Why do I hit thin iron shots

Golf Monthly top 25 coach Barney Puttick asks why do i hit thin iron shots and offers some simple advice on how to cure the problem for good

Why do i hit thin iron shots

Faults

You're catching iron shots either thin or fat

Inconsistent ball striking is costing you strokes

Fix:

Catching your iron shots fat or thin is a problem that usually stems from the way in which your body is moving during the swing. If you hang back on your right side through the ball, the club is likely to connect with the ground too early, causing a poor strike. This is known as 'bottoming out' too early - the bottom of the arc of the swing has come too soon. The result is that you eith hit the ground before the ball or, the club is rising through impact and you strike it thin. Either way, the results are bad!

A great drill that I often give my pupils is to take a normal address position, and then pose the impact position. This means opening your hips a fraction, pushing your hands slightly forward and setting 60 per cent of your weight on to your left side. This forces you to get your weight into a much better position for the strike and will help you find the right angle of attack. From here, make a half swing and then strike the ball.

Your aim here is simple - return to the same impact position you set before you started the swing. This will illustrate perfectly where you should be as you make the strike. This drill forces you to compress the ball through impact with a much better strike, and will eliminate fat or thin iron shots.

Alternatively, place a tee peg in front of the ball at address. Aim to strike the ball and then the tee. Again, this will force you to get onto your left side through impact for much better overall results. Give it a go!