Hitting it Thin and why is it bad?

[Super Tuna]

Evening all,

Question: Why is hitting is consistently thin with ones irons a bad thing? My instructor has been trying to drill this out of me for weeks now and nothing is working for him. I've been going along with it but as no progress has been made despite my best efforts I had to ask why hitting it consistently thin so bad? Answer: It's just not proper.

Frankly, that's a terrible answer and does little to convince. So why is it so bad? Keep in mind
A: I'm consistent at it from pretty much all lies
B: It goes farther
C: It still gets up in the air and lands nicely
D: There are no aiming problems, I know where it's going

Now maybe he doesn't want to do it because it creates problems with other clubs or some other reason.

Thoughts?

 

[DawgDaddy]

I guessing you have very little, if any, distance control with the worm burners. The only way I can count on hitting the ball the desired distance is in the air.

 

[CharlieMoy]

Agreed. And you cant possibly get to or onto an island green, or a forced carry green

I guessing you have very little, if any, distance control with the worm burners. The only way I can count on hitting the ball the desired distance is in the air.

 

[johnnymo]

Could it be that you are flipping?

If that is the case then you may not be compressing the ball to the greatest amount possible for your swing leading to losses in distance and the thin shots could be masking a tendency to balloon when all the timing is correct.

 

[Super Tuna]

I don't hit worm burners though, my iron shots generally peak at about 32 yards up according to trackman.

I guess "thin" might be the wrong word as I'm more of a picker as the ball always comes clean, no divot.

 

[gbigoose1]

Agreed. And you cant possibly get to or onto an island green, or a forced carry green

Exactly, You said that you getting your thin shots up in the air. I've never heard that. I guess if they're in the air it's fine.

 

[SprayTech]

To me there is not a worse feeling as hitting the ball on the bottom 2 or 3 groves of an iron .
It sounds like your hitting the ball a bit low on the face of the iron due to the picking it , I think even if you got to the ground instead of sweeping the grass your ball would be closer to the sweet spot .
I like the feeling of a flushed shot arcing up and landing softly on the green

 

[Gamma]

Here is a link to an auction of Tiger Wood's used clubs.

If you scroll down, one of the irons (8-iron) is shown with wear marks where he has been consistently striking the ball. I will just post the image here. I have nothing more to add.

 

[JR]

And that folks, is why he is one of the greatest iron players of all time.

Here is a link to an auction of Tiger Wood's used clubs.

If you scroll down, one of the irons (8-iron) is shown with wear marks where he has been consistently striking the ball. I will just post the image here. I have nothing more to add.

 

[TC]

first off, there's absolutely nothing wrong with not flinging a huge divot in the air, and it doesn't mean that you aren't hitting the ball properly. i don't take massive divots and i would consider myself a good ball striker. sounds like your instructor is confusing hitting in thin with taking a minimal divot. it sounds like you aren't hitting it thin in the sense with i'm familiar. perhaps pose the questions to THP's resident pro, Andy.

 

[JR]

For me, If it didn't hurt my hands, and it got off the ground, I didn't hit it thin. Tell your instructor to take a hike, and find a guy who knows what he is doing.

 

[Smallville]

Here is a link to an auction of Tiger Wood's used clubs.

If you scroll down, one of the irons (8-iron) is shown with wear marks where he has been consistently striking the ball. I will just post the image here. I have nothing more to add.

Weren't these the irons that were taken off of ebay because Tiger said that these were not his irons? Not saying it isn't important that you hit the ball consistently, just saying that I don't think these were ever authenticated. Someone paid over $50,000 for this set though, so I guess they believe it's really Tiger's old set.

 

[Gamma]

Weren't these the irons that were taken off of ebay because Tiger said that these were not his irons?

I didn't know that, but on checking, that turns out to be so.

Anyway, my point of posting the pic was to show that the ball mark was towards the bottom of the club face.

 

[jnug]

I think somebody came pretty close to saying this already but hitting it thin and not taking a divot are two different things.

Somebody definitely said this already. If the guy you are getting lessons from wants to equate hitting hit thin with a divot or the lack of one, find someone else, someone that knows how to communicate.

 

[Super Tuna]

Morning guys,

I came to the same conclusion a bit ago and have since switched it up in that regard. It amazing how easily one can get confused based off of different recommendations and teaching methods eh

 

[TC]

Morning guys,

I came to the same conclusion a bit ago and have since switched it up in that regard. It amazing how easily one can get confused based off of different recommendations and teaching methods eh

yes it is! good for you for making the switch. i don't care for teachers who want to impart their swing onto a golfer, instead i like the ones who can look at your intangibles and help make you more consistent with what you have.

 

[coolbreeze]

Morning guys,

I came to the same conclusion a bit ago and have since switched it up in that regard. It amazing how easily one can get confused based off of different recommendations and teaching methods eh

Great use of the Canadian "eh" in a post!

 

[Super Tuna]

Had to throw it out there CB. I might live in Vancouver but I grew up back East so they just pop out sometimes heh.
Are you throwing down the Visions balls lately? Interesting Avatar change.

TC: Had to admit it was a bit tough to make the switch as I did learn a tone from that instructor and he helped quite a bit. I just don't think he knew where to go once I hit a certain point