What Causes a Fat Golf Shot?
A fat shot happens when the club hits the ground before the golf ball. Instead of striking the ball first and then the turf, the club loses speed in the ground, often causing the ball to come up short. It is one of the most frustrating shots in golf.
Most fat shots come from one of two impact patterns:
- The swing is too shallow into the ball.
- The swing is too steep into the ball.
The fix depends on which pattern is causing your problem.
1. Fat Shots Caused by a Swing That Is Too Shallow
A shallow fat shot often produces a thin, shallow divot behind the golf ball. This usually happens when the golfer is trying to help the ball into the air.
Common signs
- The club brushes or skims the turf before the ball.
- The divot starts behind the ball but is not very deep.
- Your weight stays too much on your trail side through impact.
- You feel like you are scooping or lifting the ball.
For a right-handed golfer, this usually means too much weight remains on the right side. Because the body has not shifted enough toward the target, the club bottoms out too early and strikes the ground before the ball.
How to fix it
To stop this type of fat shot, focus on getting your pressure onto your lead side earlier in the downswing.
You want to feel:
- Pressure moving into your lead foot before impact.
- Hands slightly ahead of the clubhead at impact.
- The club striking the ball first.
- The divot starting after the golf ball, not before it.
A good iron strike is not about lifting the ball. The loft of the club gets the ball airborne. Your job is to strike the ball first with a slightly descending blow, then let the club take a divot a couple of inches after the ball.
2. Fat Shots Caused by a Swing That Is Too Steep
The second common cause is the opposite problem: the club comes into the ball too steeply.
This type of fat shot usually creates a deep divot behind the ball. Golfers in this category often also struggle with pulls or slices.
Common signs
- The divot starts behind the ball and is deep.
- The club feels like it chops down into the ground.
- You often pull shots left or slice shots to the right.
- Your downswing comes over the top.
- The club travels left through impact instead of moving more naturally through the ball.
For many amateur golfers, steep fat shots happen when they start the downswing by throwing the club over the top. The clubhead gets outside the ideal path, approaches the ball too steeply, and crashes into the turf before impact.
How to fix it
If you are too steep, you need to work on shallowing the club in transition.
From the top of the backswing, feel like you:
- Shift pressure toward the target.
- Let the hands drop more under the shoulders.
- Avoid throwing the club over the top.
- Swing through the golf ball rather than chopping down across it.
The goal is still to hit the ball first and then the turf, but the club should approach on a better angle rather than digging steeply into the ground.
Quick Diagnosis: Which Fat Shot Do You Hit?
| Your Divot | Likely Cause | Common Ball Flight | Main Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shallow divot behind the ball | Swing too shallow, weight hanging back | Weak, short shots | Move pressure to the lead side and strike ball then turf |
| Deep divot behind the ball | Swing too steep, often over the top | Pulls or slices | Shallow the transition and drop the hands under the shoulders |
Key Takeaway
A fat shot is not always caused by the same swing fault. Some golfers hit it fat because they are too shallow and try to scoop the ball into the air. Others hit it fat because they are too steep and come over the top.
Check your divot to identify the cause:
- Shallow divot behind the ball: shift pressure to your lead side sooner.
- Deep divot behind the ball: work on shallowing the club and avoiding an over-the-top move.
In both cases, the goal is the same: strike the golf ball first, then take the turf after the ball.
