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Chunked/fat shots on wet/soft courses

moosejaa

moosejaa

Mr. Inconsistent
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I've been really chunking, hitting my irons and wedges fat the last few rounds. It's gotten pretty frustrating.
After a good ballstriking season, especially with the wedges, it seems to have gotten bad when we finally got some rain and the courses got really wet and soft.
Anybody else see this happening and any suggestions for dealing with it?
 
Are you really hitting fat shots or just getting lots of divot because of the wet conditions? The only reason I ask is because when I play on a wet course, I try to sweep the ball a bit more than I normally would to avoid taking really big divot pelts. It you get to steep on a wet course this could happen. @freddie might have some better info on this
 
Snickerdog said:
Are you really hitting fat shots or just getting lots of divot because of the wet conditions? The only reason I ask is because when I play on a wet course, I try to sweep the ball a bit more than I normally would to avoid taking really big divot pelts. It you get to steep on a wet course this could happen. @freddie might have some better info on this
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I'm not sure, I know I get no distance so I figured I'm hitting it fat.
Courses were so dry all season that I'm still swinging like I'll get some "bounce" off the turf (?).
 
I had it happen this past weekend. I’ll be reconsidering how I play my pitch shots. Using the bounce only works if the club doesn’t eat into the turf. Once I got comfortable with the idea that my wedges wouldn’t dig, my pitches and chips got better. Then it rained and I lay the sod over my pitches. I’m just going to go back to sweep it and hit it clean. Even if my distance control suffers, it won’t be three duffs and a putt from the rough bad.
 
hackitup said:
I had it happen this past weekend. I’ll be reconsidering how I play my pitch shots. Using the bounce only works if the club doesn’t eat into the turf. Once I got comfortable with the idea that my wedges wouldn’t dig, my pitches and chips got better. Then it rained and I lay the sod over my pitches. I’m just going to go back to sweep it and hit it clean. Even if my distance control suffers, it won’t be three duffs and a putt from the rough bad.
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Sounds like my round yesterday, fat iron, fat wedge, bad chip, 2 putt. I wasted a lot of good drives.
 
moosejaa said:
Sounds like my round yesterday, fat iron, fat wedge, bad chip, 2 putt. I wasted a lot of good drives.
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I don’t even think those strokes were the worst part. It was the mental questions that leaked into everything else in my round. When it gets that bad I have zero confidence in anything and it looks like I just picked up golf that morning.
 
irons shots, particularly with the shorter irons, are tricky because the plane is a little steeper. if you can sweep the ball, that would be ideal.

around the greens, i try to use the bounce as much as possible when it's really wet.
 
I go through spurts occasionally where I start fatting everything regardless of conditions and to the best of my limited Golf knowledge is it relates to ball position. If I set up with the ball too far back in my stance I end up hitting shots fat for whatever reason.
 
Sweep the ball or pick the ball off the turf. If you change the ball position in your stance, more off the front foot, just like the driver, you can hit the ball on the up swing, actually picking it off the turf. May take a bit of getting used to ... you will hit it low on the face (a dimple & a groove as I like to say) but once you learn to pick the ball, take shallower divots, you can master the really wet, soggy conditions. If you're steep, in a more "V" shaped swing, you take larger divots. More of a "U" shape swing, allows you to take shallower divots & nip the ball off the turf.
Just my .02
 
doesnt it really just come down to ball striking ability. We are suppose to hit ball first. technically wet or dry if we hit correctly it shouldnt matter. I of course know that it does matter but thats because we just dont hit corectly enough of the time. We get offfered tha mask of hitting fat when comdotions rae firm or when hittong off matts. i think this just has to come down to practicing pur ball striking. Hitting ball first leaves the gorund to have least to little effect as possible. I just try to make beleive the ground isnt a mud put. I had a number of shots (about 5 of i recall) like this today and most worked out ok. Not great or anything to brag about but I got the job done. But 2 of them not so good but not at all derimental so again wokred ok (relatively speaking). Ive ften striggled with this but I just keep on pusjng to convince myself it shouldnt matter if i make the strike im suppose to make.
 
c.a.eleric said:
irons shots, particularly with the shorter irons, are tricky because the plane is a little steeper. if you can sweep the ball, that would be ideal.

around the greens, i try to use the bounce as much as possible when it's really wet.
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So, do you open the face a little more to use the bounce on the wedges?
 
