Fat and thin shots are two of the most frustrating errors in golf. One minute you’re hitting solid shots down the middle, and the next you’re either catching the ground before the ball or barely clipping the top. The good news? Both problems share common root causes, and once you understand what’s happening in your swing, fixing them becomes straightforward.
Whether you’re a beginner struggling with consistency or an intermediate golfer looking to tighten up your contact, this guide will walk you through the mechanics behind fat and thin shots, show you exactly what’s causing your poor contact, and provide you with battle-tested drills you can use immediately on the practice range.
Understanding Fat and Thin Shots
Before we talk about fixing the problem, let’s define what we’re actually looking at.
A fat shot happens when your club makes contact with the ground before it strikes the ball. This “heavy” contact sends most of your energy into the turf instead of the ball. The result is a shot that flies much lower and shorter than intended, with a weak, high-spinning trajectory. You’ll typically feel the club digging into the ground, and you might even take a significant divot.
A thin shot is the opposite: your club face catches only the bottom portion of the ball, missing the center of the club face. This thin contact produces a hard, low trajectory with excessive spin. The ball often feels like it comes off the club face with a sharp “click” sound, travels lower than normal, and can actually go almost as far as a solid strike—but with very little control. Thin shots are particularly dangerous around the green.
The counterintuitive part? Fat and thin shots are often caused by the same mechanical flaw, just expressed differently. Understanding this connection is the key to fixing both.
The Root Causes of Fat Shots
Fat shots aren’t random. They happen because your club bottoms out too early in the hitting zone, catching the ground before the ball. Here are the main culprits.
Weight Stays on Your Back Foot
One of the most common causes of fat shots is failing to shift your weight forward during the downswing. If your weight stays on your back foot through impact, your low point moves backward. Instead of the club bottoming out just past the ball, it bottoms out at the ball or behind it, causing the fat shot.
This is especially true with iron shots. The club should strike the ball first, then take a divot in front of the ball. If your weight hasn’t moved forward, you’re guaranteeing a fat shot.
Excessive Knee Bend or Squat
Another major cause is too much vertical movement in your swing. If you squat or increase your knee bend during the downswing, you lower your body and your club head. This raises your low point, pushing it forward and causing you to catch the ground before making clean contact with the ball.
Early Release of the Club
“Early release” or “casting” happens when you unhinge your wrists too early on the downswing, extending the club away from your body prematurely. This also affects your low point, shifting it backward in your swing arc. You end up hitting behind the ball rather than at the ball.
Excessive Lateral Sway
Swaying too far laterally—moving your body too much toward the target—can also cause fat shots. When you sway excessively, you move your center of gravity past the ball, which changes where your club naturally bottoms out.
The Root Causes of Thin Shots
Thin shots often stem from the exact same mechanical issues as fat shots, but they manifest differently. Here’s what typically causes them.
Standing Up Through the Shot
When you straighten your legs or stand up during the downswing, you raise your body and your club face rises with it. This moves the club’s impact point too high on the ball, resulting in thin contact. This is why you’ll often hear people say “don’t lift your head”—it’s not about your head position per se, but the body rise that usually accompanies it.
Hanging Back on Your Rear Foot
Just like with fat shots, failing to shift your weight forward causes thin shots. When your weight stays back, you catch the ball on the upswing instead of on the downswing or at the low point. This creates thin contact at the bottom of the golf ball.
Trying to Lift the Ball
One of the biggest mistakes amateur golfers make is trying to scoop or lift the ball into the air, especially with irons. This flipping motion causes the club face to contact the ball too high. The result is a thin shot that feels like you barely made contact.
The Connection Between Fat and Thin Shots
Here’s the critical insight: fat and thin shots are often opposite sides of the same coin. A golfer who swings with poor low point control might hit five fat shots in a row, then suddenly thin one when they overcompensate by standing up or hanging back. The same weight distribution issue can cause both problems depending on the exact sequence of movements.
This is why many golfers struggle to fix these issues—they’re trying to treat them as separate problems when they actually need to fix the underlying low point and weight distribution mechanics. Once you nail down proper sequencing and weight shift, both fat and thin shots disappear.
Proven Drills to Fix Fat and Thin Shots
These drills address the core mechanical issues. Use them in sequence over multiple practice sessions.
