How to Stop Shanking Chip Shots: Causes, Fixes & Drills That Actually Work
When you are in the position to chip the ball, the first thing that goes through your mind should be, “I could make this”.
However, for golfers who struggle with chipping, the thought may be, “Don’t shank this.”
That’s a big problem and one that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
Amateur players are lucky to hit even 9 out of 18 greens in regulation. Therefore, chip shots will occur quite often.
We will go through how to stop shanking chip shots, why it happens to you, and some great tips for how to say goodbye to the shanks for good.
Stop Shanking Chip Shots (Key Takeaways)
If you don’t have time to read our entire article on how to stop shanking chip shots, here are the most important takeaways:
- Getting your setup correct is a key piece of the puzzle; when your ball position, stance, or hand position is off, the shank possibility increases.
- Proper wrist position of the lead wrist will help you fix your shanks and hit a straight chip directly on line.
- Adding too much tension in your grip will increase pressure and make it harder for the hands and arms to rotate as they should through the shot.
- Always accelerate through the golf ball; slowing the clubhead down can make it harder to square it properly and hit a great chip.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Why Do I Shank My Chips?
You may be shaking your chips for a few reasons, although the most common is standing too close to the golf ball.
If you take a step away and still shank, here are a few potential other causes:
- Too much pressure in the grip.
- Using only the hands and wrists in the chipping stroke.
- Too much extension in the lead wrist.
- Improper ball position.
- Backswing is coming too far inside.
- Too much lower-body movement.
How to Stop Shanking Chip Shots
Even if you are still unsure what is causing you to shank the chip shots, you can follow this step-by-step guide to stop shanking your chips.
1. Get Yourself in the Proper Position
Setup could be the most important part of stopping these shanked chip shots. If you are standing too close to the ball you may hit it with the hosel of the club causing a shank.
Instead, make sure you let your arms hang naturally down and place the ball in a comfortable position.
There is no exact distance, and it will change if you change clubs. The key is to ensure that you have room to swing it.
In addition, you’ll want to make sure the ball position is just middle to the back of your stance. Many golfers place it too far back, and this gets them into trouble.
2. Minimize Wrist Action
Many amateur golfers struggle with the concept of getting the golf ball in the air. They believe that to do this, they have to flip their wrists.
This won’t help!
What you want in chipping is a slight forward press and a flexed lead wrist as you come through impact. If you flip the wrist and move towards extension, there is no telling what the golf ball is going to do.
You can wear your HackMotion device to measure the flexion or extension of your lead wrist during impact.
Your chipping will be much more consistent when the clubface is slightly closed and this lead wrist is in a great position. Keep wrist action to a minimum and maintain that forward press through impact.
This one-handed drill from Butch Harmon may help.
3. Perfect the Takeaway
The perfect takeaway requires the club to come a little more straight back. If you are shanking your chips, chances are the club will go too far inside as soon as you take it back.
Try doing a few practice motions before you swing the club, where you push it back just a bit instead of wrapping it around the inside of you. The slight push back will make a big difference when trying to square the clubface.
You can also use alignment sticks on the ground to make sure you aren’t taking the club back too far inside.
4. Stabilize the Lower Body
The lower body moves a little when you chip. However, if you make a big weight transfer or have a lot of twisting and turning it causes inconsistencies in the impact position.
These could lead to an open clubface or striking the ball on the hosel.
Stabilize the lower body, learn to take a little pivot, and make sure your feet are very close together for this shot. When you have them too far apart, you tend to use the lower body too much.
5. Follow Through
Finally, make sure you are not stopping the golf club at impact. To stop the club at impact, you will have to slow the club down as you make your way through the golf ball.
This deceleration is not good, and it can even cause a shank.
Instead always thinking about following through and getting the club to a position that is well after the ball.
Let your body rotate through the chip shot; don’t feel so stuck in your position.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Drills to Stop Shanking Chip Shots
If you need a few additional drills to make sure you stop shanking, you can try these.
The best advice for these types of drills and for shanking, in general, is to keep things as simple as possible to minimize the chance of further issues developing.
Water Bottle Drill
If you tend to shank chips, chances are your swing path is moving too far out or you’re pushing the handle away from you at impact.
The water bottle drill gives you immediate feedback and forces a centered strike.
- Video Timestamp: 0:21
Water Bottle Drill – Step by Step:
- Place a half-full water bottle just outside the toe of your wedge at setup.
- Set another one just inside the heel, leaving just enough space for your clubhead.
- Chip shots without knocking into either bottle.
- HackMotion can help you monitor wrist angles at the same time keeping your lead wrist slightly flexed ensures you don’t push the clubhead toward the heel.
Right Arm Only Drill
One of the best ways to train proper connection and eliminate shanks is to isolate the trail arm.
Using HackMotion, you can track both wrists and see how the trail wrist influences the club path and contact.
Right Arm Only Drill – Step by Step:
- Take your normal chipping setup.
- Place your lead hand on your trail bicep (this builds connection).
- Swing with only the trail arm, focusing on brushing the ground under the ball.
- Use HackMotion feedback to avoid excessive ulnar deviation — keep the club moving slightly “up” on-plane.
- Start with ground contact only, then introduce a teed-up ball for margin of error.
- Progress to chips with both hands, matching the same trail wrist numbers you saw in HackMotion.
Final Thoughts
Luckily, the shanked chip shot comes up and goes away rather quickly.
Making sure you get your wrist angles and setup correct is the easiest way to stop shanking and start putting yourself in the right position on the green.
Don’t let this shank around the greens cost you any more strokes. Use these fixes and your HackMotion to take control of the greens again.
If your entire short game needs to be reworked, check out the HackMotion Short Game Formula to help you take things to the next level.
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