Why Am I Chunking the Golf Ball?

There's no feeling in golf quite like the thud of a chunked shot. The club digs into the ground, a massive divot flies farther than your ball, and your hands sting from the impact. It's frustrating, jarring, and can really derail your confidence. The good news is that a chunked shot isn't a mystery, it’s a symptom of a specific swing flaw. This article will walk you through exactly why you’re chunking the golf ball and provide simple, effective drills to stop it for good.

What Exactly IS a "Chunk?" (The Anatomy of a Fat Shot)

Before we can fix it, we need to understand it. A chunked shot - also known as a "fat" shot - happens when the lowest point of your golf swing occurs behind the golf ball. Instead of the clubhead making contact with the ball first, it slams into the ground behind it. The club takes a big scoop of turf, which dramatically slows the clubhead down, drains all the power from the shot, and sends the ball dribbling just a short distance forward.

The ideal iron shot involves a "ball-first" contact, where the club is still travelling slightly downward when it impacts the ball. This compresses the ball against the clubface, and the club then brushes the turf after the ball is gone, creating that crisp divot you see pros take. In a chunk, that entire sequence happens too early. The key to eliminating chunks is learning to control the low point of your swing so it happens at or just after the ball.

The 4 Common Reasons You Chunk the Golf Ball

While the result is always the same - a fat shot - there are several root causes that can lead to this misplaced low point. Let's look at the most common culprits and how they throw your swing off kilter.

1. Your Weight Is Stuck On Your Back Foot

This is arguably the number one reason amateur golfers chunk their shots. In an attempt to "help" the ball get into the air, many players subconsciously lean back onto their trail foot (the right foot for a right-handed golfer) throughout the downswing. This is a very natural but incorrect instinct.

Think of your spine as the center of your swing's arc. If that center moves backward during the downswing, the bottom of the arc - the low point - moves backward with it. When your weight stays on your back foot, your whole swing bottoms out behind the ball.

How to Spot It:

• Do you often finish your swing off-balance, stumbling backward?
• Do you feel like you are "scooping" or "lifting" the ball at impact?
• Looking at a video, does your head move away from the target during the downswing?

A proper golf swing is a dynamic transfer of energy towards the target. As you start your downswing, your weight should shift from your trail foot to your lead foot. On a good finish position, almost 90% of your weight should be firmly planted on your lead foot, with your back foot up on its toe for balance.

2. Your Upper Body Is Tilting Backward (Early Extension and "Flipping")

This fault often goes hand-in-hand with a poor weight shift. As players feel the need to lift the ball, they not only keep their weight back, but their upper body actually tilts away from the target at impact. This is often called "falling back" or creating "reverse spine angle."

This backward tilt forces the hands to "flip" at the ball to try and save the shot. When you flip the club, your wrists unhinge prematurely, throwing the clubhead and its low point far behind the golf ball. This is a desperate, short-term attempt to square the clubface that ultimately leads to disaster.

How to Spot It:

• Your divots are consistently deep and start well before the ball.
• You hit high, weak shots that fall short, or you smother hooks when you don't chunk it.
• You feel your chest pointing up at the sky at impact, rather than covering the ball.

The correct motion involves keeping your chest over the ball through impact. Your body rotation and forward weight shift allow your hands to lead the clubhead into the ball, ensuring that pure, compressed contact.

3. Your Body Stops Rotating and Your Arms Take Over

Power and consistency in the golf swing come from the body. You wind it up in the backswing and unwind it in the downswing. A common fault, especially when trying to "guide" the ball, is when the body - particularly the hips and torso - stops turning through the shot.

When your body rotation stalls, the arms and hands have no choice but to take over and swing independently. This completely disconnects your swing. As the arms swing past your stagnate body, they drop the club downward and, you guessed it, the low point falls behind the ball. Your divot acts like a crime scene investigator - a chunk tells you the club got to the bottom before your body got to the ball.

