Hitting the ball 'fat'? What's that mean?

[clickagent75]

I keep hearing the term "hitting the ball fat". What exactly does that mean?u

[green6767]

It means that you're hitting the ground first by quite a bit before making contact with the ball. This can be caused by a number of different things. Most popular ones are too steep of a downswing, swaying on the back foot at impact causing the weight transfer to be on the back foot instead of the lead foot, or the breakdown or cupping of the lead wrist at impact to name a few.

[$2 Nassau]

Yup, hitting the big ball before the little ball.

[VanillaEps]

Yup, hitting the big ball before the little ball.

That's a great analogy.

[Buckswin]

There's a guy here in Cincinnati named Ron Curran who gives lessons called Instant Bogey Golf. It's a ripoff, as his claim is that he teaches you how to shoot bogey golf without changing the swing that you have. His teachings boil down to:

1. Hit the little ball before the big ball (!)
2. If you slice it, turn your hands over sooner
3. If you hook it, turn your hands over later

Thing is, I saw him playing golf a couple of weeks ago at a goat track. If he broke 100, I'm Tiger Woods. A bogey golfer shouldn't shoot much higher than 83 or 84 there.

[supercow]

There's a guy here in Cincinnati named Ron Curran who gives lessons called Instant Bogey Golf. It's a ripoff, as his claim is that he teaches you how to shoot bogey golf without changing the swing that you have. His teachings boil down to:

I remember a friend who was playing alongside a professional once. The professional was apparently working on swing changes and looked like a mid-high handicapper on the course. Due to his short game though he ended up scoring one over. My friend (a 1 UK handicap) ended up scoring 3 over and was in a complete daze once he heard what the professonal's score was.

[Guest]

There's a guy here in Cincinnati named Ron Curran who gives lessons called Instant Bogey Golf. It's a ripoff, as his claim is that he teaches you how to shoot bogey golf without changing the swing that you have. His teachings boil down to:

Have you taken a lesson with Ron Curran? I have. I never shot better than 100, and usually around 110-115. My slice has always been unavoidable. After one lesson I had learned how to draw the ball consistently, and hit my irons more consistently with fewer duffs and pop-ups. As for your account of watching him play, I won't argue as I wasn't there. But Ron is a 72 year old cancer survivor with one leg that's 2 inches shorter than the other due to surgery. He has an artificial hip and a metal rod down the middle of his left leg. He swings totally off of his back leg and uses his front leg only for balance so he doesn't fall over. He walks with a cane. And he never had to swing a club in any of our lessons to improve my game. If you want to get to par, he's not your guy. If you want to hit the ball solidly, he'll show you how to get the clubface square.

[Franco!]

Have you taken a lesson with Ron Curran? I have. I never shot better than 100, and usually around 110-115. My slice has always been unavoidable.

That's what I like to call Natural Golf.

[1337]

Forget all these smart asses with their long answers. Their stupid people trying to sound smart, this is a short answer------------ -FAT = hitting ground before ball.

[larlev]

Whew.....the term "fat" makes me cringe....

I just spent several long months getting this flaw erased from my swing....I hope I never have to say those words again....

[tm22721]

Whew.....the term "fat" makes me cringe....

How did you solve it ?

Muscle tension is my problem it makes an otherwise good swing inconsistent.

[msd3075]

How did you solve it ?

If I ever start to hit my irons fat, it's always the same culprit; I'm swaying in my backswing. All I'll do to fix it is to make sure my head stays over the ball during my backswing, and the fatties disappear.

[larlev]

How did you solve it ?

I wasn't making a proper shoulder turn, which led me to stay back. No weight transfer onto my left leg. Now that I have felt what hitting down and through the ball feels like, divots happen 90% of the time.

I also really make sure to turn my upper body and not sway my hips back away from the ball.