Have you ever experienced this in golf?
You are playing a round of golf and seem to be striking the ball pretty solid.
You step up to a shot and all of a sudden hit it really thin as the bal comes out really low you lose plenty of distance.
Even worse, you are trying to carry an iron shot 150 yards over the water and the thin shot reppears causing you to come up short and land in the water.
What Is A Thin Shot in Golf?
The thin shot in golf occurs as a result of the golf club striking the golf ball too high. This causes the ball to come out low and the golfer loses carry distance on the shot. The cause is often associated with the center of the swing being too far back at impact.
What Causes A Thin Shot In Golf?
There are three main causes of the thin shot in golf:
- The center of the swing is too far back.
- The golfer fears taking a divot.
- The golfer stands up and early extends in the golf shot.
Oftentimes the same problems that cause a thin shot in golf aren’t that much different that causes a fat shot in golf. Below I will dive into these three causes and then provide several drills you can use to improve your overall ball striking.
Ultimately, the golfers that can strike the ball solid and control their start line and curve of the ball are going to have the best chance of shooting quality scores, assuming that short games are fairly equal.
While the short game is the fastest way to improve your overall score, hitting the ball solid and improving your technique is right there with it. Over the course of 18 holes, a four day tournament or a golf season, the golfer that strikes the ball most solid will have a quality chance of playing the best golf.
Cause #1: The Center of the Swing is Too Far Back
One of the biggest faults in thin shots and fat shots in the game of golf is the golfer has their center too far back at impact.
This is often an issue with the golfer that shifts his or her weight back aggressively, but fails to return in time to ensure solid contact. As a result, the golf wil have to make manipulations with the hands and arms for compensations leading to thin shots or fat shots depending on timing the release.
While the Stack and Tilt Swing has those that believe and those that bash it, the truth is that these two instructors had some wisdom in keeping the center of the swing more forward throughout the entire swing instead of trying to shift back and through. The swing has transitioned to more rotational as the body and arms swing around the center.
The Stack and Tilt instructors advocated for setting up with 60% of the weight on the front leg and maintaining that pressure throughout the swing and increasing on the downswing.
If you are struggling with hitting the ball solid, this is a quality first drill that we get into in more detail below!
Resource: How To Get Good at Golf Fast! (7 Tips)
Cause #2: The Golfer Fears Taking A Divot
The thin shot will also appear when the golfer is fearful of taking a divot or hitting the ball fat. Once a golfer starts hitting the ball fat, their mind takes over and starts to try to help by getting the arms or hands to lift up a bit to avoid the divot or the fat shot. This can start with the center being too far out of place and then leads to the compensation.
As the golfer eyes up the shot from 150 yards over the water, the fear that enters into the body and mind about hitting a fat shot in the water, can lead to a thin shot as well from the compensations made on the downswing.
Below I will get into some drills to help build up the confidence on how to hit solid shots on a consistent basis and play without fear!
Resource: Why Do I Hit Fat Shots in Golf?
Cause #3: The Golfers Stands Up Early and Early Extends
You will see a lot of golfers struggle with the impact positions due to early extension. As a result of trying to hit the ball too far or poor sequencing a golfer might lift completely out of the shot as the hips move towards the ball and the head raises up.
The first movement in the downswing actually consists of a slight squatting motion in the legs in a quality swing and in the weakest swings you will see the hips move closer to the ball as the head flies out of the shot. The golf tries to hang out and releases the hands early and then strikes the middle to the top of the golf ball resulting in poor contact.
Resource: What causes early extension in the golf swing? (Fixes and Drills!)
3 Drills to Help With Ball Striking
The ultimate goal is to end the thin and fat shots and this starts with putting some drills in place to help control the low point of the swing, keeping the center far enough forward and getting your task or mind right to ensure you can swing free of tension and with confidence.
Drill #1: Low Point Control
The golfer must be able to control the low point in the golf swing. By deliberate practice of striking the ground at the right place, the golf can build confidence. Here is an excellent drill.
- Paint a line about 2-3 yards long.
- Grab a golf club and a wiffle ball.
- See how many times your swing can be just on the front side of the line.
- Make 20 swings and see how many times out of 20 you were successful. This is now your base line.
Practice on this line with the wiffle ball over the next month or so until you can get to a success rate of 19 out of 20. The best golfers around would be successful 20 out of 20.
Drill #2: Weight Forward, Half Shot Drill
For those golfers that struggle with the center of the swing, here is a great drill. Keep in mind that often times, the backswing can get way too long, resulting in compensations to get the club back to a proper impact position. Here is an excellent drill:
- Place 60%-80% of the weight on the front leg.
- Take the club about halfway back (left arm parallel to the ground)
- Swing through and striking the ball, working on hitting down and through the shot.
- You can imagine the painted line from the drill above to help control your low point when completing this drill!
Drill #3: Task and Target Oriented
Shawn Clement, one of our top rated instructors, does an excellent job helping the golfer lose the tension in their swing by focusing on complete the task at hand with a focus on the target. The golfer with Shawn Clement imagines the golf ball is a dandelion and the golfer is simply picking the dandelion with the golf club.
- Set up a golf ball on a short tee.
- Picture a dandelion sitting there.
- Pick your target off in a distance.
- Swing towards your target and have a feeling of throwing the club out at the target and not at the ball.
BONUS DRILL: Stock Shot Drill
Once you have mastered the art of striking the ball solid, the next progression is the stock shot drill. Could you imagine heading to the golf course each time knowing you can hit a consistent draw or fade on demand? The tension and nervousness would escape as you focus on sending the ball on your target line with a predictable curve of the ball.
- At the driving range, set up an alignment stick about 6-8 yards in front of you, straight down your target line.
- If you have a second alignment stick, set the stick 3-4 yards right of the first stick (for a draw) or left of the first stick (for a fade).
- Complete your initial assessment and see how many times out of 10 you can start the ball to the right or left of your target. Pick one side and measure your game at this point.
- The goal is to eventually get 7 out of 10 shots to start to the correct side and draw back towards the target.
Final Thoughts: The 3 Basics of Golf
Whether you are new to the game or have been playing for years, when you are struggling or looking to get better, it is always a good idea to return to the three basics of playing golf:
- Fundamental #1: The golfer must be able to control the low spot in the golf swing.
- Fundamental #2: The golfer must be able to control the start line and the curve of the ball.
- Fundamental #3: The golfer must have enough speed to play the course.
Working on these three fundamentals will help you greatly no matter your current level of ability. These truly are the three fundamentals of the game! You can use drill #1 above for the first fundamental, the BONUS DRILL for fundamental #2 and check out SuperSpeed Golf to gain more distance!
SuperSpeed Golf is used by golfers on the PGA Tour to help them gain as much as 5-8% in speed as early as the first training session. The bottom line is that it works! Make sure you check it out!
Resource: My Full Review on SuperSpeed Golf
Looking for more speed?
Check out this post: How to Increase Driver Swing Speed: 3 Options
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
4 – Practice Frequently
Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:
- Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.
