Slightly Confusing Issue

[KMYN]

This is only my second post on the forum but I'd appreciate any advice from you guys.

I've got a soul destroying problem with hitting fat shots constantly so naturally assumed the likely problem was not shifting my weight forward enough, so I tried a drill where you place the ball six inches in front of your club at address and then attempt to strike the ball to get an exaggerated feeling of shifting forward onto the left leg.

Turns out as soon as I tried it I started connecting sweetly! After a few shots I then moved the ball back to a normal position and seemed to hit chunky shots again which seems really counter-intuitive.

Is this likely to be some sort of weird physiological problem or could it be that the bottom of my swing was actually too far forward and the opposite of what I thought? My understanding is that fat shots are hitting the ground before the ball so I can't quite get my head round it.

Any thoughts appreciated, thanks!

[amished]

What's your head doing on the swings where your ball position is "normal"?  That's the first thing that I would look at, you could potentially be swaying backward when the ball is where it should be, and even though your weight is going forward, it's not where it should be at impact.  With the drill, you more than likely wouldn't sway backwards as you would never be able to get up to the ball otherwise so that's where I would start.

Also consider filming yourself during a practice session and post it in the member's swing forum which will really tell us what's going on with your swing.

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, amished said:

Also consider filming yourself during a practice session and post it in the member's swing forum which will really tell us what's going on with your swing.

Agree with this completely.  Its almost impossible to understand what's wrong without seeing your swing.  

[KMYN]

6 minutes ago, amished said:

What's your head doing on the swings where your ball position is "normal"?  That's the first thing that I would look at, you could potentially be swaying backward when the ball is where it should be, and even though your weight is going forward, it's not where it should be at impact.  With the drill, you more than likely wouldn't sway backwards as you would never be able to get up to the ball otherwise so that's where I would start.

Also consider filming yourself during a practice session and post it in the member's swing forum which will really tell us what's going on with your swing.

 

2 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Agree with this completely.  Its almost impossible to understand what's wrong without seeing your swing.  

Thanks for both these responses.

I did actually post a swing thread as my very first post. It didn't get any replies but I appreciate people are reluctant to help someone who hasn't contributed to the forum: 

This was a couple of months ago and I have only been playing 4 months or so in total so my swing looks different from this now because relative to how long I've been playing it was a while ago, although I can see that my head moves backwards during the backswing so amished's advice may well be something I need to look at.

[DaveP043]

Just now, KMYN said:

 

Thanks for both these responses.

I did actually post a swing thread as my very first post. It didn't get any replies but I appreciate people are reluctant to help someone who hasn't contributed to the forum: 

Yeah, activity in the other parts of the site will raise interest in your swing thread.  Another suggestion, read the bit about uploading your video to YouTube and linking it here, it will embed to make things easier.

From a swing standpoint, fat shots CAN be caused by head movement, but there are lots of other potential causes.  

There's also a ton of good advice around this site, and it's summarized here:

Welcome to TheSandTrap, and to the great game of golf!

[MarvChamp]

Boy! I should not even speak; I'm just now starting to play as I know I can. However, when I was having a similar problem and thinking similar solutions, my coach/friend suggested I read up on Jack Nicklaus' and Butch Harmon's (and others') advice on playing all shots forward in your setup stance, no farther back than the left breast. Nicklaus said everything off his left heel. Adjustments to width of stance are made by the right foot stepping to the right. I read up on it and practiced it in my setup. Worked for me. -Marv

[dennyjones]

Welcome to TST from Michigan.

[SLAMGolf]

Also, are your clubs the right length?  I tend to think most clubs are actually too long for people.  The right length will let you hang your arms comfortably where the sole pretty much hovers above the grass.  You want to catch it on the bottom grooves of the club, not the middle.  Maybe this isn't an issue, but it's worth ruling out since it's simple.

[KMYN]

5 hours ago, MarvChamp said:

Boy! I should not even speak; I'm just now starting to play as I know I can. However, when I was having a similar problem and thinking similar solutions, my coach/friend suggested I read up on Jack Nicklaus' and Butch Harmon's (and others') advice on playing all shots forward in your setup stance, no farther back than the left breast. Nicklaus said everything off his left heel. Adjustments to width of stance are made by the right foot stepping to the right. I read up on it and practiced it in my setup. Worked for me. -Marv

I think that's something that I will look into definitely, thanks.

