Are thin and fat shots straighter?

[MEfree]

I rarely hit a ball miles off line when I hit it thin or fat- most of my biggest misses seem to be hooks with flush contact.  Is this just anecdotal for me, or is there anything in the ball flight laws that supports the idea that thin and fat shots tend to fly straighter?

[Dave2512]

Mine are mostly straight.

[UpDown]

Not sure there is an answer, but i'd rather have a straight mis-hit than catch all of it and hook or slice the ball.

[Jeremie Boop]

I think fat shots will be straighter for sure because hitting the ground typically squares the club face. Although I've noticed that thin shots are also more likely to be online as well.

[Ernest Jones]

My thins are lasers. Fats can be anything but that's probably because I'm impacting the ball with a clump of sod instead of my club face. :-P

[Fourputt]

Fats are usually straight, both because they don't go very far and because they don't have much spin.  Thins usually slice for me.

[Strandly]

Both are straight for me, I can almost always trace it back to a stance error and not anything to do with my swing.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Strandly

Both are straight for me, I can almost always trace it back to a stance error and not anything to do with my swing.

With all due respect, you list your handicap index as "20?" - there are likely plenty of things wrong with your swing. C'mon now!

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Thin shots and fat shots both tend to go straighter, yes. Thin shots have the vertical gear effect going on to straighten out the spin axis, and fat shots are hit with a slower clubhead speed and thus less spin period.

It was now six years ago or so but I once got down to a 1.2 handicap and told a friend that I hadn't hit a solid iron shot in months. They were all a groove thin or so - good enough and straight enough to get on the greens, etc. - just felt like crap, each and every one of the

[Ernest Jones]

With all due respect, you list your handicap index as "20?" - there are likely plenty of things wrong with your swing. C'mon now! [rule] Thin shots and fat shots both tend to go straighter, yes. Thin shots have the vertical gear effect going on to straighten out the spin axis, and fat shots are hit with a slower clubhead speed and thus less spin period. It was now six years ago or so but I once got down to a 1.2 handicap and told a friend that I hadn't hit a solid iron shot in months. They were all a groove thin or so - good enough and straight enough to get on the greens, etc. - just felt like crap, each and every one of the

Yeah I often hit great (results wise) shots that feel like crap. Never know how to feel about them. Yay, pin high in the green...but I didn't like it! Lol.

[Strandly]

Originally Posted by iacas

With all due respect, you list your handicap index as "20?" - there are likely plenty of things wrong with your swing. C'mon now!

I didn't say there was nothing wrong with my swing.

[Shorty]

"Hit it thin to win" is the expression.

Thin shots will usually be straight with reasonable distance.

Not fun when they fly through the green with a ramp up the back and a pin at the back.

Skulling a 6 iron or 8 iron is a lot better than a chunk.

You'll often get away with a thin shot  - even get it on the green - but never a chunk.

[MS256]

I don't have a big enough sample of thin shots to know what they do. I can't even remember the last time I hit the ball thin, but I'm sure I could count on one hand the times I've ever hit the ball thin.

Fat is another story. It would take a calculator with a long battery life to add up all of the fat shots I've hit (thousands). The "S word" is the only feeling I have on the golf course that feels worse than the feeling of a fat shot (especially if it's wet and muddy).

My son hits the ball thin fairly often and rarely hits the ball fat, and he's better than I am, so I guess "thin to win" is right.

[saevel25]

With pitches, i rather have it slightly thin that slightly chunk. I found with pitches a slightly thin shot will go about the same distance, since its a finesse shot there's less clubhead.

But i found thin shots go straight were the clubface is aiming, i don't think i ever seen one curve before.

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by saevel25

With pitches, i rather have it slightly thin that slightly chunk. I found with pitches a slightly thin shot will go about the same distance, since its a finesse shot there's less clubhead.

But i found thin shots go straight were the clubface is aiming, i don't think i ever seen one curve before.

The 160 yd pw I hit during the outting was a thin shot that had draw on it. The ball flight was lower than normal but it still had about a 10 yd draw on it.

[TJBam]

Thin shots go straighter and further in my case. Even though they run over the green and feel bad on my hands.  Maybe I should start playing to a thin draw.