The Towel Drill
What it fixes: Weight shift and low point control
How to do it: Place a towel on the ground where the ball would be. Make your normal swing, but focus on sweeping the towel forward. You should feel your weight moving into your front foot as the club moves through impact. The towel should move forward and away, not just be struck in place. This drill forces proper weight transfer and extends the hitting zone.
The Tee Drill
What it fixes: Thin shots and standing up
How to do it: Place three tees in the ground in a line, about 6 inches apart (or closer for irons). The front tee should be where you’d expect your divot to start. Hit shots trying to clip all three tees in sequence without changing your posture. This trains you to maintain spine angle through the shot and keep your club face in the strike zone longer.
Feet Together Drill
What it fixes: Lateral sway and weight transfer
How to do it: Stand with your feet together and hit half-swing shots (50% power). This eliminates sway almost entirely and forces you to rotate properly. You can’t shift laterally when your feet are together, so you must use hip and shoulder rotation. Start with short chips, then work up to fuller swings. This builds the rotational pattern that prevents both fat and thin shots.
The Coin Drill
What it fixes: Divot location and weight transfer
How to do it: Place a coin on the ground. Place your ball two inches in front of it (toward the target). Hit shots trying to strike the coin with your divot, not the ball. This teaches you exactly where your low point should be and forces proper weight forward at impact. If you hit the ball first, you’ve moved too far forward. If you hit the coin, you’ve nailed the low point.
The Step-Through Drill
What it fixes: Weight transfer and extension
How to do it: Make your normal swing, but exaggerate your follow-through by stepping forward with your back foot as you strike the ball. This forces dramatic weight transfer into your front side and prevents any hanging back. You’ll immediately feel when your weight is shifting properly. Once the feel is locked in, you can reduce the step.
Shaft Lean Drill
What it fixes: Early release and low point control
How to do it: At address, lean the shaft slightly forward. Make half swings maintaining that forward shaft lean through impact. This prevents early release and ensures your hands stay ahead of the ball. Hit 10 shots with this exaggerated forward lean, then gradually reduce it as you add full swing speed. This builds the correct impact position that eliminates both fat and thin shots.
Your Practice Plan
Don’t try all these drills at once. Here’s a structured approach:
Week 1: Feet Together Drill and Towel Drill (5 minutes each, 3 sessions)
Week 2: Add Coin Drill and Step-Through Drill (5 minutes each)
Week 3: Add Tee Drill and Shaft Lean Drill
Week 4+: Rotate through drills based on whichever problems still show up
Quality beats quantity. Ten perfect repetitions of one drill will fix your swing faster than 50 sloppy swings hitting random shots.
Fixes You Can Use On the Course
Once you’ve worked on these drills, use these quick fixes when fat or thin shots creep back in during your round.
If you’re hitting fat: Feel your weight move into your front foot at the start of your downswing. Think “forward” rather than “down.” Shorten your swing slightly to get more control over your low point. Tee your irons higher than normal—this gives you more margin for error.
If you’re hitting thin: Focus on maintaining your posture and spine angle from address through impact. Resist the urge to lift or scoop. Make a smoother, less aggressive swing with better control. Think about rotating, not swaying.
The Mental Side
Fat and thin shots often become mental problems after they become mechanical ones. You start expecting them, which makes you tense and throws off your swing. Trust your drills. After a few weeks of consistent practice with these drills, you’ll have built the muscle memory to execute proper contact under pressure. Once you’ve proven to yourself on the practice range that you can hit 20 solid shots in a row, you can take that confidence to the course.
Remember, golf is a game of degrees. You don’t need perfection—you just need to be better than your competition. Eliminating fat and thin shots puts you ahead of a lot of golfers immediately. If you want to improve other aspects of your game, check out our guides on how to fix a slice and hitting irons consistently. You should also invest time in course management strategy to leverage the solid contact you’ll now be making.
Combining solid mechanics with physical preparation is the fastest path to better golf. Make sure you’re following a golf workout routine to build the strength and flexibility these mechanics require. And always start your rounds with a proper pre-round warm-up routine to activate these patterns before you step onto the course.
Implement these drills consistently, trust the process, and within a few weeks you’ll see a dramatic improvement in your contact quality. Fat and thin shots aren’t a life sentence—they’re a solvable problem with the right mechanical fixes.
