THINNED IRONS

Perhaps it should be no surprise that the thinned iron shot is one of golf's most common miscues... across all standards of player.

- 

With the ball lying so tight to the turf, it's only natural that we'll tend to build in a bit of tuck, consciously or otherwise, to make sure we strike the small, hard ball before the large, squishy one. But while thin irons generally don’t wreak as much havoc as heavy ones, they can still cost you plenty of shots through lost yardage and greens well-protected to the front.

This is one area where different standards of player tend to thin the ball for different reasons... so make sure you're focusing on the skill level and fault that’s relevant to you. But whatever your standard, building your awareness of the clubface and its positioning through the strike will help you find the sweetspot more often. Let’s get started...

The best thing you can do for your iron shots is to grasp that it is not your job to send the ball skyward; it is the golf club's - that's why it's designed with loft on the face.

1. UPS... AND DOWNS

The 100-shooter’s common error is to try to help the ball up, into the air. They do what feels logical - getting behind the ball and releasing the clubhead to aid launch. Those moves cause the clubhead to swing upward, away from the ground... and the ball. Only the very bottom edge of the clubface makes contact, and the shot is thinned.

2. FACE VALUE

To help you understand the role of the club through impact, I've attached a magnetic pointer to the face of this 6-iron. It shows that even on a relatively strong iron, the face angles upward quite strongly. All you have to do is drive the clubhead forwards, or even slightly downwards; that face loft will take care of sending the ball upwards.