I hit fat, you hit fat, she hits fat, we all hit fat. Maddening, isn’t it? Well, here’s a drill that will cure that once and for all. Guaranteed. I promise you.
First, though, you must have mastered the magic move of having the hands lead the clubhead into the ball. If you aren’t on board with that, the rest of this post won’t help you. Guaranteed. I promise you.
So to stop hitting fat, do this drill. Go the the range and get on a mat. You can’t do the drill on grass.
Put a ball down and get into address position, then back away from the ball a few inches so you can swing the club and not hit the ball. You can see this setup in the picture.
Swing a few times with your usual swing and see where your club commonly thumps the mat. If that spot is behind the ball, you have some work to do.
The drill is to swing so the sole of the club thumps the mat on the red line or the X side of it. In order to do this, you are going to have to modify your swing somewhat. I’m not going to tell you how, because (a) there is no once-size-fits-all way to do that, and (b) self-discovery is the best teacher.
Keep swinging and take baby steps to getting the club to thump the mat farther and farther forward. Trying to get in front all at once will throw you off too much.
The adjusted swing shouldn’t be that much different from what had been doing already. There is no need to revamp your entire swing. The best adjustment will have you doing one thing just a little bit differently while the rest of your swing stays essentially the same.
If you ease into this, in less than ten swings, maybe even less than five, you should have figured out how bring the low point of your swing to a spot forward of the ball. Step up to the ball now and hit it with the swing you just developed. I hope you like the result.
All that was the easy part. The hard part is that you’re going to have to do this drill constantly. Never give up on it. Do it every time you go to the range before you start hitting balls. Do it when you warm up before a round.
