Question:
If you had noticed, the east coast of Canada has been under a blanket of rain drizzle and fog for the last 21 days straight. Golfing has been off the agenda for most of us with today being the first day in three weeks it was fit for a duck much less a golfer. Though it has not been easy to lay down the clubs and forget about it, I have found it quite satisfying that I have not hit a ‘fat shot’ for three weeks. If this weather keeps up, I will have it cured all together. In fact, I announced to my golfing buddy just yesterday that I haven’t shot over 80 for almost a month now. Funny how such a long stint of rain, drizzle and fog can have such a silver lining. My somewhat reluctant suggestion to avoid hitting fat shots therefore would be to just stop playing. It works. If that is not acceptable however, then I suspect the odd fat shot will show up in your golf bag just like it does for the pros from time to time. For me I found they are minimized by attention to one simple detail which you have heard a 1000 times if you have heard it once. "Keep you eye on the ball." Cheers. Greg I
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The first year or so after I took up golf my most common mistake was hitting the ball thin or topping it. Now that I am further along I rarely make that error but I do seem to manage to hit several fat shots during a round. I am having trouble determining what I’m doing wrong. I would appreciate any advice or insight into this problem. Thanks, Vernon
Response:
Vernon, There are several reasons for hitting Fat Shots. I personally think that the primary reason for hitting fat shots is "weight transfer". If you don’t transfer all your weight back to your left leg (for a right handed golfer) at impact, the club will bottom out before the ball. I have tried very hard to shift my weight consciously during the downswing and I hit fewer fat shots. The other reason could be that you are releasing too quickly on the downswing. This will also cause the club to bottom out before the ball. Gary Smith was on Academy Live yesterday and he was talking about these two things as being the key reasons for Fat Shots. My 2 cents. Peeps
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The first year or so after I took up golf my most common mistake was hitting the ball thin or topping it. Now that I am further along I rarely make that error but I do seem to manage to hit several fat shots during a round. I am having trouble determining what I’m doing wrong. I would appreciate any advice or insight into this problem. Thanks, Vernon
Response:
The first year or so after I took up golf my most common mistake was hitting the ball thin or topping it. Now that I am further along I rarely make that error but I do seem to manage to hit several fat shots during a round. I am having trouble determining what I’m doing wrong. I would appreciate any advice or insight into this problem. Thanks, Vernon
Response:
V: Check to see when you are addressing the ball whether you have already "extended" your left arm/club assembly before your takeaway. If not, and it gets "longer" during the swing, you will get caught by surprise with a fat impact. The force of the rotation and release tends to pull your left arm and club out to a somewhat straight line. this makes it longer than when it was not straightened out. So use a straight arm/club to "measure" to the ball at setup. That will approximate its impact length better than when you don’t pay any attention to it and perhaps carelessly address the ball with it too bent or soft. Most golfers I work with find this to be their problem rather than stuff happening during the swing itself. FWIW George Hibbard Pendulum Press 800-226-9326 www.perfectimpact.com
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The first year or so after I took up golf my most common mistake was hitting the ball thin or topping it. Now that I am further along I rarely make that error but I do seem to manage to hit several fat shots during a round. I am having trouble determining what I’m doing wrong. I would appreciate any advice or insight into this problem. Thanks, Vernon