What type of "shot" is this?

[diw1515]

Been hitting my long irons pretty inconsistently lately. 1 shot can be a ripped 5 iron off the deck going about 200 yards and then the next can go about 50 yards. The latter is frustrating me obviously and what is happening is quite strange. At first I thought I was topping the ball but I'm not. It seems like I'm hitting the ball into the ground as it creates almost like a divot but not quite a divot. The divot is basically the path where the golf ball has shot through the grass. Essentially the divot has been caused by the ball rather than the club. Like a trail of destruction! The end result is a shot that moves across the ground never getting any more than a few inches from the ground, travelling no more than 50 yards! Can anyone tell me what kind of shot that is? Shallow fat hit? What causes it? I've been concentrating on getting in a better address position to ball and bending from the hips more and having my hands farther from my body

[saevel25]

Can anyone tell me what kind of shot that is? Shallow fat hit?

What causes it? I've been concentrating on getting in a better address position to ball and bending from the hips more and having my hands farther from my body

I would recommend starting a My Swing thread here, http://thesandtrap.com/f/4180/member-swings

Here are some guidelines, http://thesandtrap.com/t/38240/my-swing-video-threads-rules-please-read

To me it sounds like you have a very steep angle of attack. As for fixing it, it depends on what is happening in your swing. That is why I recommend starting a My Swing thread and video tape your swing.

[mvmac]

Been hitting my long irons pretty inconsistently lately.

1 shot can be a ripped 5 iron off the deck going about 200 yards and then the next can go about 50 yards.

The latter is frustrating me obviously and what is happening is quite strange. At first I thought I was topping the ball but I'm not. It seems like I'm hitting the ball into the ground as it creates almost like a divot but not quite a divot. The divot is basically the path where the golf ball has shot through the grass. Essentially the divot has been caused by the ball rather than the club.

Like a trail of destruction! The end result is a shot that moves across the ground never getting any more than a few inches from the ground, travelling no more than 50 yards!

Can anyone tell me what kind of shot that is? Shallow fat hit?

What causes it? I've been concentrating on getting in a better address position to ball and bending from the hips more and having my hands farther from my body

I'm not exactly sure what it's called but this would probably be a good first step on how to improve your contact. Point is, your club is bottoming out behind the ball, can lead to fat, thin or topped shots.

[vangator]

Simple. You're swinging too hard. You're probably starting to swing full speed at the top of your downswing. Slow it down until you get toward the bottom of your downswing.

[ryan772]

Simple. You're swinging too hard. You're probably starting to swing full speed at the top of your downswing. Slow it down until you get toward the bottom of your downswing.

+1 What it sounds to me like spunds like when I first started. Swung too hard hit some nice but shere luck on my part lol.

[ChrisWev]

Might be a good idea to put a "my swing" video up. I would probably suggest doing it face on for this particular problem.

Look on youtube at people like Mark Crossfield, Meandmygolf, Rick Shiels, Peter Finch etc, they all cover this, it's quite a common fault.

I wouldn't worry about this too much though at this point, a 5I is a tough club to hit for most golfers with a 15+ handicap. Most I've seen carry their 6i and 7i further, with much more consistency.