How to Stop Hitting the Ground Before the Golf Ball (For Good!)
Hitting the ground before the golf ball always happens at the worst time. You hit that 250-yard drive, have a perfect lie in the center of the fairway, and then proceed to hit three inches behind the ball.
It’s painful for the ego and destructive for your golf score.
The good news is that hitting behind the golf ball can be fixed.
A proper golf divot happens after the ball, and I’m going to show you how to make sure you can do that every time.
How to Stop Hitting the Ground Before the Golf Ball – At-a-Glance
If you want to stop hitting the ground before the golf ball, your angle of attack must be improved.
To improve this angle, you can work on settling down movements in your swing, keeping your head in place, releasing the club at the right time, and properly transferring your weight through your golf swing.
Not only will you stop hitting the ground before the ball, but you will also become an all-around better ball striker and likely notice extra distance in your game.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
What Causes a Golfer to Hit the Ground Before the Ball?
In the heat of the moment, right after you hit behind the ball, you are likely not going to be worried about how it happened and instead just frustrated that it did happen.
I’ve been there and know how frustrating it can be.
However, I have determined that every time I hit behind the ball, it’s for the same reason. I discovered my reason for chunking the ball by practicing and analyzing my swing. Now, if this happens on the course, I can get to a quick fix.
That is what I want for you as well.
Here are the reasons golfers hit the ground before the ball; pay close attention; one of these is causing the issues in your game.
Too Much Head Movement
It’s best to keep your head still when you play golf. For golfers that hit behind the ball, the most detrimental movement is dipping and lifting of the head.
When you swing back, it can often feel powerful to dip the head. Golfers mistake this movement for a large turn.
If you can work on keeping your head more stable and over the ball, it should help with more consistent ball striking. I like to get my head set and then think about keeping it there as I turn back.
Sliding Your Lower Body
Sliding the lower body is the swing flaw that gets me from time to time. We all do this when we get a little lazy, which creates issues with hitting behind the ball.
As you take the club back, pay close attention to the right hip.
I know there is a lot to pay attention to, but this one is important.
Make sure that the right hip is turning back and away and not sliding laterally. If you slide on the way back and don’t get your body back to the starting position, the club makes contact with the ground several inches behind the ball.
Inconsistent Setup
Want to know the easiest way to stop chunking the ball?
Learn how to setup perfectly!
When trying to stop chunking, make sure you don’t stand too close to the ball. In addition, keep the ball in the middle of your stance, not too far forward.
Ensure that your body tilt or spine tilt is not too far forward; if you are leaning with your weight on your toes, you can end up hitting behind the ball.
Want an insider secret?
Professional golfers still work on their setup. They know how important it is to have the setup perfect before they take the club back; all amateurs should be doing the same thing.
Golf Club Path That Needs Help!
You may be hitting the ground before the golf ball because your golf club path is not great. Club path is a tough issue as most golfers can’t feel it.
Instead, you will have to work on things like setup, takeaway, and weight transfer, and the club path issues could work themselves out.
Sometimes a club path that is too steep causes the club to strike the ground before the ball. However, a shallow club path that bottoms out before you get to the golf ball can also cause some of the same problems.
Improper Transfer of Weigh
Are you a golfer who leans back when you make contact with the golf ball? Do you often find yourself watching your golf shots leaning on your trail foot and not your lead foot?
Properly transferring your weight is a key part of generating power in the swing, but it also helps players to hit clean, crisp golf shots. Transferring your weight to hit cleaner shots means getting it to your left side faster.
If you are hanging back and making contact with the ball while the weight is on the right side (for right-handed players), the club often strikes the ground before the ball.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
How to Stop Hitting the Ground Before the Golf Ball?
If you think you know the issue causing you to hit the ground before the golf ball, it’s time to work on a solution.
As always, I recommend working on these things on the driving range; the golf course is a tough place to discover and work on swing flaws.
