Hitting the ball fat.

[nyjets2806]

Recently I've started hitting the ball fat a good bit. I've always done it on the rare occasion but now its starting to be a consistent problem on almost every shot. Even my 3 woods off the deck and tee are taking divots and causing me to get way under the ball. Though I'm not hitting it really fat (only losing around 5-15 yrds with my irons) and its a managable problem on the course, its very annoying. A lot of times when I don't hit it fat I'll get jerky on the move down and either pull it or hit it then too, which is something I never did until recently. Just wondering if anyone else has had problems similar to this and/or know of any good drills or tips to fix it. I tried the line drill and putting the clubhead cover behind the ball during the swing (casting is whats causing the fat shots, I'm almost positive) but neither worked for me.

[Shindig]

  nyjets2806 said:

Recently I've started hitting the ball fat a good bit. I've always done it on the rare occasion but now its starting to be a consistent problem on almost every shot. Even my 3 woods off the deck and tee are taking divots and causing me to get way under the ball. Though I'm not hitting it really fat (only losing around 5-15 yrds with my irons) and its a managable problem on the course, its very annoying. A lot of times when I don't hit it fat I'll get jerky on the move down and either pull it or hit it then too, which is something I never did until recently. Just wondering if anyone else has had problems similar to this and/or know of any good drills or tips to fix it. I tried the line drill and putting the clubhead cover behind the ball during the swing (casting is whats causing the fat shots, I'm almost positive) but neither worked for me.

I had a fat shot problem during the summer, which was annoying because my SGI irons dig into mud really well. I moved the ball back slightly and it went away. It was a stop-gap measure until I could get to the range to work on it, but essentially, I put the ball where I expected the club to find it. Not as good as having the club find it where I wanted it, but still.

[Fried Egg]

Put a tee in the ground just in front of the ball (on the target side) and try to swing down through the ball and into the tee. Double check ball position to make sure it's not too far forward. Make sure your weight is shifting forward. Sometimes the upper body can tilt backwards even though the lower body is shifting forward.

[Steaksauce]

Your wrist angle could be breaking down on the downsqing before you hit the ball, or you may just have a little to much body motion going on.

[PMGOLF]

Work on hitting balls with your weight on you front foot. If you stack your weight on the front leg, and never get it to you back leg, it is very hard to hit it fat.

[nyjets2806]

i think i was getting my lower body too involved. i worked on it today and was alot better than it has been lately. still hit a few fat every now and then but it was only 2-3/10 instead of 7-8/10.

[Poatrivialis]

What direction do your divots point relative to the target line? If your divots indicate an outside-in swing path I'd guess you're lifting the club too high on the backswing and coming back to the ball on too steep an angle.

[ks8829]

When I hit it fat

I am usually swaying and not turning
I am using my hands too much and not turning my shoulder

Have someone stand behind you and see if you are swaying and or
Send us a picture from behind and the side

[supercow]

You should also recheck your posture. A lot of the time I find that when I am too stooped over it leads to inconsistent/fat contact.

[ks8829]

When I hit it fat sometime my arms are not extended without tension to the ground and there might be a slight bend in my arms while hanging that I don't realize and when I take my back swing and come back to the ball my arms have extended and hit behind the ball.