Stop hitting iron shots fat

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Barney Puttick has some tips to help you stop hitting iron shots fat and strike your irons more solid.

Stop hitting iron shots fat

Try these tips from Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Barney Puttick if you often catch your iron shots fat and your ball-striking is generally inconsistent.

Fat and thin shots tend to be caused by the same problem: The club bottoms out before the ball. This can be problematic as the ball can either go much shorter than envisaged, or much longer. Sometimes the issue is ball position so it is well worth taking a look at that first.

The cause is usually a swing that is out of sequence. By out of sequence, I mean an overactive lower body where I also feel like my hands are late, causing me to release the club to catch up. This results in a heavy strike.

Normally this happens when you try to do something you shouldn't do, like hit harder or softer than usual - basically anything outside of your usual rhythm.

That's why it's so vital to learn one swing, and then adjust your grip or stance, as opposed to changing your swing.

One of golf instruction’s biggest myths is, “keep your head down”. This is usually a tip given by one amateur to another and all too often creates a move that ends up damaging the quality of your ball-striking.

When players try to keep their heads down, they often lose their spine angle and height during the downswing.

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They get stuck through impact with their arms and body not releasing properly through the ball. Remember that your body needs to flow through the ball, and for that to happen your head will need to turn towards the target after you’ve made contact.

The fix is to hit some shots with your feet together. It’s an old drill but it really helps you focus on keeping your height, and rotating through the shot. If you are hitting fat or inconsistent shots, this simple drill is a must.