Short Approach Shots

@kelton4 - Check your hand and ball positions at address before tweaking anything in the swing. Your hands should be even with the inside of your lead thigh regardless of which club you are swinging. You have some leeway with ball position. I tend to like the simplicity of keeping it consistent relative to the inside of the lead heel and adjusting the stance width depending on the length of the club. Alternatively, the Stack & Tilt book prescribes a stock ball position that is in the middle of the stance for short irons, two balls inside the lead heel for middle irons, and incrementally more forward for the longer clubs - the farthest forward being even with the inside of the lead heel for the driver (again, with the stance width increasing as we move from shorter to longer clubs). It's very important to use alignment sticks when monitoring ball position - one on the foot line, a second one parallel to the first to mark the target line, and a third perpendicular to these to show ball position. Make incremental tweaks to see how different positions affect impact quality and shot shape.

If, after checking these, you're still hitting it fat, it is likely that your low point is shifting backwards as a result of not having enough weight moving forward in the downswing. Check out this diagnostic video from the Fixing Common Swing Problems section. If it seems to apply to your situation, there are several drill videos that immediately follow it which are specific to what I refer to as "Downswing Problem #1".

This is a common issue that I am regularly asked to fix, so if yours doesn't relate to any of the above - or if it does and you are experiencing difficulty resolving it - we can always arrange for a V1 swing video analysis to pinpoint the culprit and offer an appropriate solution.

Tom