The most common movement that causes a chunk shot is that the golfer’s weight moves too far behind the golf ball and causes the club to bottom out before the ball. We call this movement a lateral shift. To fix a lateral shift of weight moving behind the golf ball, follow the steps below to remain over top of the golf ball.
Why are my golf shots chunking?
Right now, you’re chunking golf shots because the low point of your swing happens before you reach the ball. There are a few reasons this might be happening. 1: Ball Position This is the most common mistake I see among amateur golfers.
How can you stop chunking golf shots with your Irons?
How Can You Stop Chunking Golf Shots with Your Irons? Now you see the problems. So what are the solutions? First, correct your ball position by centering the ball in your stance. An easy way to do this is by standing with your feet together and the ball aligned with the center.
Why does my golf club hit the bottom of the ball?
Ball Position - If you have the ball positioned too far forward in your stance, your club will hit the bottom of its arc before it gets to the ball. Release - If you are releasing the club head to soon and allowing it to catch up to your hands before you get to the ball, you will bottom out too soon.
What does it mean to Shank a golf chip?
Here is a classic example of a shanked chip shot: When you hit the golf ball off the hosel, the ball travels super low and far to the right, assuming you’re right-handed. If you’re left-handed, the ball veers to the left. To put it another way, a golf shank is the quickest way to turn one of the most popular sports into a frustrating pastime.
Why does my golf club get stuck in the ground?
If you crowd your club and stand so close that your arms do not have enough room to hang and swing can often result in your golf club getting stuck into the ground. Being too crowded, effectively makes the club too long relative to your body, so it has nowhere to go but into the ground.
Why does my hip hit the ground before the ball?
If you stance is significantly wider, it can often cause your hips to move too much side to side and your hip seeks being over each foot. As your hips move too much side to side , this can often cause the club to hit the ground before the ball if you do not recenter yourself exactly the same amount.
What is the aiming line on a golf club?
The aiming line on a golf club is the leading edge and the more lofted the club the more crooked the top line may look. Often golfers will not set the club properly on the ground as a compensation — they hit slices, for instance, so they set the club closed at setup.
How to make good contact in golf?
1. Crowded posture. Proper posture is one of the most important fundamentals to good contact. Giving yourself enough room to bow from your hips so that your hands can hang below your shoulders puts you into a balanced position that allows you to be athletic throughout your swing.
Why is it important to have a clubface at address?
The reason this is important is because the more twisted the clubface is at address, the more likely one side would dig into the ground at impact.
When you set your golf club on the ground behind your golf ball, is it important that you set it properly?
When you set your golf club on the ground behind your golf ball, it is important that you set it properly. This can often look odd to golfers when it is correct, in particular for the more lofted clubs in your golf bag. The aiming line on a golf club is the leading edge and the more lofted the club the more crooked the top line may look.
How to know if your golf club hits the ground?
You can easily check this by taking a practice swing and seeing where, relative to your feet, your club hits the ground. If your club hits the ground centered in your stance, it would be greatly to your advantage to place your golf ball there. 3. Flat footed forward swing.
Golf 101: Why do I chunk it?
Whether you are a beginner, 10 handicaps, or Rory McIlroy, no one player is immune to the dreaded chunk. How many times have you hit a great drive, breathing down the flag from your favorite yardage and laid the holy sod over one? It’s awful and can be a total rally killer.
Stickney: The only 2 ways to hit a golf ball farther
If I had a dollar for every time someone walked into my Academy (myself included!) and asked how to hit it farther I’d own a bank by now. Golf course agronomy has evolved and the rock-hard fairways of yesterday are gone and have been replaced by soft conditions that require more and more carry off the tee.
Stickney: The evolution of necessary technology in golf instruction
Over time technology has improved so that we (as teachers) can see and understand motion and forces in action during the swing.
The Wedge Guy: You can change your stripes
Over my 40-plus years in the golf industry and a lifetime in the game, I have had the opportunity to observe thousands of recreational golfers of all skill levels. I believe the common thread between all of us – from scratch player to high-handicapper – is that we all would like to get better.
How does weight shift happen in golf?
As we wrote about here, weight shift happens in the golf swing naturally during the takeaway, but as you lift the club to the top of your backswing, your weight begins to move back towards the target — and keeps moving towards the target all the way until impact. Keeping your weight more centered like this prevents swaying, and keeps the bottom of your golf swing consistently ahead of the ball.
Why is Jack Nicklaus' centered turn bad?
In short, swaying is bad, because it means the bottom of your golf swing is moving all over the place during your swing, which is makes it impossible to hit the ball with consistent contact — hence the chunked iron shots. As we wrote about here, weight shift happens in ...
Why does shifting your weight sound so simple?
It sounds pretty simple, because in many ways it is. Shifting your weight like this is a very intuitive product of the way humans move — you do it as you walk without even noticing.
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Why does my club strike the ground first?
Why does your club strike the ground first? Simply put, the bottom point of your arc is behind the ball rather than in front of your ball as it should be. It's really that simple! When hitting most shots in golf you want CBG (club, ball, ground) contact in that order. Obviously some shots are different such as sand, where we actually want club, ground, ball contact as we intentionally hit the sand first.
What happens when your weight is leaning back behind the ball?
Ball Position - If you have the ball positioned too far forward in your stance , your club will hit the bottom of its arc before it gets to the ball.
What factors affect where your club bottoms out in the swing?
Factors that affect where your club bottoms out in the swing include weight distribution, ball position, posture and release. Let's explore each of these individually.
What does "you club" mean?
You club is hitting the ground behind the ball.
What happens if you release the club head too soon?
Release - If you are releasing the club head to soon and allowing it to catch up to your hands before you get to the ball, you will bottom out too soon.
When should the club head catch up to your hands?
