Struggling with fat shots.

fishstix94 · May 14, 2015

Well the Golf season is finally in full swing and of course my swing is still inconsistent! At the beginning of the year I really focused on my secondary tilt, getting a full hip turn, and working my right shoulder towards the ball. I have hit my irons fairly well on the year, but my driver has been extremely inconsistent. The only problems that I had with my irons was that I was hitting a pretty large draw/hook and I was hitting the ball fat. So I started looking at video of my swing and I noticed two things... 1.) I had a late wrist set which caused me to lay the club off, and then attack the ball from way inside..2.) I noticed that my shoulder plane on my downswing is REALLY steep, I mean my shoulders are perpendicular to the ground. I feel like when I set my wrists I get the club on a much better plane. After a week of practice I have noticed that many of my shots are coming up short and right, with a lot of fat shots. Any ways let me know what you guys think.

Video 1: 3 wood, I hit the ball pretty solid it was a medium flight draw. I was not focusing on getting a proper wrist set on this swing.

Video 2: 4 iron, I hit this ball extremely fat and this swing I was making a conscience effort to set my wrists.

MonteScheinblum · May 14, 2015

You're very close to the ball and pretty inside on the takeaway. That is forcing your right shoulder way down. Arms can't get forward enough and are very stuck.

Get farther form the ball and have more forward bend at address.

fishstix94 · May 14, 2015

[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1431611835' post='11557822']You're very close to the ball and pretty inside on the takeaway. That is forcing your right shoulder way down. Arms can't get forward enough and are very stuck.

Get farther form the ball and have more forward bend at address.[/quote]
Golf is a crazy game monte, believe it or not my problem last year was that I was too far from the ball and I had too much bend at address, go figure!

MonteScheinblum · May 14, 2015

[quote name='fishstix94' timestamp='1431613134' post='11557988']
[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1431611835' post='11557822']You're very close to the ball and pretty inside on the takeaway. That is forcing your right shoulder way down. Arms can't get forward enough and are very stuck.

Get farther form the ball and have more forward bend at address.[/quote]
Golf is a crazy game monte, believe it or not my problem last year was that I was too far from the ball and I had too much bend at address, go figure!
[/quote]

Welcome to golf. This is why I am a big proponent of slow incremental improv,net. Golfers tend to do too much of a good thing...or no change at all because it feels weird.

fishstix94 · May 14, 2015

[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1431613344' post='11558020'][quote name='fishstix94' timestamp='1431613134' post='11557988']
[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1431611835' post='11557822']You're very close to the ball and pretty inside on the takeaway. That is forcing your right shoulder way down. Arms can't get forward enough and are very stuck.

Get farther form the ball and have more forward bend at address.[/quote]
Golf is a crazy game monte, believe it or not my problem last year was that I was too far from the ball and I had too much bend at address, go figure!
[/quote]

Welcome to golf. This is why I am a big proponent of slow incremental improv,net. Golfers tend to do too much of a good thing...or no change at all because it feels weird.[/quote]
I agree, and I am one of those people that unintentionally does too much of a good thing! I am relieved to here you say that I was too close, because it wasn't very comfortable! The one question that I have is do you have any drills that I could do to work on that steep shoulder plane? Even last year when I was too far from the ball I was getting pretty steep. Here is a pic of me at Impact last year:
[attachment=2756694:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1431615380.106450.jpg]

MonteScheinblum · May 14, 2015

You have to start working that right shoulder out more. Ball forward and try to come OTT without moving your head

fishstix94 · May 14, 2015

[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1431615539' post='11558288']You have to start working that right shoulder out more. Ball forward and try to come OTT without moving your head[/quote]
Hmmm that's an interesting feeling, I will give it a try!

PepsiDuck · May 14, 2015

[quote name='fishstix94' timestamp='1431616764' post='11558406']
[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1431615539' post='11558288']You have to start working that right shoulder out more. Ball forward and try to come OTT without moving your head[/quote]
Hmmm that's an interesting feeling, I will give it a try!
[/quote]

It is weird but it works.

poulters_barber · May 15, 2015

https://youtu.be/b6cntSpVbZo

It's what Tom Watson's talking about in this video isn't it?

fishstix94 · May 16, 2015

[quote name='poulters_barber' timestamp='1431688393' post='11562756']https://youtu.be/b6cntSpVbZo

It's what Tom Watson's talking about in this video isn't it?[/quote]
I saw that video a while back, I think there was a thread about it on here. But it sounds like he is walking about a similar concept!

dornstar · May 16, 2015

Outside of the mechanical elements of the swing which I'll let the big boys cover, get some Dr Scholls foot powder spray, paint a line on the ground and learn to get your divots starting after that line. It's a wonderful drill. It won't take long before you intuitively figure out how to get your low point in the right spot which is half the battle.

fishstix94 · May 17, 2015

Outside of the mechanical elements of the swing which I'll let the big boys cover, get some Dr Scholls foot powder spray, paint a line on the ground and learn to get your divots starting after that line. It's a wonderful drill. It won't take long before you intuitively figure out how to get your low point in the right spot which is half the battle.

That is an interesting idea, I will have to try it out. I haven't been able to play much because of work but I will get some videos up once I do!

PowderedToastMan · May 17, 2015

Outside of the mechanical elements of the swing which I'll let the big boys cover, get some Dr Scholls foot powder spray, paint a line on the ground and learn to get your divots starting after that line. It's a wonderful drill. It won't take long before you intuitively figure out how to get your low point in the right spot which is half the battle.

Awesome drill, unfortunately the groundskeeper will hate you for this divot pattern.

dornstar · May 17, 2015

Outside of the mechanical elements of the swing which I'll let the big boys cover, get some Dr Scholls foot powder spray, paint a line on the ground and learn to get your divots starting after that line. It's a wonderful drill. It won't take long before you intuitively figure out how to get your low point in the right spot which is half the battle.

Awesome drill, unfortunately the groundskeeper will hate you for this divot pattern.

End product does not look like that. That's just a 10 ball test and then I hit balls in the gaps. As you can see, if you're making ball first contact, the line is still intact and you can hit balls from the same location. I can pretty much hit a large bucket of balls on no more grass than you're seeing in that picture.