How to Spot It:

• You finish your swing facing the ball, not the target.
• Your arms feel disconnected and "flaily" through impact.
• You have trouble creating power and consistency.

The fix is to feel your body leading the charge. The hips and chest should keep turning all the way to a full finish where your belt buckle is pointing at or even slightly left of the target (for a righty).

4. Your Setup Is Flawed from the Start

Sometimes, a chunk is almost guaranteed before you even start your swing. A couple of common setup flaws can pre-position your low point behind the ball.

• Ball Position Too Far Forward: Playing the ball too far forward in your stance for a given iron is a classic mistake. With a mid-iron (say, a 7-iron), the ball should be positioned near the center of your stance. As you move it farther forward, you have to reach an extreme amount to get to it, which often causes the club to bottom out early.
• Weight Distribution Too Far Back: Some players set up with too much weight on their back foot from the get-go. This is common when players interpret "hit down on the ball" to mean they should tilt back at address. Starting with your weight on your back foot makes a proper weight shift nearly impossible. Your weight should be around 50/50, or even 55/45 favouring your lead foot slightly with irons.

Drills to Cure Your Chunking Forever

Reading about the causes is one thing, feeling the fix is another. Here are three incredibly effective drills you can take to the driving range to start building the right habits and finally get rid of the chunks.

Drill #1: The Towel Drill (Low Point Control)

This is the classic, can’t-miss drill for fixing the low point of your swing. It gives you instant, unmistakable feedback.

1. Take a small hand towel and fold it a couple of times.
2. Place the towel flat on the ground a few inches behind your golf ball (about the length of a dollar bill).
3. Set up to the ball as you normally would.
4. Your goal is simple: hit the ball without hitting the towel.

If your swing bottoms out too early (the motion that causes a chunk), you'll hit the towel before the ball. To avoid the towel, you are forced to shift your weight forward and have the club descend into the ball from the proper angle. Start with small, half-swings and build up to full motion as you get the feel.

Drill #2: The Step-Through Drill (Weight Shift and Sequencing)

This drill is exceptional for promoting a dynamic weight shift and getting your body to lead the downswing.

1. Set up to the ball with your feet relatively close together.
2. Make a smooth backswing.
3. As you begin your downswing, take a small step with your lead foot (your left foot for a righty) toward the target.
4. As your foot lands, allow your arms and the club to swing through and hit the ball.
5. Let your momentum carry you into a follow-through, stepping your back foot forward as if you're walking toward the target.

This motion makes it impossible to hang back on your trail foot. It trains your body to initiate the downswing with a forward weight transfer, automatically putting your swing's low point in the right place: at or after the ball.

Drill #3: The Flamingo Drill (Balance and Stability)

If finishing on your back foot is your main problem, this drill will give you an immediate sensation of what proper balance feels like.

1. Set up to the ball normally.
2. Before you start your swing, lift your trail foot completely off the ground and balance on just your lead foot. You can put the toe of your trail foot on the ground for a little balance if needed, but the main point is to have virtually all your weight on the lead foot.
3. From this one-legged stance, take slow, smooth, half-to-three-quarter swings.

This drill is all about control. You won’t be able to hit the ball with power if you swing from your heels or lurch at the ball. By forcing you to stay stable over your lead leg, it ingrains the feeling of staying centered and controlled through impact.

Final Thoughts

Eliminating chunked golf shots boils down to one primary objective: controlling the low point of your swing. By focusing on a proper weight shift towards the target, continuous body rotation through the ball, and a solid setup, you can move that low point from behind the ball to where it belongs, leading to crisp, pure contact shot after shot.

Practicing these changes can feel strange at first. To help you diagnose these issues on the course or get instant feedback at the range, we developed Caddie AI. You can describe your shot or even snap a photo of a tricky lie - like from a downhill slope that encourages a chunk - and get immediate, personalized strategy on the best way to play it. Having that expert second opinion helps remove the guesswork so you can commit to every swing with more confidence.