There’s no sound in golf more frustrating than the heavy thud of your club digging into the turf a full inch before the ball. That chunked shot rarely goes where you want, it flies a fraction of the distance you expected, and worst of all, it just feels awful. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone, and the good news is that the fix is almost always simpler than you think. This guide will walk you through exactly why you’re hitting behind the golf ball and provide a few clear, practical drills to get you back to making that crisp, satisfying, ball-first contact.
Before we look at any specific swing flaws, we need to understand a simple concept: the low point of your golf swing. Imagine your clubhead swinging in a big circle around your body. The “low point” is the very bottom of that circle - the spot where the club gets closest to the ground. For solid iron shots, you want this low point to happen just after the golf ball. The club comes down, compresses the ball against the clubface, hits the ball first, and then takes a shallow divot of grass in front of where the ball was.
When you hit the shot fat, it simply means your low point happened before the golf ball. Your club bottomed out too early, striking the ground first. Everything that follows - the lost power, the poor direction, the jarring feeling in your hands - is a symptom of that one core issue. Your entire goal in fixing fat shots is to learn how to move this low point forward in your stance so it consistently happens after the ball.
An early low point isn’t just bad luck, it’s a direct result of something happening in your swing. While there can be several small factors, they almost always fall into one of three main categories. Let's break them down one by one, along with a way to work on each.
This is by far the most common reason amateur golfers hit it fat. Think of your body as the anchor for your golf swing. Your low point will naturally follow where your body's center of mass is. At address, your weight is about 50/50. As you swing back, it moves onto your trail foot. The critical move is in the downswing: your weight must decisively shift onto your lead foot before impact.
golfers who hit it fat often "hang back." They leave their weight on their trail foot as they swing down. When your weight is back, your low point shifts back with it, resulting in the club bottoming out early. You're effectively hitting off your back foot, a position that makes clean contact almost impossible.
This is a fantastic drill because it physically forces you to get your weight moving forward. You can do this at the range.
Don't worry about hitting perfect shots at first. The goal here is just to get the feeling of your body leading the swing and moving toward the target aggressively with your lower body.
Another big power-killer and a main FAYNE of fat shots is what coaches call "casting." Imagine casting a fishing rod - you forcefully unhinge your wrists at the very beginning of the forward motion. In golf, this means you start un-hinging your wrists at the top of your backswing instead of waiting until you get closer to the ball.
When you "cast" the club, you release all that stored-up energy way too early. It makes the arc of your swing much wider at the start, which forces the clubhead to reach its low point too soon. Not only does this lead to hitting behind the ball, but it also drains your swing of almost all its potential speed and power.
This drill trains your body to storage the wrist angles longer into the downswing, a feeling often described as "lag."
This exaggeration helps you feel the proper sequence: your lower body starts the downswing, your torso turns, your arms follow, and your wrists release much later, right at the ball.
A good golf swing is a rotation around a stable center. A poor golf swing often involves too much side-to-side movement, or "sway." On the backswing, this looks like your hips and upper body sliding away from the target instead of turning.
While a tiny bit of lateral motion is normal, a significant sway is a leading cause for heavy contact. If your body’s center moves two or three inches away from the target going back, you have to make a huge recovery move on the downswing just to get back to the ball. More often than not, it's a move you can't quite complete in time. Your body gets "stuck" behind the ball, and just like hanging back on your trail foot, your low point will be behind the ball, too.
You can do this drill at home without a club or at the range.
Practice turning until you can make a full backswing rotation without putting heavy pressure on the wall. This will train your body to turn, not slide, creating a much more centered and powerful an powerful swing.
While the drills above will help fix the root cause, there's a simple setup adjustment you can make right now for better results. When you address the ball with an iron, make two simple checks:
These small tweaks aren’t a cure-all, but they make it much easier to achieve the correct impact position by giving your body a head start in the right direction.
In the end, fixing the fat shot comes down to controlling where your swing hits the bottom. By focusing on getting your weight forward, maintaining your angles, and rotating properly, you directly influence your swing's low point and set yourself up for that pure, ball-then-turf contact. Be patient with yourself, try these drills, and focus on the feeling of being in motion through the ball, not hitting at it.
Correcting these movement patterns takes focus, and getting the right feedback is a massive help This is actually a core idea behind why we created Caddie AI. Our app lets you record a few swings on the range and provides an instant analysis of the very motions we've talked about, like weight shift or an early release. It gives you immediate and personalized information, so you can stop guessing and start practicing the right fix for your swing.
Thinking about hosting a golf tournament fundraiser is the first swing, executing it successfully is what gets the ball in the hole. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from laying the initial groundwork months in advance to watching your happy golfers tee off. We’ll cover everything from securing sponsors and setting your budget to planning the on-course fun that makes an event unforgettable.
A golf handicap does more than just give you bragging rights (or a reason to demand strokes from your friends) - it’s the game’s great equalizer and the single best way to track your improvement. This guide breaks down what a handicap is, how the supportive math behind a handicap index a is, and exactly how you can get one for yourself. We’ll look at everything from Course Rating to Adjusted Gross Score, helping you feel confident both on the course and in the clubhouse.
The compression of a Pinnacle Rush golf ball is one of its most defining features, engineered specifically to help a huge swath of golfers get more distance and enjoyment from their game. We'll break down exactly what its low compression means, who it's for, and how you can use that knowledge to shoot lower scores.
Figuring out which spikes go into your new (or old) pair of Puma golf shoes can feel like a puzzle, but it’s much simpler than you think. The key isn't the brand of the shoe, but the type of receptacle system they use. This guide will walk you through exactly how to identify your Puma's spike system, choose the perfect replacements for your game, and change them out like a pro.
The Golf Genius app is one of the best tools for managing and participating in competitive golf events, but figuring it out for the first time can feel like reading a new set of greens. This guide cuts through the confusion and shows you exactly how to use the app as a player. We’ll cover everything from logging into your tournament and entering scores to checking the live leaderboard so you can enjoy the competition without any tech headaches.
Walking onto the first tee with sweaty palms, worried you’ll be a good partner to paly wtih...or even asked back again ...We’ve all been there - trust me! The real trick of feeling confortable... is about how you handle you’re ready to plsy. THIS guide explains the simple rules of the rode to show you hnow t play golf while staying calm relaxed and focused... an having much morse fun while you,',re aat it? You'll also play with confidence a dn make fiendsa while you're at i
Just ask a question or share a photo and Caddie gives personalized guidance for every shot - anytime, anywhere.
