Hitting Thin Golf Shots? Here’s Why and How to Fix It

One of the more frustrating things in golf is to mishit a shot. When you don’t hit it flush, which is often if you’re a high handicapper, then you’re either hitting thin shots or hitting fat shots.

In this article I’m going to cover how to stop hitting thin golf shots. First I’ll cover what they are, the most common causes, and drills to help you overcome hitting thin shots.

What is a thin golf shot?

This is a shot in which you don’t get all of your club on the ball. You catch it a couple of grooves low on the club face, and usually above the equater of the golf ball.

You can still hit thin golf shots pretty far, though they don’t go as far or as high as flush shots. The worst thinned golf shots are line drives, grounders, or sometimes you barely catch the top of them and they might dribble a few feet in front of you.

Other than the ball flight, another good indicator that you hit a thin golf shot is that you didn’t take a divot. You might not even touched the ground at all.

Like all mishits, these shots just don’t go as far as a flush shot and they’re far more unpredictable than a good golf shot. It’s much harder to play golf when your shots are so unpredictable.

What Causes a Thin Golf Shot?

There are so many reasons why you might hit a thin golf shot. There’s no way to cover all the little nuances that meet lead to a mis-struck shot. Here are a few more common or larger issues that might lead to a thin shot.

• Coming out of posture. For example, if you stand up during your downswing that will change how and where you deliver the club back at impact. If you stand up, that will lift your swing arc.
• Ball position. If the ball is too far forward, you can catch the ball when your club is already past the low point and on the way up. If the ball is too far back, you might catch the ball too early in the swing.
• Hanging back. If your weight gets too much on your trail side, that can cause the same issues as the ball position — the club will reach the low point well before the ball and catch the ball on the way up.
• Early extension. If for some reason you have the club coming in too steep and you have to early extend (stand up), then you’ll have to time your shot. This can lead to thin iron strikes.
• Swaying off the ball. Similar to hanging back and ball position — if you move off the ball too much, you can struggle to recenter. This will move your low point back in your arc, so far that the club catches the ball on the way up.
• Swing arc. You can hit thin golf shots if you don’t maintain the swing arc throughout your swing. For example, if you have lots of width in your backswing but then your arms collapse in the downswing, then there’s a good chance you’ll hit the ball thin.

Those are a few reasons why you might hit a thin shot. It doesn’t cover everything but this should cover most cases.

If you’re hitting a lot of thin shots, then one of the best things you can do is record your swing. You’ll want to record from face on for things like swaying off the ball, ball position, hanging back, etc. However, a down the line view will be better for seeing if you’re getting steep or early extending (coming out of your posture).

Best Thin Golf Shot Fixes

The drills you do to fix your thin golf shots will depend on what issues you’re having. There’s no way I can account for every situation here, but I’ll try to cover the major stuff.

Setup

You need to have a good setup at address. What does this mean?

• Balance 50/50 on both feet. You want to make sure you’re balanced both front to back and left to right. Most of your weight should be centered over the balls of your feet.
• Knee bend. Your knee caps should track over the balls of your feet.
• Back and shoulders. The back of your arms should track over your knee caps and balls of your feet. This will ensure you have solid balance from head to toe.
• You want to have your arms hang almost straight down. There should be about a fist worth of space from where your hands are at address and your hips/thighs.

Get your setup right and you’re going to be most of the way there. Poor setup is the root cause of so many issues, including thin golf shots, simply because being off balance or not having enough room to swing the club will force you to make compensations.

Learn to Take a Divot

It’s really hard to hit a thin golf shot if you’re also taking a divot. It’s like oil and water — the two just don’t mix.

The best way to learn how to take a divot is to practice on a grass range. If you don’t have that option, then you might try to find a field or playground where no one minds you taking a little turf. Just make a line with an alignment stick or use some foot powder spray. This will be your ball line. Your goal is to take a divot or at least rough up the grass starting at the line or just right after (on the target side).

If you’re unable to find a grassy area to practice on, another option is to pick up a Divot Board or similar. This will give you feedback in real time if your swing arc is low enough to take a divot.

If all else fails, you might try to focus on taking a divot the next time you play. Just put a tee down inline with your ball and focus on disrupting the turf at or after the ball (target side). You can also push a tee into the ground just an inch or so in front of your ball (target side) and then try to remove the tee when you hit the ball.

Ball Position

Ball position will vary a bit depending on the club you’re hitting, the type of shot you’re trying to hit, the lie, and more.

A good rule of thumb, though, is to play the ball off your left ear for your irons, off your arm pit or target side heel for driver, and about the middle of your stance for wedges.

Keep in mind that your ball position is also dictated by the width of your stance.

If you’re unsure, get an alignment stick down the next time you practice and record yourself from face on to see if your ball position is good.

If nothing else, you might try moving the ball slight back in your stance.

Overcome Hitting Thin Golf Shots Today

I shared some common solutions for fixing thin golf shots. This is the first few things any good golf coach is going to look at before they start messing with your swing mechanics.

From there, you’ll probably need to consider your swing mechanics. Are you taking the club back on plane? Are you maintaining width throughout your swing? Are you doing anything that will force you to get out of posture?

These are things you’ll only find out if you record your golf swing and/or work with a golf coach.

Ultimately, hitting thin golf shots should be a relatively simple thing to fix with a few lessons or when implementing the tips above.