If you are shanking when you are playing a chip shot it may mean that you are:
Standing too close to the ball
Leaning too much onto your toes
Swinging too far inside out
Swinging too far outside in
Are you standing too close to the ball?
One reason shanking the ball is more common in the short game than in the long game is because players tend to stand too close to the ball when chipping. Make sure that you’re not crowding the ball because that can force you to swing out towards the hosel and that will result in a shank.
So an easy quick fix is simply to back away and stand a little further from the ball than you’re used to.
Weight position during your chip shots
The second thing you should check is your weight. You may start balanced on your feet but if you end up with your weight more towards your toes, you are moving away from the sweet spot of the club towards the hosel so make sure that you’re sitting back more on your heels then you’re used to. We want to be on our arches for every golf swing but if you are tending to get more on the balls of the feet or your toes, I’d go ahead and sit back on your heels just a little bit more.
Inside out and outside in swing paths can cause shanking your chips
The last thing we need to check is the two different swing paths that you may be making. A very common one with your short game is to get a little bit trapped inside and if you’re too far inside out as you come into the ball you’re going to move towards the hosel again. Less commonly, players have their chip swing coming too far outside in, but again if you’re standing too close to the ball and losing your weight forward that’s actually pretty easy to do and you can actually come in from the outside and catch the back of the club. The fix is to back away from it a little bit, and get your weight back and then test your path make sure you’re making a nice rounded arc swing not getting too far inside, and definitely not getting too far on the outside of the ball.
How to check your swing path when practicing
A good drill for checking your swing path (only when you are practicing) is to take a piece of two-by-four wood and lay it on the ground right outside your ball. Practice swings right next to it if you go out and if your swing path is too much inside out or outside in you’re going to hit the wood and you’ll know it right away – it’s a simple drill and it works.
