Golf World: Fixing fat and thin pitch shots

One of the most frustrating shots in golf is the fat shot just off the green. After a great second shot into the green you leave yourself with about 25 yards to the pin. So what do you do? You hit behind the ball and it goes about four yards. The result is the fat shot in pitching. About this time, you are saying to yourself, "Why am I playing this game?

Interestingly enough, the skulled, or thin pitch shot over the green is just as common and is caused by the same reasons. Both of these shots are caused by the player trying to scoop the ball up in the air with the right hand and clubhead.

The golfer who hits fat and thin shots with his wedges must learn to hit down on the ball and not up on the ball. This can be accomplished by some of the following fundamentals:

-- GETTING A BETTER SETUP: Adjust your head so it is right over the ball and not behind the ball. You can do this by trying to level out the shoulders at set-up. This will put 70 percent of your weight on your left side and help you hit down on the ball.

Play the ball in the center of your stance and keep the stance narrow.

-- FIXING YOUR BACKSWING: Golfers who hit a lot of thin and fat shots around the green tend to have very fast backswings. Try to keep a nice even rhythm to your backswing. Don't rush it.

Have a small shoulder turn, instead of just swinging the arms. The club should simply come inside the target line a little bit as the clubface opens up like a gate.

The arms and body must stay connected and move as one as there is only a slight wrist break on the backswing. Many of you who hit the fat and thin shots around the green take an overly long backswing then slow down the forward swing.

It's probably best to keep the length of the backswing and forward swing the same distance. I have seen many of you simply pick the club up with the wrists and hands on the backswing. This is an open invitation for a fat or thin shot.

-- MAKING A BETTER DOWNSWING: It is common for the golfer who hits a lot of fat and thin shots to hurry the swing from the top. As you work on this try to keep your grip pressure very light and just let the arms fall out of the sky.

The body turn brings the arms downward. The golfer who hits the fat and thin shot is trying to use the arms and hands to hit this shot. In the future, just turn your body at the hole and let the body turn bring the arms down.

SHORING UP YOUR IMPACT: It is critical for your hands to be ahead of the clubhead at impact if you want to be a great pitcher and avoid the fat and thin shot.

When I see most of you, the clubhead is passing your hands at impact and thus, the fat or thin shot. At impact the left wrist should be flat and the right wrist bent. If you let your pivot bring your arms down this will automatically happen.

LEARN FROM YOUR FINISH POSITION: The follow through has to be as long as the backswing. If the golfer would simply hold his/her finish at waist high for three seconds.

At this position both arms should be straight and close together as the left wrist is flat and in line with the left arm.

Remember, no scooping and hit down to get rid of those fat and thin shots.

(Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples, Fla. and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. Dr. Suttie is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 20 Teacher, and coaches the Florida Gulf Coast University golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie@aol.com or go online to www.jimsuttie.com.)

(Golf World is a feature of the Naples Daily News in Florida at www.naplesnews.com.)