4 hours ago, dennyjones said:

Welcome to TST from Michigan.

Thank you, from the UK 

3 hours ago, SLAMGolf said:

Also, are your clubs the right length?  I tend to think most clubs are actually too long for people.  The right length will let you hang your arms comfortably where the sole pretty much hovers above the grass.  You want to catch it on the bottom grooves of the club, not the middle.  Maybe this isn't an issue, but it's worth ruling out since it's simple.

I actually had my clubs lengthened 1.5" after a lesson on holiday in Vegas. I'm 6'4" so I suspected I'd need longer clubs so didn't question it. I do think this started after having that done but I'm not sure if they're necessarily too long? Thanks for the reply.

Edited July 22, 2017 by KMYN

[MarvChamp]

4 hours ago, KMYN said:

think that's something that I will look into definitely, thanks.

If you do, you will find your head more "behind" the ball and a gentle shaft lean forward after you waggle. The perspective has helped me hit down on the ball first without big divots. But I suggest you don't exaggerate it.  Good luck! Again, I'm an old guy who came back to golf within the last year; I could be wrong.  -Marv

[Buckeyebowman]

18 hours ago, KMYN said:

 

I actually had my clubs lengthened 1.5" after a lesson on holiday in Vegas. I'm 6'4" so I suspected I'd need longer clubs so didn't question it. I do think this started after having that done but I'm not sure if they're necessarily too long? Thanks for the reply.

Congrats on being 6'4"! But that has nothing at all to do with the length clubs you will need! The length of your clubs depends solely on the length of your arms! Which can be easily determined by a "wrist to ground" measurement. Was this done while on holiday in Vegas? If not, I'd suspect that you got hosed!

There are guys far taller than you, like NBA players, who actually need clubs that are a little shorter than standard because their arms are so long! Thus the wrist to ground measurement.

I'd suggest getting a proper measurement, see where you are, and go from there.

[KMYN]

8 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Congrats on being 6'4"! But that has nothing at all to do with the length clubs you will need! The length of your clubs depends solely on the length of your arms! Which can be easily determined by a "wrist to ground" measurement. Was this done while on holiday in Vegas? If not, I'd suspect that you got hosed!

There are guys far taller than you, like NBA players, who actually need clubs that are a little shorter than standard because their arms are so long! Thus the wrist to ground measurement.

I'd suggest getting a proper measurement, see where you are, and go from there.

I'm not sure what my "wrist to ground" is but I have had my reach measured before (wing span if you like) and I know it was average for my height but obviously that brings shoulder width etc into account, which is also average so I suspect my arm length is not above average relative to height.

I was not measured in Vegas no, it was a lesson at Top Golf where the instructor did what he described as a mock fitting during the hour based on what he saw and suggested I get +1.5" and 3 deg upright. I was given clubs with these adjustments during the lesson and it seemed to help me. The adjustments were done back home in the UK so he didn't stand to gain anything by making these suggestions to me so I have no reason to suspect it was anything underhanded.

Whether or not the length and/or lie adjustment was the correct thing to do obviously I'm not qualified to say but it felt fine during the lesson so I took the advice of the professional.

I'll try and get that wrist to ground measurement to see what the deal is, thanks.

[GolfLug]

@KMYN, moving ball back in stance can contribute to stalling your forward weight shift. Easy way to check is if you end up more on your trail foot or in general feel less balanced at the finish. 

[SLAMGolf]

Not to go back on what I said before, but the more I think about it, the more I feel like length might be only somewhat relevant.  For example, since one of my swing faults is failure to regain flexion on the downswing, I do a drill where I grab say a 7-iron down by the shaft, hover it about 4 inches above the ball at normal address, and then hit it.  You really have to go down and get it with a really deep tush line and your head still "against the wall".  I can hit it just fine with practically no loss of distance this way.  So get your mechanics right and then figure out what length helps you preserve the best mechanics.  I'm 6'3" BTW and I play standard length.  By the wrist-to-floor measurements, I should be +1".