3 Easy Drills to Help You Stop Chunking the Ball

There are few mistakes in golf as frustrating as hitting the ball fat. As soon as you feel the club head dig into the turf prior to contacting the ball, you know the shot is going to come up short.

You don’t even need to look up to watch it fly – you already know the outcome.

Golfers know that hitting a bad shot from time to time is just part of the game, but there is something about chunking the ball that is particularly aggravating.

In this article, we would like to provide you with three drills to work on taking this mistake out of your game. Or, more accurately, these drills will help you work on reducing the number of fat shots you hit.

You’ll never completely wipe out the chunked shot from your golf game, as this is a mistake that can even happen to the best players. With any luck, these drills will reduce the frequency of your fat shots, and you can see improved numbers on the scorecard as a result.

Please note, the instruction below is designed for right-handed golfers. Play lefty? Just flip the directions around.

Stop Chunking It Drill #1 – Look Ahead

As you already know, hitting the ball fat requires hitting the ground before you reach the ball. For a right-handed golfer, that means hitting the ground to the right of the ball, as you are looking down from above.

If you hit the ground just slightly before the ball, you’ll only hit the shot a bit fat, and your ball might make it most of the way to the target. On the other hand, if you hit the shot a couple inches fat, the ball might not get off the ground at all.

So, to move away from fat shots, what you need to do is move the bottom of your swing a little bit to the left. One way to move in that direction is to adjust where you are looking at address.

Most likely, you currently look straight down at the ball when taking your stance. That’s fine most of the time, but you can experiment with a change if that plan starts to fail you.

During your next practice session, try looking a little bit to the left of your normal spot while making your swing. Note – you don’t want to make this a dramatic adjustment. For instance, if you usually look at the back of the ball, try looking at the top of the ball. Or, if you usually look at the top of the ball, try looking at the front of the ball.

At first, this adjustment is going to be a bit more difficult than you might expect. However, as you continue to practice, you might notice that the bottom of your swing has moved a bit forward, and you suddenly aren’t hitting as many fat shots as you were before. If this simple drill is able to get you away from fat shots, you won’t have to worry about taking more dramatic measures to correct your swing.

Stop Chunking It Drill #2 – The One-Hand Pitch

For many golfers, the mistake of hitting the ball fat is actually rooted in the desire to help the ball up off the ground. At address, you might feel like you are going to need to help the ball up into the air when impact arrives – so you use too much right hand during the downswing in an effort to add loft and ‘scoop’ the shot. This is a classic amateur mistake, and it is almost certainly destined for failure.

To break the habit of trying to scoop your shots, spend a few minutes in the short game practice area hitting short one-handed pitch shots. These shots only need to be a few yards in length, as the important part is not the shot itself but the technique you use through impact.

You are going to use your left hand on the club for these shots while your right hand stays out of the way. Swing the club back a short distance with your left arm and then swing down through impact with a descending blow. When executed correctly, this drill will show you that it actually isn’t necessary at all to help the ball off the ground.

The loft of the club will do the job of getting the ball airborne, as long as you achieve a clean strike down through the hitting area. Keep this lesson in mind when you go back to hitting full shots with both hands on the club.

Stop Chunking It Drill #3 – Right Toe

For this last drill, we are again going to ask you to hit short shots, either in the short game practice area or on the driving range. With a wedge in your hands, take your normal stance for the shot you have decided to hit (should be less than 100 yards – you can decide how far to hit the shots based on the practice space available). However, before you start your swing, lift your right heel up off the ground, so that only the toe of your right shoe is on the ground. Your left foot should remain flat on the ground as usual.

With the right heel in the air, go ahead and make your swing. Obviously, the swing is going to be a bit awkward, and you won’t be able to hit the shot as hard as you would normally. That’s okay – all we are looking for here is balance and a downward strike which hits the ball cleanly.

Since your right foot isn’t flat on the ground, you will be unlikely to slide to the right in the backswing, which is a common cause of fat shots. Try hitting a few practice shots with this unique stance before returning to your normal address position to continue on with your practice session.

Fat shots can be frustrating, but there are steps you can take to reduce their frequency. We hope these drills are helpful, and have fun out there!