Stop Chunking Your Irons: Proven Tips & Drills for Better Ball Contact

Most golfers who chunk the ball (hit well behind it) find they do it often; it’s not a one-time thing.

There are some clear reasons behind why you chunk it.

We will go through those quickly and then, more importantly, move right into the best drills and ways to stop chunking your irons.

Proper wrist action and the right amount of forward shaft lean are great ways to stop chunking your irons.

How to Stop Chunking Irons (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to read through these ways to stop chunking irons, here are a few of the most important takeaways:

• The easiest and best way to stop chunking irons is to check your setup. Ball position and distance to the ball can both cause a chunk.
• Eliminate all tension in your upper body; it can cause the arms to get too overactive and cause you to strike behind the golf ball.
• Use the lower body to initiate the downswing; it keeps the club moving through impact and prevents it from getting stuck in the ground.
• Don’t forget to shift weight to the lead side as you come through impact. This weight shift pulls the club along and helps you strike the ball first, then the turf.
• Casting the club with improper wrist angles gets the club stuck behind you. Wear the HackMotion so you can get the wrists in the correct position throughout the swing.

If you prefer to watch a video to help you stop chunking irons, this information from Rob Cheney could help you get there.

Why Am I Chunking My Irons?

Unfortunately, there is no one single reason why you chunk your irons.

The issues are usually:

• Improper weight transfer: Failure to get the weight forward onto your lead foot in the downswing.
• Poor sequencing: starting the downswing with the upper body rather than the lower body.
• Improper wrist action: releasing the wrists too early during the downswing or casting the club.
• Too much tension: extra tension, especially in the upper body.
• Improper ball position: putting the golf ball too far back in the stance makes it difficult to get the proper angle of attack.
• Standing too close to the ball: if your arms don’t have enough room to swing through the golf ball and make clean contact, you’ll chunk it.

How to Stop Chunking Irons for Good

The chunk shot feels like a beginner’s mistake. However, the issue could be something rather simple that even better players can struggle with from time to time.

Let’s work through these fixes for chunked irons. We will start with the simplest and easiest fixes and then go from there.

Check Your Distance to the Ball

Standing too close to the ball can cause you to chunk it. The first thing to do is step about a half inch away and see if this starts fixing your chunk shot.

If you step away and start hitting it too thin, the cause may not be your distance to the ball.

Get the Right Ball Position

The longer the iron you have in your hand, the further up in your stance the ball should go. With a longer club, you need extra time to help square up the face and hit it straight.

The ball position should be forward of center for the long irons and positioned in the middle for the other irons in the bag.

To check your ball position, set a few alignment sticks up in the shape of a T. Have one between your legs and the other down your target line.

Setup so you are parallel to the target line, and then use the additional alignment stick to ensure the ball is in the correct position in the stance.

Release Some Tension

The more you chunk shots, the more fearful you will become of chunking shots. You can eliminate this issue by reducing tension in your golf swing, particularly in the upper body.

Tension reduction for this type of mistake can start in the shoulder. Let a little of that go, relax just a bit, and let that work into your hands.

Do you remember Sergio gripping and regripping the club 30 times before he would swing? Some of that was a way to reduce grip pressure and tension and make cleaner contact.

Start the Downswing with the Lower Body

An overactive upper body can cause you to chunk the ball. The arms aggressively go after the golf ball, and without the lower body turning, they move down and not through. The club buries in the ground behind the ball.

One great way to fix this is to focus on initiating your downswing with a hip bump or your hips turning toward the target.

You can take backswings to the top, stop, and then just feel that the hips are starting to get you rotating and turning.

Check the Wrist Position on the Way Down

Another thing to check when you are chunking your irons is the wrist position.

Improper wrist action in the form of casting or an early release of the wrists will make the club connect with the ground before the golf ball.

The HackMotion is the best option for working on wrist action in your golf swing. It’s like having a coach with you as you practice.

Many amateur golfers get into a good position at the top of their backswing with a flat lead wrist and the perfect amount of hinge. Then they lose that hinge and strike behind the golf ball on the way down.

You can swing back and think about the concept of holding your hinge (or wrist cock) through the downswing. In the video above from Rob Cheney, you’ll see that he uses an alignment stick drill to help you stop with this incorrect wrist action through the swing.

The alignment stick is gripped at the same time you grip the club, and the stick runs under the lead arm. Don’t let this stick hit your lead side as you swing, or you will have casted the club.

Shift the Weight

Transferring weight in the golf swing is a tricky concept for some players. Without the proper weight shift, you’ll have inconsistent contact.

When you swing back, weight transfers to the trail foot. When you swing through, weight transfers to the lead leg. The best way to feel this is to use the step drill.

You can start this by setting up with your feet together. As you swing through the ball, you will feel like you step on your lead foot.

If you really can’t feel this, try setting up with a little extra weight on the lead foot to imitate what impact should feel like.

Drills to Help You Stop Chunking Irons

When you find the right drill to fix an issue in your golf swing, it’s like it clicks. If you have made the correct adjustment to your ball position, and wrist action

Towel Behind the Ball

This video from Good Good Labs gives you a really simple drill where you place a towel behind the golf ball. On the downswing, you want to avoid striking the towel.

The great thing about using a towel here is that it can’t damage your club; if you hit it, you’ll just learn.

Chase the Golf Ball Drill

If you need help getting the lower body to initiate the swing and go after the golf ball, this drill from MyGolfInstructor is an excellent choice.

For this one, you’ll feel like you have to chase the ball a bit, which will help you with your swing sequence.

Bump and Pump Drill

For this drill, you can use a wall that you have in your practice area, you don’t need to hit golf shots at first, you can just use it as a guide.

The concept is that if you start leading the downswing with the upper body, the club will hit the wall, and you’ll likely end up in this position where a chunk is highly possible.

For the bump and pump drill, feel like you bump your weight onto your lead side and then pump the club down, making sure the lower body and the weight shift start the swing.

Final Thoughts

The chunk is a shot you need to get rid of. Many great golfers will tell you that they will take the thin shot over the chunk shot any day.

The chunk shot results in a significant loss of yardage and sometimes a very poor location. Get your stance, setup, and wrist action under control to hit cleaner iron shots and stop chunking the ball.

Wear your HackMotion anytime you work on your golf iron shots; it’s the equivalent of having a coach with you on the driving range.