higher.
• They hit it fat, so they move the ball back a little more. Go to step 2.

[phizzy30]

3 hours ago, Shilgy said:

Corky?

Mark Taylor. 

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

 

You probably see the same vicious cycle as I see pretty often:

• Player hits it fat, so they move the ball back.
• It helps temporarily, but they hit the ball too low, so they tip back a little to hit it higher.
• They hit it fat, so they move the ball back a little more. Go to step 2.

As often as my ex wife gets mad at me.

[Chazb]

One thing I have noticed that by pre setting my right foot with some weight on my in step with my right heel slightly raised has helped tremendously with eliminating fat shots.