Golf Tips » November 2002: Preventing the “FAT” Shot

Hitting the ball “fat” or behind the ball can be caused by one of two things or a combination of both.

1. Starting the downswing with your arms instead of with a lateral weight shift.

The very first move of the downswing is a slight lateral slide of the hips moving the weight from the right side (for right handed golfers) to the left. Failure to do this means the arms come down before the body has shifted to the front foot causing you to reach the bottom of the arc before the ball which results in a “fat” shot. At impact the weight is still on the back foot.

2. “Casting” or un-cocking the wrists too early on the downswing.

This is also caused by starting the downswing with the arms, but the golfers loses the angle between the right forearm and the shaft early on the downswing, again causing the club to reach the bottom of the arc too soon resulting in a fat shot.

Cure: Make sure to start the downswing with a lateral slide of the hips and ensure that most of your weight is over onto the front foot before impact (the right heel should be off the ground by impact).

Ensure that the angle between the right forearm and the shaft stays as delayed as possible. See my article on the dagger drill to work on this.

The dagger drill will help you correct both problems that cause the fat shot.

The additional benefit in doing this drill correctly is that it also increases your distance!