Last Updated: May 5, 2026
Fat and thin shots are among the most common ball-striking problems in golf — and they’re also among the most frustrating, because they feel like the same problem manifesting in opposite ways. One shot digs into the turf before the ball; the next skims the top of it. Both miss the green. Both cost you shots. The good news is that fat and thin shots share the same root cause, and fixing that cause resolves both faults simultaneously. This guide explains exactly why these shots happen and gives you practical drills to build the consistent, ball-first contact that eliminates them.
What Is a Fat Shot?
A fat shot occurs when the club strikes the ground before the ball. The clubhead reaches its lowest point too early — before it gets to the ball — causing the leading edge to dig into the turf, dramatically reducing clubhead speed and launching the ball well short of its intended distance. In extreme cases, the ball barely moves at all. The telltale signs: a large divot behind the ball, a heavy thud at impact, and a shot that falls 20–40 yards short.
What Is a Thin Shot?
A thin shot is essentially the opposite problem: the club strikes the ball on the upswing, or with the leading edge catching the equator of the ball rather than compressing the back of it. Thin shots produce a low, screaming trajectory with no spin and often fly past the green. The distinctive “click” at impact and a low, hot ball flight are the giveaways. Thin shots hit from a bunker are particularly punishing, sending the ball into the face or flying over the green entirely.
The Real Problem: Low Point Control
Both fat and thin shots come down to the same fundamental issue: your low point — the lowest point of your swing arc — is in the wrong place. For a proper iron shot, the low point should be a few inches ahead of the ball (on the target side), allowing you to strike the ball first and then the turf, creating the ball-then-divot sequence that characterises good iron play.
When the low point moves behind the ball, you hit fat. When your body instinctively compensates for the fat pattern by raising up to avoid digging, you hit thin. This compensation is why many golfers alternate between fat and thin shots rather than experiencing just one — they’re caught in a cycle of overcorrection. The fix isn’t to try harder not to hit fat or thin; it’s to control where the low point actually is.
Common Causes of Fat Shots
1. Weight Staying on the Back Foot
The most common cause of fat shots is failing to shift pressure forward during the downswing. If your weight stays on your trail foot (right foot for right-handed players) through impact, the swing arc bottoms out behind the ball — producing a fat strike. You need to feel pressure moving into your lead foot as you transition from backswing to downswing.
2. Early Extension
Early extension means your hips thrust toward the ball during the downswing, causing your spine to straighten up prematurely. This pushes the clubhead’s arc downward into the ground before it reaches the ball. Early extension is one of the most common swing faults identified in lesson settings and often accompanies poor hip rotation.
3. Ball Position Too Far Forward
Playing the ball too far forward in your stance (toward your lead foot) forces the club to reach its low point before getting to the ball. For mid-irons, ball position should be in the centre of the stance or just slightly forward of centre. Check your ball position if you’re hitting consistent fat shots with a particular club.
Common Causes of Thin Shots
1. Trying to Help the Ball Into the Air
Many golfers — especially beginners — instinctively try to scoop or lift the ball when hitting irons. This creates a scooping motion where the wrists flip through impact, causing the clubhead to bottom out before the ball and then rise as it strikes. The result: a thin shot, or an alternating fat-thin pattern. Trust the loft on the club. Hit down and through; the loft does the lifting.
2. Hanging Back on the Trail Side
Similar to the fat shot cause — but the conscious or unconscious response to having hit fat shots previously is to stand up slightly through impact to “get out of the way.” This raises the arc enough to catch the ball thin. Both fat and thin patterns are solved by the same pressure shift and low point move.
3. Ball Position Too Far Back
Playing the ball too far back in your stance (toward your trail foot) can produce thin shots on shorter irons and wedges, as the clubhead is still descending steeply when it reaches the ball and the leading edge catches it thin.
Drills to Fix Fat and Thin Shots
The Towel Drill
Place a folded towel or head cover about four inches behind the ball. Make your normal swing. If you’re hitting fat shots, the club will strike the towel before the ball — giving you immediate feedback. The goal is to miss the towel completely and hit only the ball and then the turf in front of it. This drill forces your low point forward and quickly trains the correct bottoming-out position.
The Forward Pressure Drill
At address, set up with around 60% of your weight already on your lead foot. Keep it there throughout the swing. Make slow, half-speed swings focusing on feeling your lead foot and lead hip driving forward through impact. This pre-loading of weight prevents the hanging-back pattern that causes most fat shots. Once you’ve made ten good contacts, gradually return to a normal 50/50 address position while retaining the feeling of moving forward through impact.
The Divot Direction Drill
After each iron shot on grass, look at where your divot starts in relation to where the ball was. A divot that starts behind the ball means fat contact. A divot that starts in front of the ball means the correct ball-first, turf-second sequence. Practice hitting balls off bare patches of rough or hard ground (carefully) to develop sensitivity to where your club is bottoming out — you’ll feel immediately whether you’re striking ball or turf first.
The Gate Drill for Ball Position
Place two tees in the ground flanking where you want the ball: one just inside your lead heel and one a clubhead-width further forward. Position the ball between the two tees and swing normally. This constrains your ball position and ensures you’re not playing the ball too far forward or too far back — both of which shift the low point incorrectly.
How This Connects to Overall Ball Striking
Fixing fat and thin shots is fundamentally about building a consistent low point — the same concept that underpins all-round ball striking improvement. Once you can reliably control where your club bottoms out, you’ll also find more consistency with your irons generally. Our guide to hitting irons consistently builds directly on these same principles and is worth reading alongside this one.
Your pre-shot routine matters here too. Rushing into a shot without a settled, consistent setup is one of the most common reasons fat and thin patterns resurface under pressure. Establishing a reliable routine before every shot helps lock in the setup fundamentals — ball position, weight distribution, and spine angle — that keep your low point in the right place. See our guide to building a pre-shot routine for a complete walkthrough.
When to Book a Lesson
The drills above solve the majority of fat and thin shot patterns. But if you’ve worked through them and the problem persists, or if you’re noticing the pattern only under pressure (on the course, not on the range), it’s worth booking a lesson with a PGA professional. Video analysis can identify subtle early extension or weight shift issues that are hard to self-diagnose, and a qualified coach can give you a single, personalised key thought rather than a list of things to try.
In the meantime, fixing your slice and improving your driver distance are the other two swing improvements that golfers typically tackle alongside ball-striking consistency. All three tend to improve together once your fundamental low point control and pressure shift improve.
Final Thoughts
Fat and thin shots aren’t two separate problems — they’re two expressions of the same low point control issue. Once you understand that both faults trace back to where your swing arc bottoms out, the fix becomes clear: shift pressure forward, stay in your posture, and trust the loft. Work through the drills in practice, bring the forward-pressure feeling to the course, and the fat-thin cycle will break. Consistent ball-first contact is one of the most satisfying feelings in golf — and it’s achievable for players at every level.
Topping the ball is the extreme version of the same low-point-control problem covered here — the leading edge strikes the ball above its equator instead of compressing it. Our dedicated guide to stop topping the ball covers the four root causes and the drill for each.