rollin said:
doesnt it really just come down to ball striking ability. We are suppose to hit ball first. technically wet or dry if we hit correctly it shouldnt matter. I of course know that it does matter but thats because we just dont hit corectly enough of the time. We get offfered tha mask of hitting fat when comdotions rae firm or when hittong off matts. i think this just has to come down to practicing pur ball striking. Hitting ball first leaves the gorund to have least to little effect as possible. I just try to make beleive the ground isnt a mud put. I had a number of shots (about 5 of i recall) like this today and most worked out ok. Not great or anything to brag about but I got the job done. But 2 of them not so good but not at all derimental so again wokred ok (relatively speaking). Ive ften striggled with this but I just keep on pusjng to convince myself it shouldnt matter if i make the strike im suppose to make.
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All of us non-pure ball strikers look for any possible way to circumvent the system :act-up:
 
I was using my BIL's second set (Old Big Berthas) in London and the ground was so wet I hit every iron fat. So after a few holes I quit using them and hit my 4 hybrid for everything except tee shots, pitching or chipping and putting. I used the 7-iron and PW a few times around the green, but I was hitting that 4H for everything from 40 or 50 yards to however far I hit the driver to.
 
golfinnut said:
All of us non-pure ball strikers look for any possible way to circumvent the system :act-up:
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but is there really a way? I mean if many of us are most always just happy to be good enough to execute decnt strikes just productive enough for success to begin with, are we then suppose to really be good enough to alter our swing aoa and still find that same percentage 9whatever that may be) of success ? Most of us strive (and battle) for having a consistant swing to begi with , without then having to alter it.

I feel (in the wet ) why not just make the swing I am trying to obtain consistency with in the first place and if done correctly will hit ball first and wont be much an issue. IDK if that right or wrong but seems to make sense..lol

Come to think of it, I just realized 9as I been questioning) why many my iron strking has been short sided lately. The courses have been saoked recently and I suppose my far less than pure but even slightly fat ball striking in the soft ground is the reason.
 
moosejaa said:
So, do you open the face a little more to use the bounce on the wedges?
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that's one way. another way is to adjust ball position a little. and another way is to make the shaft a bit more vertical at address, not leaning toward the target.
 
I usually move the ball forward in my stance to shallow out a bit. Take a couple practice swings where you just brush the grass.
 
So then some of you guys do adjust your swing depending on a soft/wet course condition?
It's hard enough getting one swing down. Lol
 
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moosejaa said:
So then some you guys do adjust your swing depending on a soft/wet course condition?
It's hard enough getting one swing down. Lol
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ou could try moving the back a ball length in the stance but that probably just a bandaid for not hitting ball first in the first place imo. perhpas greater foward weight shift is needed or perhpas more forward hands and head lag. Im no instructor of course but from all I know about my swings many many lessons perhaps one those area of the swing is lacking.
 
moosejaa said:
So then some of you guys do adjust your swing depending on a soft/wet course condition?
It's hard enough getting one swing down. Lol
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We both got so use to hitting the ball off of dry FW's due to the lack of rain this year that now that the FW's are soft the same shot we got use to using all summer now needs to be adjusted to compensate for soft turf, whether it be changing ball placement or not striking the ball on so steep a plane. I played 18 at Niagara Orleans today and it was amazingly dry for the amount of rain we've had so I didn't have to change much today.
 
luvagoodshot said:
We both got so use to hitting the ball off of dry FW's due to the lack of rain this year that now that the FW's are soft the same shot we got use to using all summer now needs to be adjusted to compensate for soft turf, whether it be changing ball placement or not striking the ball on so steep a plane. I played 18 at Niagara Orleans today and it was amazingly dry for the amount of rain we've had so I didn't have to change much today.
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I can't believe I haven't played there yet this year. They've always bragged about their drainage system.
 
moosejaa said:
I can't believe I haven't played there yet this year. They've always bragged about their drainage system.
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The current fall rate for 18 with cart is $25
 
I have been playing mud golf for at least the past couple of weeks. I have hit a few fat shots, but given the wet conditions, that is to be expected. I really have to focus on hitting the ball first from the fairway or a tight lie. There simply isn't any margin for error. I have been putting the ball just a wee bit back in my stance.
 
moosejaa said:
So, do you open the face a little more to use the bounce on the wedges?
Click to expand...

If the grind promotes this then it’s an option. Some grinds don’t increase bounce when you manipulate the face.
 
Played a round yesterday on what may have been the soggiest course I've ever played on.
Took some of the tips from you guys and hit a lot less fat/chunked shots.
Focused on the ball a little more, moved it up a bit in my stance and tried more of a sweeping swing.
Definitely effected my distance on my wedges though, didn't trust them.
 
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