Stop Chunking Your Irons: Proven Tips & Drills That Really Work
Chunking an iron means you hit well behind it. The result is a shot that doesn’t go very far and makes you twice as frustrated on your next swing.
Most golfers who chunk the ball 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 move right into the best drills and ways to stop chunking your irons.
Eliminating the chunk shot can save you several shots per round.
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 than turf.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Why Do I Chunk 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.
Let’s work through these fixes for chunked irons in order.
We will start with the simplest and easiest to fix, and then we will 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.
It’s not the cause, and you’ll notice right away if you reach or start hitting the golf ball thin.
Get the Right Ball Position
The longer the iron you have in your hand the further up in your stance it should go. With a longer club you need that 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 center 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.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Release Some Tension
Chunking is almost contagious.
The more you chunk shots, the more fearful you will become of chunking shots, and you’ll start doing it more consistently. You can eliminate this issue by reducing tension in your golf swing.
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 towards 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.
To work on wrist action in your golf swing, the HackMotion is your best option. You’ll be able to measure your wrist angles and gather valuable data to help take your game to the next level.
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. You’ll avoid the early release or casting. Here’s a great drill you can do with your HackMotion to get this concept down.
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 as though you step on your lead foot. The weight shift will feel a little awkward at first, but once you get the process down, it will be more natural.
Additional Drills to Help You Stop Chunking
When you find the right drill to fix an issue in your golf swing, it’s like it clicks. You finally feel what it takes to get the proper motion.
Here are a few extra drills in case some of the ones above still didn’t click for you.
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 not to suffer an injury.
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 the sequence of your 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 leaves you with a significant loss of yardage and sometimes in a very poor location. Get your stance, setup and wrist action under control to hit cleaner iron shots and stop chunking the ball.
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