Cure the Chunkies
Cure the Chunkies or Fix the Fat Shot
Think about it for a minute. You are less than a 100 yards out and you are thinking a touch or finesse shot to get it close. Your hips slide forward instead of turning. The club head digs into the ground with that awful chunky sound and the ball goes almost nowhere. The other scenario is that you have 175 yards to the green and you know that if you pure your 5 iron into the wind, that you will get there. The tendency, when you think that you need to hit it hard, is to really get into it by dipping that back shoulder, and that makes your club head approach the ball at a steeper angle. Fat shots don’t go very far, but we all hit them.
I remember once, years ago, following Jack Nicklaus at the then Crosby Clam Bake at Pebble Beach. Jack pushed his drive slightly into the right rough on 14. Trying to hit a long iron hard to get on in 2, he hit it fat. Yes, he chunked it, a low dribbler, maybe 125 yards. So, everyone does it once in awhile. Golf is a game of trying to minimize our mistakes and capitalize on good shots or luck…kind of like life.
A lateral slide can be connected to dipping your back shoulder for a cause and effect. If you do manage to make contact with the ball (the little ball not the big worldly one) first, chances are it will be a wicked slice.
Let’s fix this problem on the range. First, simplify your swing by hitting into your leading leg. Think about a stiff left side (if you’re right handed). Practice with a golf ball under the outside of your leading foot to get the feel. This will help you get the feel of turning your hips rather the sliding forward. The hip turn should occur on every shot regardless of length, except those little chips around the green.
Next, concentrate on keeping your leading shoulder down through impact. This will maintain your swing plane. The key is to keep your leading shoulder down through impact to keep your body from getting ahead of your hands.
In his book “Golf My Way”, Jack Nicklaus gives the best advice we have read on swing basics and it is available from Amazon for about $12. Keep it in the short grass!
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