Lastly, the club head should not catch up to your hands until the moment of impact. As long as the club head trails your hands it is still descending. The moment it catches up to your hands it bottoms out and then will start its ascent. Your rear wrist should remain bent backwards until impact.
Is it bad to hit the ground before the ball?
Fat, heavy, chunky, behind, chili dip...whatever you want to call it...it's not good. Hitting the ground before the ball hurts! It hurts you physically, but it really hurts your score as you lose significant distance. A thin shot can advance and not put too much of a damper on your score, but when you meet earth before you meet ball, it's never a happy ending. We've all been there. A big wind up, 100% of our effort and strength and then thud! The earth flies farther than our ball.
What happens when you chunk a golf shot?
When you chunk a golf shot, only to realize that the ball has only traveled a short distance, it can be demoralizing. It can also cost you extra strokes to your scorecard and slow down group play, making others wait on you.
Why do golfers hit behind the ball?
Another primary reason why most golfers hit behind the ball is that they attempt to hit it too hard or far. A good strategy is to take an extra club to maintain a better tempo. Extra club, gives you extra distance, so you don’t feel the need to swing harder!
What is chunky golf?
We will help you stop the chunk golf shot. The two significant errors that impact a lot of golfers are; (1) hitting the ball thin or (2) hitting the golf ball fat. When golfers talk about hitting a ball fat (chunky), it means hitting the turf under the ball, taking a big chunk of turf out of the ground, leaving a massive divot in the ground.
How to make your golf swing easier?
Instead of attempting to crush everything, take an extra club on each golf shot and swing easier with better control and tempo.
Why does the loft of a golf club slow down when hitting the ball?
When you hit a fat shot, the clubhead slows before the impact with the ball due to the resistance it encounters with the ground before hitting the ball.
How to hit a golf ball properly?
The fact is, that the proper way to hit a golf ball (with iron or wedge) is to strike down on it; that is, you first hit the ball, followed by the ground. The hit creates what is known as a backspin which allows the ball dimples to create lift, ...
What does "fat golf shot" mean?
What is a Fat Golf Shot? First, let’s discuss what it means to hit the golf ball chunky, heavy, or fat. These are various phrases which mean the same thing in the golf swing. For non-golfers, hearing this statement (fat, chunky) might imply something funny like the size or weight of the golfer.
How To Stop Chunking The Golf Ball?
The golfer must strike the ball and then the ground with irons and fairway woods. Utilizing drills is the quickest way to stop chunking the golf ball.
Why does my head move so much in golf?
The golf swing is difficult enough with a stable center. Moving off the ball and then back to the ball or ahead of the ball takes timing and practice. Most amateur golfers, do not have the time to perfect the timing that it takes to drift off the ball with the head.
How many yards does chunking the ball go?
You stand there on a 135 yard par 3 over a somewhat simple shot. You have your 8 or 9 iron in hand and you hit behind the ball and it goes anywhere from 5 to 125 yards. You are left in bad shape and you hope to save the hole by saving a bogey and you are starting ...
Why does my golf swing move forward?
A second cause that is connected with the center ed moving is when the golf slides too far in front of the shot. Instead of keeping the head centered and back, the golfer may shift forward.
What to do if you see yourself shifting off the ball?
If you see yourself shifting off the ball, make sure you check out solution 1. If you are sliding past the ball then check out video 2. The golf swing can be complicated, but getting a general understanding of where your head and your hands are in the golf swing is a good starting point.
What is the number one indicator in golf handicap?
The best golfers in the world are able to control their low point 99.9% of the time. The number one indicator in handicap golfers is the ability to strike the ground. The higher the handicap the great gap between the spots where the golfer will hit the ground.
How to keep your head stable in golf?
Stay centered in the golf and learn to use your tilts and bends to keep your head stable. A simple amount of weight on the front side will also help control the bottoming out of the club.
Why does my golf ball shank?
Nine times out of ten, when a high handicapper shanks the golf ball, it’s because they’re “swinging too far out to in.”
Why do golfers confuse slices and shanks?
Some golfers confuse slices and shanks for understandable reasons. Both shots are aggravating, and both hinder your game with a right-ward ball flight. (Again, that’s if you’re right-handed.)
What is a Golf Shank?
First, let’s clarify what we’re talking about when we talk about the shank.
How to tell if you shanked or sliced a golf ball?
Fortunately, you can tell whether you’ve sliced it or shanked it just by observing your ball flight. A golf shank travels low and directly to the right. A slice gets up in the air and curves to the right. For now, I’m going to share golf swing tips for overcoming the golf shank only. But don’t worry.
Why do high handicappers have shanks?
Most high handicappers have a habit of doing exactly that. They bring their arms too far out in the transition. This in turn exposes the heel and hosel to the ball at impact, causing the shank.
What is a shanked chip shot?
Here is a classic example of a shanked chip shot: When you hit the golf ball off the hosel, the ball travels super low and far to the right, assuming you’re right-handed. If you’re left-handed, the ball veers to the left. To put it another way, a golf shank is the quickest way to turn one of the most popular sports into a frustrating pastime.
Why do you adjust the swing plane?
This adjustment helps you get back on the correct swing plane so you can center your contact with the golf ball.
Why is the golf club under the plane?
Here the club approaches the ball too far from the inside - it is under the plane. This very often occurs due to a backswing that takes the arms and club too far to the inside. Due to the fact that the club is under plane, the tendency is for the hit to be too shallow.
How to practice swinging with towel?
An excellent drill to aid with this tendency is to practice the towel drill. It involves folding a towel and laying it on the ground 10-12 inches behind the ball. The towel encourages the weight to stay more centered at address and in the backswing, thus shifting the low point of the swing up to a few inches in front of the ball - which means ball first, divot second!
