Why Am I Hitting the Golf Ball Off the Heel?

Nothing sours a great day at the range or on the course faster than the jarring, clunky feeling of a golf ball rocketing off the heel of your club. That feeling - and the weak, rightward curve of the shot that often follows - is one ofRepeatedly golf’s most frustrating mistakes. This article will walk you through exactly why this happens, covering the common causes from your setup to your swing, and give you practical, easy-to-follow drills to cure the heel hit for good.

Why Is the Heel Shot So Common?

Hitting a shot off the heel - or its scary cousin, the shank (hitting it off the hosel) - is a surprisingly common problem for golfers of all skill levels. At its core, the reason is simple: at the moment of impact, the clubhead is farther away from your body than it was at address.

Think about your setup. You address the ball, placing it in the center of the clubface. You take a full swing. But something happens during that motion that pushes the club outward, away from you. When it arrives at the ball, the sweet spot has moved past the ball, and the heel is now perfectly aligned to make contact. So, our job isn't to fix the 'heel,' it's to fix the movement that causes the club to get there.

There are usually three main culprits behind this outward move, and often, they're interconnected. Let's break them down one by one.

Cause #1: Losing Your Posture (Early Extension)

This is arguably the most widespread cause of heel shots and shanks in amateur golf. "Early extension" sounds technical, but the idea is simple. In a good swing, as you start the downswing, your hips rotate and stay back, creating space for your arms to swing through. In early extension, your hips and pelvis move forward, toward the golf ball.

Picture your belt buckle. At address, it’s a certain distance from the ball. During early extension, that belt buckle moves closer to the ball. When your lower body moves forward, your hands and club have nowhere to go but out and away from your body to avoid hitting your legs. This outward path is a direct route to smashing the ball off the heel.

How to Fix It: Maintaining Your Tush Line

The feeling you want is one of keeping your rear end back and engaged throughout the downswing. The power in the golf swing comes from rotation, not from thrusting your hips at the ball.

Corrective Drill: The Chair Drill

This is a an incredible drill for feeling the correct lower body action in the downswing. It gives you instant physical feedback.

1. Set up as if you are going to hit a golf shot, but place a chair (or your golf bag) so that it is just touching your backside.
2. Take a few slow, half-swings. The goal is to keep both of your glutes touching the chair during the backswing and especially through the downswing.
3. As you rotate through the impact zone, your left glute (for a right-handed golfer) should remain firmly in contact with the chair while your right glute rotates away.
4. If you are early-extending, you will feel your body immediately pull away from the chair as you start down. Focus on that feeling of turning while keeping your glutes back on the "tush line." You’ll instantly feel how much more room your arms have to swing past your body.

Cause #2: An “Over-the-Top” Swing Path

"Over the top" is a term golfers hear all the time. It describes a downswing that starts by throwing the club forward from the top, outside of the ideal swing plane, and then cutting across the ball from out-to-in. When your arms and club are thrown outward like this at the beginning of the downswing, it again pushes the clubhead away from your body.

Imagine a plane of glass angled from your shoulders down through the golf ball. A good swing stays "under" this plane. An over-the-top swing breaks through this plane from behind you as you start the downswing. This out-to-in path not only produces a weak slice but is also a major contributor to finding the heel of the club.

How to Fix It: Shallowing the Club

The antidote to an over-the-top move is को shallowing the club, which means allowing the club to drop slightly behind you on the downswing before rotating toward the ball. This promotes an inside-to-out swing path.

Corrective Drill: The Headcover Gate

This old-school drill works wonders because it gives you a clear visual and immediate consequences if you get it wrong.

1. Address your golf ball as you normally would.
2. Place a headcover (or a rolled-up towel) on the ground about a clubhead's length outside your golf ball, and slightly behind it. This creates the "gate."
3. Your swing thought is simple: on the downswing, your clubhead must Pass inside the headcover to get to the golf ball.
4. If you have an over-the-top swing, you will strike the headcover before you get to the ball. It forces your brain to re-route the club from an inside path, which naturally stops you from pushing the club away from your body. Start with slow, deliberate swings until hitting the ball and missing the headcover becomes second nature.

Cause #3: Weight shifting forward onto your toes

Proper balance is foundational to a good golf swing. A common mistake that leads to heel shots is starting with your weight balanced correctly, but then letting it fall forward onto your toes during the swing. When your weight shifts towardyour toes, your entire body leans forward. Just like with early extension, this move reduces the space your arms have and forces them to swing farther away from your body.

You may not even realize you’re doing it. For many golfers, it’s a subconscious move made in an effort to generate power. However, it completely throws off your equilibrium and swing path.

How to Fix It: Staying Centered

A balanced, athletic stance is non-negotiable. You should feel your weight distributed in the middle of your feet, perhaps with a slight emphasis on the balls of your feet, but never on your toes.

Check Your Distance From the Ball first

Sometimes, this issue starts before you even swing. If you stand too close to the ball, your body’s natural reaction can be to move away from it to create space, which can manifest as a heel hit. Here's a quick check:

• Take your normal setup.
• Let go of the club with your trail hand (right hand for righties). Let that arm hang completely relaxed from the shoulder.
• If you are the correct distance away, your hand should hang in line with the club or very close to it. If it hangs noticeably inside the club (closer to your legs), you're likely standing too close.

Corrective Drill: The Two-Ball Drill

This is one of the best direct-feedback drills for heel shots. The goal is to train your brain to consciously strike the center or even slightly toward the toe.

1. Set up to a golf ball as normal.
2. Place a second golf ball about 1-2 inches directly outside the first one (away from you).
3. Your only objective is to hit the inside ball (your actual ball) and completely miss the outside ball.
4. Golfers who hit the heel will often strike both balls or just the outer ball. Missing the outer ball is non-negotiable and trains you to keep the clubhead tracking closer to your body on the correct path through impact. Once you can do it consistently, the fear of the heel will start to disappear.

Final Thoughts

Hitting the ball off the heel is a symptom of a larger swing issue, typically related to losing your posture, shifting your weight forward, or swinging over the top. By understanding these root causes and consistently working on simple, targeted drills like the Chair Drill or the Two-Ball Drill, you can train your body to stay balanced and deliver the club from the inside, striking the sweet spot with confidence.

Sometimes the quickest way to fix an issue is to get clear, objective feedback on what you’re actually doing in your swing. This is where I find a tool like an AI swing coach can be useful. For example, with an app like Caddie AI, you can capture your swing and get instant analysis that shows whether it's early extension or an over-the-top path that’s causing those heel shots. Making progress becomes much easier when you're not just guessing what the problem is.