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Fat (or Fat Shot)

By Brent Kelley, About.com

Fat Shot

In a fat shot, the golfer's club contacts the ground prior to contacting the ball.

Illustration by William Glessner
Definition: A shot in which the golfer's club hits the ground before making contact with the ball. This usually results in digging up a lot of turf and a shot that travels far shorter than desired. In fact, in a severe fat shot, the divot might travel nearly as far as the golf ball!

A fat shot can be thought of as the opposite of a thin shot. And while a thin shot, for very skilled golfers, might sometimes be played intentionally, a fat shot never is, and the results of a fat shot are rarely good.

See the Fat Shot Tip Sheet, for a quick checklist of possible causes of this type of shot.

Also Known As: Heavy shot, chunk shot, chunking the ball, catching it fat
Examples: The Golf Guide hit a fat shot. He caught it heavy.

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