New Golfer? Fat Shots – Medicus?
I’m a new golfer just under a year. I battle fat shots like no other. I either hit a beauty (1 out of 10) shots or a totally awful fat shot where the ball goes no where and I have dug a hole I could bury a person in.
I think the problem is my shoulder and hip rotation and my follow through on the ball but i’m having a hard time mastering it. I seem to hit practice balls (wiffle or almostgolf) just fine but put a real golf ball in front of me and it all goes to hell. I practice a good grip and address (at least I think).
I just bought the medicus dual hidge 5 iron. I thought it would be magic because I was crushing practice balls in my back yard. Well I took it to the range I couldn’t hit anything with it however I did get some nice swings with my normal 9 iron and some fat ones as well my biggest problem. But as far as the medicus I couldn’t get a good shot off. I generally break at impact or on the follow through and everything else is fine. However, I can take several practice swings and it doesn’t break but when I’m trying to hit a real golf ball it breaks. This was my first time with the medicus so I’m not sure what to think.
Any tips? Should I just keep practicing with it and give it some time to do it’s work. I was disappointed but starting to think maybe I need to give it a month and practice swinging it daily.
Anyone else tried medicus and did it take them a few trip to the range or few weeks to get it down with some good results.
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The Medicus serves as a great tool to keep your swing intact during a round, and as excellent substitutes for those who can not afford either the time or money for a full-time swing coach.
There could be a couple of things going on in your swing. Most of the time it is a result of dipping your shoulders into the ball. A posture issue. Think of your spine as the center of your swing.
Here are a few tips…..although I really think you need to see a teaching pro to iron this out
Set-up
Your weight might be too far to the right and/or your right shoulder might be too low at address. Your aim could be too far to the right.
Ball Position
The ball might be too far forward (toward the left foot) in your stance.
Backswing
You might be taking the club too far inside, away from the target line. Your posture should remain the same without leaning toward the ball or lowering your head.
Downswing
You might be too far to the right on the downswing. Keep your posture without lowering your head toward the ball. Shift your weight! You should have some 80-percent of your weight on the front foot at impact.
Here are a couple of keys for avoiding the fat shot.
Keep your chin up to improve contact.The fatal steepness that causes most fat shots can come at any point in your swing, but it often starts at address.Most people, when they are introduced to golf, are told to "keep your head down." Bad thought. Keeping your head down too far at address prevents you from making a proper turn behind the ball and automatically sends the club "up" more than "around" on the backswing. You are condemned to make an overly steep downswing. Also try to keep your left arm a little straighter on the takeaway so you will produce a more shallow swing =)
Hitting a shot thin means your club head made contact with the ball at or slightly above the equator of the ball, sending it zooming out at no more than two or three feet off the ground. A thin shot hit with a middle iron, long iron, or wood will typically travel a lesser distance than a well-hit ball, while a thin shot hit with a wedge or short iron will travel farther than normal.
Hitting a fat shot is the result of a number of potential problems. We’ll get into more details momentarily.
Fat Shot – Try to Hit The Ball, Not The Ground!
For the beginning golfer, the game will seem to provide never-ending moments of frustration due to making less than appropriate contact with the ball. It is nearly impossible not to make shots that will leave you a bit embarrassed, especially for the beginner.
You may have practiced your swing, producing a fluid-like graceful backswing, come with the club as your body is perfectly aligned with the target, only to make impact with the ball so inappropriately that it hardly moves, or worse yet, a lump of dirt and grass travels further than the ball itself. This ugly scenario is a fat shot.
The Fat Shot Problem
Most likely your biggest problem with contact issues will be making the fat shot. This simply means that the clubhead is hitting the ground first, before making contact with the ball.
Not only is the fat shot an embarrassing experience, but wrist injuries are also somewhat common because of the club hitting the ground, which sends a jolt through your hands and wrists.
Fat shots typically result in the ball traveling far less than half the distance desired on the shot, as well as creating a huge divot in the course. Men and women who repeat the fat shot often enough can develop swelling in the wrists due to hitting the ground over and over again.
What Causes A Fat Shot?
For the majority of golfers facing this problem, their fat shots are typically the result of the bottom of the swing arc being too far behind the ball. The causes of this can vary. One reason is due to having too much bend at the waist and knees during your downswing.
A second cause might be improper weight shift. In this instance, the bulk of the weight needs to be shifted to the left, but it remains on the right foot during the downswing (right-handed golfers). A third reason involves your swing plane being too steep. And lastly, fat shots can be caused by playing the ball a bit too forward within your stance.
How To Prevent The Fat Shot
In order to eliminate the likelihood of creating the fat shot, try to make a few adjustments, as described below:
1. Watch your bend. Make sure you are not bending into the ball during your downswing. Maintain the same amount of bend within your waist, hips, and knees, throughout the entire downswing. Keeping your spine straight will help.
2. At address, be conscious of your weight and keep it balanced between the heels and the balls of your feet. Always keep your weight off the toes.
3. On the downswing, transfer your weight from the right foot to the left. Doing so will prevent the club from bottoming out too early.
4. Lastly, try adjusting the ball by moving it back approximately 1 inch in your stance. This can help the bottom of your swing to match up with the position of the ball.
Hitting two more fairways and greens, and shedding two putts per round, can lower your scores by up to ten shots!
The Medicus helps maintain a one-piece take away on you backswing and prevents you from casting the club while starting the downswing.
Hitting fat shots normally stems from a misunderstanding of how the ball gets into the air. The ball gets into the air by hitting it with a slightly descending blow which results in your divots being in front of the ball. If your divots are behind the ball, your club has bottomed out before it has gotten to the ball producing a fat shot.
Start out by hitting chip and pitch shots around the green with a slightly descending blow. The full swing is just a longer motion of this chip or pitch shot.
Watch Furyk’s swing, it isn’t text book, but if you look at it, he can’t come over the top because he has to purposely lay the club off instead. I don’t suggest taking this to the extreme Jim Furyk does, but slightly taking the club back outside and dropping the club in the slot will help you not hit it fat.