Help Wanted

[Duff]

Great Forum with great information.

I have a question.

Why am I hitting my wedge fat and how can I correct it? I have a 56 wedge with a 10 bounce.

I am having a problem with hitting under the ball with a full swing and hitting it only 20 yards or digging the club into the ground behind the ball and hitting it 10 yards.

I have tried placing the ball more forward and more back in my stance, etc. and it doesn’t work. I can't figure out exactly what I am doing wrong.

Am I casting the club, am I not rotating the hips properly?

It only happens with the sand wedge and sometimes with the gap wedge.

Please give me some ideas how to correct this problem.

Thank you.

[BStone]

If you are hitting it fat, you may want to try moving the ball back in your stance. I play the ball at or just an inch behind the middle of my stance with wedges. There are a lot of other things that could go into hitting behind the ball, so if you could give a little more detail on ball flight, are they weak fades, hooks, or does the ball just dive into the ground in front of you. All of this information would help us get some ideas as to what may be happening.

[Bignose]

Another pertinent issue is that fat/thin shots are almost always caused by a change in the spine angle. Sometimes it is a change in the back knee angle that will cause a corresponding droop in the spine angle. One of the best ways to check this is to swing in front of a mirror or ask someone to watch your swings.

[ezra76]

I'd recommend hitting some little 10,20,30 yd. shots and don't break your wrists. Keep them hinged and let them pass the ball before the clubhead. Once you can hit those pitch shot nice and crisp just hit them longer. I finished up at the range late this afternoon with a game of "catch" with my friend, Twofast, also a member here. I had my 50*, he had his PW. 4 balls, 2 each, 1st one low, 2nd one high. Only about 20yds. apart we just hit to each other and try to catch the ball. It's a good little drill to get the feel and change trajectories with a wedge.

My keys are hands ahead (maintain shaft angle), hinge and hold, weight on front foot (no big shift with a wedge) and a closer, usaully open stance.

[Duff]

Originally Posted by tmag

If you are hitting it fat, you may want to try moving the ball back in your stance. I play the ball at or just an inch behind the middle of my stance with wedges. There are a lot of other things that could go into hitting behind the ball, so if you could give a little more detail on ball flight, are they weak fades, hooks, or does the ball just dive into the ground in front of you. All of this information would help us get some ideas as to what may be happening.

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.

It does not fade, hook or dive into the ground in front of me. I either hit the ground behind the ball and it travels about 10 to 20 yards straight down the line or I dig into the ground under the ball and it goes about the same distance.

What I can't understand is that I only do it with the short irons.

I think I may be casting the club or changing my spine angle but not sure.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[BStone]

Originally Posted by Duff

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.

It does not fade, hook or dive into the ground in front of me. I either hit the ground behind the ball and it travels about 10 to 20 yards straight down the line or I dig into the ground under the ball and it goes about the same distance.

What I can't understand is that I only do it with the short irons.

I think I may be casting the club or changing my spine angle but not sure.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

A good drill that I use from time to time is to hit half swing pitches with my feet together, this forces me to keep my balance, and keep my spine angle. I take the club back to waist height and then go through to about waist high on the follow through. The key is to have your feet touching, this will show any flaw that may have crept in with balance or spine angles.

Another key thing to look at is what your head is doing, a lot of times students of mine will tend to start to peek at where the ball is going before they make contact with it. The result of this is that they will lose their plane and come in behind the ball.

[BStone]

Furthermore, there may be a tendency of trying to hit your wedge too hard, it is not a club that is designed to be swung as hard as the others in your bag. I can count on one hand how many times I take a full swing with a sand wedge or lower during a season.

[cypressperch]

ball which produces a more upright posture. This will produce a more upright swing, and as a result you do not want the club getting behind you at all. If you do, you can come back to the ball too much from the inside, and it is highly likely that a fat shot will be the result.

There is a weight shift with a short club, but usually we will have more weight (60% or so) on the lead foot at address and you can make the swing with that lead foot flat on the ground. You still want some flex in your right leg to get your weight from getting outside your back foot. If the weight gets outside, you cannot get back to your address position which in some respects is your impact position. The bottom of your swing arc has now been shifted to the right, and again a fat shot is likely. If you manage to avoid the fat shot, you will probably catch the ball high on the ball for a nice thinned or skulled shot that is no fun either. Fat shots and thinned shots are very much related when the problem is the weight staying right because it escaped outside the back foot.

I like the feeling that I am standing fairly "tall" at address with good posture. If I keep that posture throughout the swing, it becomes hard to raise up and hit a thin shot since I am already "raised up" and cannot go any higher without doing something strange ( ). If I stay in that "up" posture, I also avoid hitting excessively down on the ball. We have all been instructed to hit down on the ball to make it go up, and sometimes we over-do that which helps produce fat shots. Maintaining good posture is good for that particular fat shot cause.

We have all heard that we should hit the small ball before the big ball (golf ball before Earth). With all clubs except for the driver, we want the hands ahead of the ball at impact. The shorter the club (with the more loft) the more the shaft leans toward the target at address when sitting on its sole behind the ball as it is designed to sit. When you grip a club sitting thusly, your hands will automatically be the correct distance ahead of the ball. If your hands return to this position at impact, you will hit the ball first, not the ground. The angle in your right wrist will be there at impact with a proper swing. Should you release the angle in your right wrist before impact, you have, in effect, made the club longer. This too will cause a fat shot. The little drill mentioned in an earlier post is a good one, and in it, you are constantly making sure to not release the clubhead too soon (or too late).

With all shots, do not strike at the ball. Instead, swing the clubhead through the space the ball just happens to be occupying. It is far easier to make an accurate, smooth pass through the ball than to accurately strike the ball on the exact spot we want contact to occur at. All kinds of bad shots, including fat shots, can be avoided by swinging through the ball rather than striking at the ball.

The very best of luck to you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch

[Eracer]

I focus my eyes on a spot about an inch ahead of the ball and try to hit that spot with the leading edge of the wedge. I don't do this with any other clubs, and I only do it for short wedge shots. I also try real, real hard to keep my head still. Really still. No, I mean really, really still. Beware that keeping your head really still with a short shot can lead your arms to feeling "congested", or trapped, because you are used to moving your body (head) too much. So practice without a ball. Keep your head rock steady, and let your arms swing from your shoulders. Finish your swing smoothly and with some arm extension.

I know what I'm talking about, because I have BIG problems with exactly what you are talking about. These tips are what help me the most.

[lildudejds]

try not takin a full swing with a SW, take like a 3/4 swing and im sure you will connect fine.

[footballking732]

i find that i hit fat shots when i stay behind the ball, with all my weight back...

[Duff]

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

I figured it our today. For some reason, I was taking too much of a full swing or taking the club back more than normal for my wedge play. I also believe I was moving a little too much, ie, not as steady as I normally would be...especially my head.

I shortened my backswing and held steady and I was back to normal.

It's great to have a forum that can provide solid advice when needed.

Thanks again.