Stop hitting thin golf shots & hit them flush
Do you often catch the golf ball thin and watch it go sailing through the back of the green? Maybe, you struggle to hit the centre of the clubface and the ball travels low to the ground and the club feels terrible in your hands? If either of these sounds like you, then learning how to stop hitting thin golf shots will make a dramatic change in your golf scores. The lag shot golf training aid helps you eliminate thin golf shots and hit them flush.
The good news is it’s not difficult to fix once you identify what’s causing the shot and then finally implement some simple drills.
I used to hit many thin golf shots but learned how to hit compressed golf shots in the Rotary Swing system. Click on the green link to get your FREE membership today.
>> If you like this, you'll also like: How to Hit Pure Golf Iron Shots in Just 6 Steps
3 SECRET MOVES I WISH I WAS SHOWN WHEN I FIRST PLAYED GOLF
What is a thin golf shot and what it looks like?
A thin golf shot is a shot when the golf ball strikes the bottom part of the clubface. This can be anywhere from ½ inch or more located below the centre of the clubface depending on how large your irons or woods are. The golf ball will typically travel very low to the ground or at least lower than your normal centred strike.
Typically you won’t get a lot of spin on the golf ball, and if you’re lucky enough to hit the green it will most likely run through the back into trouble.
Additionally, a thin shot will result in no divot being taken and accuracy is often wayward in either right or left direction.
The top 3 swing faults that lead to thin golf shots
Whilst there are several reasons for golfers thinning the golf ball, there are 3 swing faults that lead to the majority of these shots.
1. Standing up in the downswing or coming out of posture
2. Flipping the golf club or casting in the downswing
3. Poor ball position in the golf set up
A few other reasons include the reverse pivot in golf which is related to golf weight shift, swaying too much, stance too narrow or wide, standing too tall, and incorrect weight distribution at set up.
I’ll now cover the top 3 in more detail.
What is standing up and coming out of posture and how to fix
The most common reason, but difficult to identify unless you record your golf swing and view it on your computer or television. What it means is you have moved your butt away from its starting position at set up and moved closer to the golf ball, and at the same time stood up taller than when you were at address.
Grab a golf club in your stance and place your butt against a chair or wall and make a golf swing.
As you start the downswing and through to impact slowly pull your butt away from the chair, you’ll find your clubhead is further away from the ground making it difficult to maintain a consistent arc which invariably results in a thinned golf shot.
Most golfers make this error when swinging at full speed. It’s usually in an effort to generate more power and they’ll lift with their upper body to try and smash the golf ball.
Unfortunately, usually, the exact opposite happens and you’ll lose power due to an improper face strike.
To fix this you need to train your body to stay in posture by doing several (at least 30) repetitions of hitting golf shots whilst your butt stays against a chair or similar.
You can practice this at home or ideally at the golf driving range.
This drill is one of the best you’ll find and always results in golfers hitting the ball more solid and consistently after a short time of practicing it.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW WHERE I DEMONSTRATE HOW TO PERFORM A DRILL THAT ELIMINATES EARLY EXTENSION:
Flipping and casting the golf club and how to fix
Another common reason for hitting the golf ball thin is what’s called flipping or casting which happens in the golf downswing. This is when the clubhead overtakes the hands prior to reaching the rear thigh in the downswing and the clubhead reaches the golf ball on an upward trajectory exposing the lower or leading edge of the club.
This is especially bad with your golf iron shots which need to be hit in a descending motion to contact the sweet spot.
To fix you need to do a couple of things:
1. Ensure you have a light grip pressure particularly in the right hand (right-hander) so that when you start the downswing you are not pushing against the golf club and reducing the lag angle.
2. As you commence the downswing you need to maintain the angle you had at the top of the backswing between your right arm and the shaft (call lag angle).
3. Ideally you’ll want to maintain this angle until you reach the rear thigh and then you can release the golf club at the golf ball.
Practice these moves slowly at first for about 50 repetitions without hitting a golf ball. Then slowly work your way up to hitting short shots and then finally longer, full shots.
>> If you like this, you'll also like: How to Get The Proper Golf Iron Set-Up Every Time With 6 Keys
Proper ball position and how to fix
A simple problem but something that you may be guilty of that’s causing a lot of your thin golf shots. Poor ball position can have a large impact on the contact you make with the golf ball because it correlates with the position of the arc of your golf swing which contacts the golf ball.
If your golf ball is positioned particularly too far forward in your stance, it makes it difficult to catch the sweet spot because the bottom of the swing arc is usually well before it reaches the golf ball.
This exposes the bottom of the clubface leading to thinned golf shots.
As a general guide with your 8-iron to SW the ball should be positioned roughly in the middle of your stance. 7-iron to 3-iron you can progressively move the golf ball an inch or two forward of centre accordingly.
Another great practice tip you can apply is to make practice swings at the range or even before your round and watch where your golf club is bottoming out by looking at where your divot starts.
This way you’ll know where to place the golf ball in your stance that ensures crisp, solid contact.
What you need to do now
If you’re hitting thin golf shots you can be sure you’re guilty of at least one of the 3 causes above.
Ideally, it’s best to record your golf swing so that you can see with your own eyes where the problem is occurring.
If you’d like some help with this then the team at Rotary Swing can review your golf swing twice every month as part of their membership.
Take the time to practice the drills I mentioned slowly and deliberately.
Don’t rush straight out to a round of golf without putting in this practice ... it’s vital to do this first.
If you have any questions about these thin golf shot fixes please leave a comment below, and don’t forget to share this post with your golfing buddies on your favourite social media icon to the left.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS POST PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW, AND DON’T FORGET TO SHARE WITH YOUR GOLFING MATES AT YOUR FAVOURITE SOCIAL MEDIA ICON TO THE LEFT.
This post may contain affiliate links. I make money from these affiliate links to keep the site free for users, and it is no cost to you.
