Why Do I Hit the Ball Fat? How to Stop Chunking It

Updated October 12, 2026 · Written by the Your Golf Plan team · Written for right-handed golfers; if you play left-handed, flip left and right.

A fat shot, or chunk, is when the club hits the ground before it reaches the ball. The turf slows the club, so the ball comes out weak and short. It is demoralizing because it often happens on a swing that felt good.

The cause is almost always one thing: the lowest point of your swing is behind the ball instead of in front of it.

What is happening

With an iron the club should still be travelling down when it strikes the ball, and reach the bottom of its arc a couple of inches past it. On a fat shot the club bottoms out early. See our guide to finding the low point.

The usual causes

Weight hangs back on the trail foot through impact, so the arc bottoms out behind the ball.
Scooping: trying to lift the ball instead of compressing it, so the hands and club pass each other early.
Casting the club: releasing the wrists at the start of the downswing. See our guide to casting.
A steep, over-the-top move that digs the club into the ground.
Swaying off the ball, or dropping lower during the swing.
Ball too far forward for the club.

How to see it

Look at your divot. If it starts behind the ball, or the deepest point is behind where the ball was, you are fat. A divot that begins on the target side of the ball is where you want to be.

On face-on video, look at your lead-side pressure at impact. If your chest and belt buckle are still back over the trail foot, the arc is bottoming out behind the ball.

Drills that help

Towel behind the ball

Lay a towel or headcover flat on the ground about four to six inches behind the ball.
Hit the ball without touching the towel.
If you clip the towel you are hitting the ground behind the ball. Shift toward the target before the club arrives.

What you should feel: The club approaches the ball from above and brushes the turf after it.

Stay forward

Set up with a little more weight on your lead foot and your hands just ahead of the ball.
Make half swings and keep that weight forward through the strike. Do not go back to the trail side.
Check that your divot now starts at or past the ball.

What you should feel: You hit down on the ball, and the club finishes with your chest facing the target.

Not sure this is your problem?

Drills only work if you are fixing the right thing. Film your swing from down the line and face-on, and a PGA coach will tell you what is actually happening and give you one drill to work on.

Get a coach to look at your swing · $35

What a coach looks for on video

Where the club first meets the turf compared with the ball
Weight transfer and pressure at impact
Wrist release timing and lag
Swing path: steep or shallow
Head and chest position through the strike

That is the difference between guessing from a guide and knowing from your own swing. Two short videos are enough for a coach to check all of this.

Keep going

Common questions

Why do I hit fat shots with short irons and wedges?

Wedges invite lifting and decelerating, which are the two fastest ways to bottom the club out early.

Is a bad lie causing fat shots?

Lies matter, but if you hit them fat on good lies too, the cause is in the swing.

Fat or thin: which is worse?

Both come from the low point. Fat usually means the low point is behind the ball. Thin usually means the club or body is rising by the time it arrives.

Have a coach look at your swing

Send two short phone videos and tell us what you are working on. A PGA coach sends back a video review and a drill built around your swing, usually within 24 hours and always within 48.

Get your swing analysis · $35