Nobody likes hitting thin shots when it comes to golf. 

Have you ever experienced taking out a short iron looking to get up and down on the green, only for you to catch it thin, sending it flying over the back into trouble?

If you answered no, you my friend, are a liar. It’s a scenario even the greats have faced at some stage of their career.

And maybe it’s not a big deal if it happens once every couple of rounds but if it’s happening all the time your chances of shooting a good score is toast.

The causes of this shot can be seen below and can be both easy or hard to fix.

• Improper Weight Shift
• Flipping
• Using The Wrong Clubs
• Coming Out Of Posture
• Your Fitness
• Ball Position

Throughout this post I will go a little deeper into the causes listed above and give you some drills/solutions to help you get rid of your thinning ways for good.

Reasons You’re Hitting Thin Shots

Not Shifting Your Weight Properly

Shifting weight in golf is something many mid-high handicap golfers struggle with, and I’m not talking about shifting the extra weight around the midsection, my guy.

A proper weight transfer is when you load more than half your weight to your rear leg, and then just before you begin the downswing, you begin to shift that weight to your lead leg.

Doing this consistently is key for developing a repeatable swing and power. A study has shown that PGA tour players shift around 85% – 95% of their weight to their lead foot at impact.

When it comes to shifting weight improperly and striking the ball thin it’s typically because you’re not shifting the weight from the rear to the front.

By shifting the weight back and staying there you’re going to hit up on the ball because the club’s optimal low point is now behind the ball. 

But when you shift forward it moves to the perfect location which is slightly in front of the ball.

What can you do to fix this?

How To Fix:

An easy and straightforward drill you can do at the range to improve your weight transfer is the “Big Stepper” drill as I like to call it.

To do this drill set up in your stance as you usually would for an iron shot. Begin your swing, but as your club moves back bring your lead foot and touch it off your rear foot.

As you begin your downswing to strike the ball,  return your lead foot to its original position as you strike. 

This will give you the sensation or feel of a proper weight transfer which will help you to not hang back on that rear leg.

Flipping During The Downswing

Keeping things simple, flipping means that during the downswing, you have released the club and wrists, which allows the club to get ahead of the hands.

By doing this, you move the point where your club will naturally bottom out to make a crisp strike. Flipping moves this area further back in your stance and behind the ball.

So now, when the club reaches this point, the ball isn’t there and the clubhead continues on. 

Because of this, the leading edge of your iron begins to travel up, making contact with the golf ball, eventually resulting in thin golf shots.

And if a thin shot wasn’t bad enough, when you flip it also causes the clubface to open which increases the chances of you hitting a mega slice.

How To Fix:

A drill you can try on the range that will help you develop the proper feel and forward shaft lean is something I like to call the “Half Punch” drill. (Yes, I am making these names up as I go along!)

Basically, all you’re focusin on is hitting punch shots. You know, the kind of shots you would do to keep the ball low under a tree or into the wind.

For a punch shot to work, you need to have a forward shaft lean at impact, and it’s impossible to achieve this when flipping.

Start by doing short backswings to get a feel for it. Once you have this down, make a normal swing and feel like you’re punching the ball.

Eventually, you’ll be striping all your iron shots with a little bit of shaft lean and a tone of power.

Using The Wrong Equipment 

Yes that’s right my man, it might not actually be your fault for thinning shots. The wrong equipment can be the source of these ugly mishits.

First up, playing with an iron that’s too small for you will increase your chances of catching it thin. On the other hand if it’s too long it will result in hitting the ground before the ball, AKA catching it fat.

This is pretty common too, with roughly 90% of amateur golfers playing with clubs that are the wrong size for them.

Another often overlooked piece of equipment is the grips you use. Having a larger grip can restrict wrist movement and a grip that’s too small will increase the movement of the wrists.

Both of which can result in thin iron shots. 

Once again, it’s pretty common, too. Golf Pride conducted a study and found ⅓ golfers are playing with the wrong-sized grip.

How To Fix:

If you feel that your golf swing, stance, and sequencing are pretty solid overall, then getting fitted/assessed is the only way to go.

This doesn’t have to cost a crap load of money. You can check in with the pros at your local club or a golf retailer/fitter.

Tell them you just want to make sure you’re using the right length clubs and grips.

With a bit of luck, if this is the cause, it will just be the grips. These will cost you the least.

But if it’s the length of your irons, then the cost of cutting them down or reshafting them won’t be cheap.

So it may be worth checking off everything else on this list before you go down this route.

Coming Out Of Posture 

A study carried out by TPI has found that 64% of amateur golfers lose their posture during their swings.

And it’s one of the main causes of thin shots. Essentially what happens is you start in a perfect position with a slight bend at the hips and your butt away from the ball.

Then in an attempt to generate more power the butt becomes closer to the ball, the spine begins to straighten and as a result, you stand up out of posture.

All of this combined makes for a shallower downswing which can cause you to catch the ball thin.

Not ideal at all. Some causes of this is trying to swing to hard or not having the necessary strength, balance or flexibility to maintain your posture. (More on that in the next section.)

How To Fix:

Okay, so there are a couple of easy-to-do drills that will help you fix this posture issue.

The first one can be done at home or at the range. All you need is a chair or wall that you can push your ass against. 

Then you make a swing and focus on making sure your ass doesn’t come off the wall or chair. Simple.

For the second drill you can either choke down on your club or dig out one of your old clubs from childhood.

By using a shorter club or by choking down it will encourage for you to stay down in posture for longer as coming up in any way will make you miss the ball.

Once you’ve drilled both of these try to remember and replicate the same feels when swinging normally.

Your Overall Fitness 

This is something most golfers don’t consider when attempting to fix their most hated mishits, but your overall fitness can make a huge difference.

Weak core muscles are key to maintaining a consistent swing plane and good posture. 

When they are weak, you will struggle to control your body during the swing, leading to a bunch of nasty shots, including thin shots.

A lack of flexibility can prevent you from swinging fluidly and force you to make compensations elsewhere in an attempt to make solid contact with the ball, such as flipping.

A study has shown that around 60% of all amateurs have issues with flexibility.

Lastly, a weak lower body or endurance may result in improper weight transfer, which, as we covered earlier in the article, is one of the biggest causes of thin shots.

How To Fix:

Going to the gym regularly and working out is the most straightforward solution. Go to the gym, lift weights, and stretch often.

But not everyone is a fan of the gym, and I get that. 

So if you don’t want to join a gym, there are plenty of body weight exercises and stretching routines online. 

On YouTube, Google, Instagram, and TikTok you won’t be short of these routines. 

It’s also really easy to find routines specifically tailored to golf, so there isn’t really an excuse to not give it a try if you want to improve your game.

Incorrect Ball Position

If you’re lucky enough the cause of those nasty thin shots you’ve been hitting will be caused by this. 

When a golf ball is too far up in your stance for the club being used the chances of a thin shot greatly increase.

For example, if the ball is a couple of inches toward the lead foot and you’re using a pitching wedge, you will have to make adjustments to make good contact.

Naturally, this wedge bottoms out around the center of your stance. This would allow for a descending blow which is ideal for irons and wedges.

But since the ball isn’t there, the club will bottom out and continue ascending through your swing arc before it makes contact with the ball. 

Resulting in a thin shot and possibly a burst blood vessel from the rage that follows.

How To Fix:

I don’t want to come across as a smart ass here but to fix this just move the ball back in your stance.

And if you’re convinced it’s not a ball position issue then focus on something else in the above list.