There are times when no matter what we seem to do, we have a poor ball-striking round. For a lot of mid to high handicappers, bad ball-striking comes in the form of ‘fats’ and ‘thins’. In other words, the ball doesn’t come off the center of the clubface (in some cases nowhere near it)!
Knowing how to hit an iron shot means having to focus in on those key fundamentals. such as the correct ball position and finding the perfect set-up. Here, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Clive Tucker demonstrates the causes behind these poor card-wrecking strikes, and offers some helpful advice on how to cure them and improve your ball-striking.
Fat And Thin Strikes Explained
Clive Tucker
Clive spent ten years as a playing professional before making the move into elite coaching. He’s worked with a number of Tour professionals, and one of his great strengths is being able to tailor his instruction for each student no matter what their level.Â
Thin Shot Causes And Fixes
1. Poor ball position
Having the ball too far up towards the left instep is a common cause of thin shots. The problem is you simply canât move your body far enough forward in the downswing to get the club interacting with the ground below the ball.
It can vary, but for me, a good ball position with an iron is a couple of balls inside the left heel. If the ball is on the left heel with a driver, it definitely wants to be one back with an iron. Iâm not a fan of moving the ball back with the shorter irons â for me, it can stay in a similar position with every iron.
To avoid striking the ball fat or thin, I like to have the ball positioned a couple of balls inside the lead heel (as above)
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
2. Standing up on downswing
Standing up on the downswing is another very common cause of fat shots. As the pelvis moves towards the ball halfway down you gain height, meaning the radius of the swing is no longer great enough to hit the ball cleanly.
This drill will help, although an umbrella is better than an alignment stick as you will feel it more easily. Stick the umbrella in the ground about three inches from your left buttock at address. Then work on moving the buttock on to the umbrella in your downswing.
I recommend using an umbrella for this drill – it’s going to help you to stop…
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