That low, scuttling missile of a shot that skips across the fairway before diving into the rough is one of golf’s most frustrating mistakes. The worm burner robs you of distance, accuracy, and confidence. This article will show you exactly what causes these thin shots and, more importantly, give you a clear, actionable plan to eliminate them from your game for good.
Before we can fix the problem, we need to agree on what it is. A worm burner is a shot that is struck extremely "thin," meaning the leading edge of your club makes contact with the golf ball well above its equator. This impact imparts a huge amount of topspin with very little backspin, so the ball fails to launch into the air. It’s different from a topped shot, which usually just dribbles a few feet in front of you. A worm burner has plenty of speed - it just travels along the ground instead of in the air.
Think of it as the opposite of a good iron shot. With a properly struck iron, the goal is "ball first, ground second." Your club is still traveling on a slightly downward angle when it strikes the ball, compressing it against the clubface before taking a small divot just in front of where the ball was. A worm burner happens when your club has already "bottomed out" and is on its way up when it hits the ball, catching it cleanly on the face far too high up and leading to a bad golf shot. The result? A low, screaming shot that has no chance of ever taking flight.
While every golfer's swing is different, worm burners almost always boil down to one specific error: your body is lifting up through impact. During the millisecond when the face strikes the ball, your body isn't as flexed as it was in your stance at address. For most amateurs, there are three common faulty moves which make standing up and out in their golf swing far too much. Let's break down each one...
The Problem: This is, without a doubt, the number one killer of well-struck, clean, and consistent ball strikes. As you start your downswing, do you feel your hips push toward the golf ball instead of rotating? As soon as that happens, your entire body 'stands up straight' as if you're trying to gain a couple inches of height. The result? If your body moves up, so will the head of the club. You started with the bottom of your swing arc a couple inches below the golf ball, but at that one all-important time during your swing - at impact - the arc is a few notches higher, right in the "thin" section of the face.
The Fix: Focus on rotating your torso through the finish.
Instead of staying down, maintain your overall posture as you rotate. Just like we talked about in earlier articles, your setup is very important!
Here's a drill to help you hit solid shots and eliminate worm burners:
The Problem: A good golf shot is a balanced athletic motion that finishes with the weight on the lead (front) foot. Many golfers, however, get stuck on their back foot, either because they are trying to lift the ball into the air or they just haven't learned how to shift their weight correctly yet. Whatever the case may be, this causes the lowest point on the arc of the swing to move far behind the golf ball, causing an ascending blow at the ball and resulting in a low worm burner shot.
Get into your usual setup position with an iron. Put a water bottle or an unused can of Coca-Cola behind and outside your lead heel, within reach of your foot.
This drill establishes that downward hit we all love and need to stop hitting thin shots.
Almost every single time a worm burner happens, it's because the golfer lifted his or her body up through the downswing as opposed to staying in flex and rotating through the shot. Focus on maintaining the spine angle you establish at setup and getting your weight to shift forward. You'll be on the right track to hitting solid, higher shots in no time, which makes a tremendous difference in your game.
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