Why hitting fat golf shots

This can only happen if both arms are extended through impact. As a drill, lodge a Nerf football in-between both forearms and make some short practice swings without a ball, squeezing the football between your forearms so that both arms stay straight past the imaginary ball see photo, above. Then add a ball and start hitting some small pitches, progressing up into a full swing with a 7- or 8-iron. As soon as you begin to short-arm it the elbows will begin to separate and fold and the Nerf ball will fall to the ground see photo, above.

If, after performing this drill several times you begin to start taking too much turf again, then the next step is to work on bringing the low point of your swing more forward. The following Bungee Cord Drill will help you do just that.

Loop a bungee cord or rope around your left shoulder and fasten it to the butt end of the club so it's fairly taut in the address position. Pose a few impact positions first, getting a feel for how the hands are leaning forward and the right arm is bracing and pushing downward on the left arm see photo, above.

Now hit a few balls with some half-swings—in order to keep the bungee cord taut, the right wrist must remain bent to apply some downward pressure on top of the left thumb joint. The right arm pushing down and eventually straightening just after impact is what keeps the left arm rigid and brings the low point of the swing forward, in front of the ball.

I like the following Line in the Sand Drill see photo, above for those people who are afraid of hitting their irons too fat, because the sand surface is much more benign than actual dirt. Sloppy head action leads to fat shots. Not only should you keep your head in the same place during the swing, but consciously avoid head motion that's downward or to your right. Many top golfers' heads do move a little downward and to the right in response to the targetward thrust of the lower body.

But if the motion becomes accentuated, they--and you--will surely catch the ground before the ball. Do you shift your center back, does your weight shift back? At impact, where is your pressure in your feet and where is your center. You might be surprised how many golfers on the professional tours have at least some weight already pre set on that front leg.

This front leg can serve as a pivot and you can eliminate the timing in the golf swing that often causes golfers to have poor contact, resulting in fat golf shots. The casting of the club is often a result of one first two problems listed above. If you are someone that has thrown all of the lag out prior to impact, chances are you are going to have contract issues.

The tricky thing is that many people think they will just hold the release off, which I believe is the wrong approach. Instead, the golfer should try throwing the club from the top and let the hands go. Your body will response and your sequence will get back on track. When the golfer becomes more target and task focused the naturally sequencing within the swing occurs more naturally. Instead you take the ball back and let it go, firing away towards your target.

If you can combine keeping your center, centered; your weight front loaded slightly and then a throwing motion from the top, you will start hitting much more solid shots and can all but eliminate the fat shots and the fear that happens over the fat shot. One final thought on the fat shot. Your mind is focused on not fatting the shot, so you either fat the shot or thin the shot because you lift up.

Both the fat shot and the thin shot are caused by the same three issues above. Your body just makes some compensation when you hit the thin shot to avoid the fat shot.

Get the center in the right place, the weight slightly forward and throw the club from the top. You might be amazed at your results! You might always be surprised to see that you are compressing the ball and have a slightly inside to your swing. For the best possible iron contact, you should aim to strike the ball and then the ground.

This is a useful image to have in mind for any player who is struggling hitting fat golf shots. If you are hitting fat golf shots, the first place to start is with your address position. With your mid irons, the ball should be positioned slightly forward of middle in your stance so that your sternum is over the ball. Importantly, your hands should be a fraction ahead of the ball. This will encourage the downward angle of attack that lies at the heart of crisp ball-striking.

As you move your hands ahead of the ball at address be careful to ensure that you are not also opening the clubface - simply check the logo on your glove is still pointing at the target. The other thing to look out for here is your weight distribution - you should have a little more weight on your lead foot.

Again, this will encourage the angle of attack you are looking to create later in the swing. One of the main faults behind hitting fat golf shots is the way your weight moves during the swing. The basic key here is that your weight should move towards your back foot in the backswing and then towards the target in the downswing.