Use Golf Alignment Sticks to Perfect Ball Position
Golf alignment sticks should always be down on the ground when you are practicing. I can’t tell you how many golfers have no idea how bad their golf setup is because they have no reference points.
Looking down at the ground and seeing nothing but grass doesn’t help you know where to put your golf ball or your feet.
I like to have an alignment stick where the ball line or target line is, where my feet are, and also one that shows the proper ball position.
You don’t have to spend your entire practice session with these alignment sticks in place, but it certainly helps to have a general idea or a guideline as you practice.
Practice Head Positioning and Learning to Keep it Still
One of the best ways to work on head positioning is to use a mirror. You don’t even need a golf club.
Practice this at home and stand in a mirror and take some swings.
I’ll go as far as to make a mark on the mirror with a dry-erase marker as to where my head starts in the swing. Then I take these practice swings and see how much head movement I have.
Some of the movement is acceptable; we are humans and can’t always stay exactly still.
The biggest thing to watch out for when chunking the ball is a major drop in the head position on the backswing. When the head drops, it’s almost impossible to recover and pick it back up before you need to strike the ball.
Don’t Slow Down
Some golfers hit behind the ball when they are taking full swing, and for others, it is more likely in the short game.
If you are a golfer slowing down through impact, chances are your chip shots are often hit a bit heavy or fat and could even be considered a chunk.
The best mindset to have here is to accelerate through the golf ball. The club needs to move through impact with plenty of speed in order to hit the golf ball cleanly.
If you start slowing your wedge down on these chip shots, expect to hit behind it. Slowing down won’t give you any control or consistency, so avoid it.
Get that Weight Off of Your Back Foot
To hit a great shot with high ball flight, plenty of distance, and a straight path, you need to make contact with the ball while most of your weight is on the left foot. This position allows for much more consistency in the game.
So many players make the mistake of hanging back on their right side and making contact with the ball from this position.
One of the best ways to fix this is to think about this weight transfer from the top of your swing.
At the top of your swing, stop worrying so much about what the arms are going to do, and instead, let the hips turn and move that weight to the left foot.
If you do this properly and you perfect the weight transfer and turn, the arms should fall into place.
Stop Exaggerating the Shaft Lean
One of the most frustrating things I see on the golf course is the golfer with too much shaft lean.
We know you heard that forward press can help with consistent contact; it certainly can, but there is no reason to be set up like a hockey player about to take a slap shot.
Bring your hands back to a neutral position, and then from that point, you can push them just slightly ahead if it feels comfortable.
Never get your hands so far ahead that they are ahead of the golf ball. In line with the golf ball is just fine.
Strangely, many golfers do this extra shaft lean, thinking it is going to help them stop hitting behind the ball.
In reality, it can do the opposite.
Use Golf Technology to Help
Don’t be entirely resistant to golf training aids. Sometimes training aids and golf tech can be all the help your game needs to get on the right track.
Working with a tool like the HackMotion Wrist Sensor, you can get detailed information on your clubface and wrist angles and know exactly what could be causing your trouble at impact.
The Hack Motion Wrist Sensor compares your swing to PGA Tour pros, and we all know there will be some differences!
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
How to Improve Your Golf Swing to Avoid Hitting the Ground Before the Ball?
In addition to our tips for learning how to stop hitting the ground before the golf ball, it’s never a bad idea to get some professional instruction.
If you don’t want to go for an in-person lesson, you can always take some videos of your swing and compare them to the professionals. It’s much easier to see your swing flaws when you compare them on a video to a great player.
Look for some of the key issues I mentioned, like ball position, too much shaft lean, and the golf club path.
Summary
The only thing left to do is get out on the course and implement some of these ideas. If you want to stop hitting behind the golf ball, you will have to practice.
Head to the driving range, set up with some alignment sticks, and focus on the issues that you know cause this chunk shot.
Trust me, the next time you go out for a round and you are chunk free, you will be glad you invested the time.
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