How to stop thinning and duffing iron shots

Let your stand bag lead you to a more powerful and effective strike.

Fault: Thinning and duffing irons.

Fix: Use your golf bag to feel a more downward attack angle.

It might sound logical that thin and fat contact with your irons comes from different swing flaws, but very often they are caused by the same thing – an upward attack angle.

We often hit up on the ball in an attempt to help the ball skyward, typically falling back off the shot or straightening up through impact.

A better policy is to trust the loft on the clubface to do its job and work on a more
downward attack that encourages both clean contact and a more powerful compression of the golf ball.

Here’s how your stand bag can help.

Set-up: Trail foot on bag

Set up to a ball with a lofted iron.

Now place the base of your stand bag under where you’d position your trail foot (above). This sees your weight favour your lead side and sets up a downward attack angle.

At the top: Centred turn

Swing to the top. The unusual stance will abbreviate your backswing, but that’s fine.

Many golfers who help the ball up tend to drift behind it on the way back, but this stance helps you coil powerfully over the ball, with no lateral movement.

Retain the feeling

When you begin to get a feeling for squeezing down on the ball, lose the bag and hit shots normally, aiming to retain the feel of that descending attack angle.