Fat Golf Shot Drill: Ball tee peg ahead drill (Video) - by Pete Styles
Fat Golf Shot Drill: Ball tee peg ahead drill (Video) - by Pete Styles

So, I have just discussed one of the main reasons for fatting the golf ball is the body weight being too far behind the golf ball through the impact face. So, here's a great exercise to really encourage you to get through the golf ball as a practice drill, but then also as an opportunity to hit the golf ball with a practice drill as well.

So, my set up position normally for the 8 iron I have today, the ball position would be around about center, maybe just an inch ahead of center. I'm actually going to encourage you to put the ball away further forward, so I lay my club down opposite the tee peg and I'll set my left foot at my front leg, an inch behind the golf club.

So, the tee peg or the golf ball is way, way further forward in my stance. I can then shift myself so I'm nearer to it. I don't necessarily need to lean over to address it, I'm going to address my normal position about center, but my focus now becomes that tee peg in front of me. So, I want my normal back swing and then I see the tee peg over here in the corner of my left eye, I need to make a massive, dynamic movement into my left side to get forwards to clip the tee peg, anything where I keep my body weight too much on my rear leg, this tee peg is now out of reach.

So, from a normal set up position to the top, shift and clip the tee peg, and you'll see that my body weight, I'm always falling forward so I'm so far onto my left side. Turn back, shift and clip the tee peg and I nearly have to take a step through the ball. Once you've done that drill a few times just for the tee peg, you can strengthen it up a little bit and have a ball in there. You would expect to see the golf ball go quite high and possibly a bit left just because the club is on the upwards part of the arc as it hits the ball, so high and left would be a result.

The key thing here is if you get the ball in the air, there's a good chance you're moving correctly. If you're not getting the ball in the air when you're topping it, chances are, you're leaning back, which could ultimately cause your fat shots as well. So, from this position, I could dynamic shift during a downswing. So, a good set up, big shift, into the ball and get the ball up into the air. We see there it goes high and it goes left as predicted. But the strike was good, I got myself into a good position.

If you can practice doing this for 10 swings, then bring the ball position back to your normal place in your stance for the eighth time, just an inch ahead of center, but still focus on this area past your left foot, past your front foot. I make my normal swing hitting the ball but I'm still staying down to focus on this, and that will eradicate some fat shots because I'm not focused on being back and lifting. I'm focused much more on getting forward and being more dynamic through the shot.

So, you can mix up your practice a little bit. Let me try 10 with the ball ahead and then five normal swings. 10 with the ball ahead, five normal swings and hopefully the 10 with the ball ahead swings will start to infiltrate your normal swings and your normal swing will become more lateral, more dynamic and more towards your front foot and again helping you eradicate the fat shots.

 2012-11-28

So, I have just discussed one of the main reasons for fatting the golf ball is the body weight being too far behind the golf ball through the impact face. So, here's a great exercise to really encourage you to get through the golf ball as a practice drill, but then also as an opportunity to hit the golf ball with a practice drill as well.

So, my set up position normally for the 8 iron I have today, the ball position would be around about center, maybe just an inch ahead of center. I'm actually going to encourage you to put the ball away further forward, so I lay my club down opposite the tee peg and I'll set my left foot at my front leg, an inch behind the golf club.

So, the tee peg or the golf ball is way, way further forward in my stance. I can then shift myself so I'm nearer to it. I don't necessarily need to lean over to address it, I'm going to address my normal position about center, but my focus now becomes that tee peg in front of me. So, I want my normal back swing and then I see the tee peg over here in the corner of my left eye, I need to make a massive, dynamic movement into my left side to get forwards to clip the tee peg, anything where I keep my body weight too much on my rear leg, this tee peg is now out of reach.

So, from a normal set up position to the top, shift and clip the tee peg, and you'll see that my body weight, I'm always falling forward so I'm so far onto my left side. Turn back, shift and clip the tee peg and I nearly have to take a step through the ball. Once you've done that drill a few times just for the tee peg, you can strengthen it up a little bit and have a ball in there. You would expect to see the golf ball go quite high and possibly a bit left just because the club is on the upwards part of the arc as it hits the ball, so high and left would be a result.

The key thing here is if you get the ball in the air, there's a good chance you're moving correctly. If you're not getting the ball in the air when you're topping it, chances are, you're leaning back, which could ultimately cause your fat shots as well. So, from this position, I could dynamic shift during a downswing. So, a good set up, big shift, into the ball and get the ball up into the air. We see there it goes high and it goes left as predicted. But the strike was good, I got myself into a good position.

If you can practice doing this for 10 swings, then bring the ball position back to your normal place in your stance for the eighth time, just an inch ahead of center, but still focus on this area past your left foot, past your front foot. I make my normal swing hitting the ball but I'm still staying down to focus on this, and that will eradicate some fat shots because I'm not focused on being back and lifting. I'm focused much more on getting forward and being more dynamic through the shot.

So, you can mix up your practice a little bit. Let me try 10 with the ball ahead and then five normal swings. 10 with the ball ahead, five normal swings and hopefully the 10 with the ball ahead swings will start to infiltrate your normal swings and your normal swing will become more lateral, more dynamic and more towards your front foot and again helping you eradicate the fat shots.