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Questions For Any and All 'Shank Survivors'


Note: This thread is 3924 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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The weird thing for me is that I only get the "shanks" when I am on the driving range and someone comes up and starts hitting in the spot to my immediate left. As a lefty I can see them and I guess it messes with my mind. Being the weirdo that I am if the guy is already there and I walk up next to him....no shanks. Go figure.

Driver: R7 9.5
Fairway Woods:
Irons: AP2 Steel Shaft X Stiff
Wedges:
Putter:
Ball HX Hot

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  • 3 years later...

well......For me it is a never ending battle.  I have played for years...over 30 and I am suffering from the shanks again.  It made me leave my clubs in a dumpster, and I quit once for 3 years.  It is the worst thing in the world to practice and practice and practice all week and hit beautiful solid shots and then step on the course and shank,shank, SHANK!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have with help of pro's, scratch golfers and friends  tried to get them gone for good. I am at my whits end.  I broke my 7 iron in two today.....a month ago it was my 8.....I can hit a wood, driver etc. straight and solid till the cows come home.  My putting and chipping is great......really great...the shanks ruins every aspect of the game.  There is no other corrective lesson or drill I can use.  It is the FEAR OF SHANKING that freezes my swing.  So bad that it has  actually hurt my right hand from trying to hold the club back in the middle of a so called swing.  It is totally mental....all I want to do is enjoy playing shank free golf.  I don't enter tournaments, I don't care who wins and I am not trying to be the next pga tour player.  I just want to go out with my friends and ENJOY A DAY OF GOLF!!!  THAT'S IT!!  IF ANYONE CAN HELP...PLEASE DO SO....THANK YOU!  BILLW24

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I fought the shanks for the last ~30 years. I tried almost every "cure" known to man.  Finally, last season I noticed my back swing was too inside/flat and left arm was rotating and opening the club face. On the downswing I wouldn't square the face before the hosel  contacted the ball. My cure was, on the back swing, to keep my left forearm "quiet" and keep the club head parallel with my spine angle on the back swing.  This also prevents me from going back too inside/flat.

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Originally Posted by Carl Spackler

The weird thing for me is that I only get the "shanks" when I am on the driving range and someone comes up and starts hitting in the spot to my immediate left. As a lefty I can see them and I guess it messes with my mind. Being the weirdo that I am if the guy is already there and I walk up next to him....no shanks. Go figure.

Funny he mentioned this... I have the same problem when someone's behind me, especially with longer clubs. Drives me nuts. I know in my mind that I can't reach them on my follow through, but they always bend down to pick up balls or something and I end up messing up. It's not the distraction, I can hit with noise and movement distracting me, but anything within my bubble when I'm swinging really jams me. It's not necessarily shanks, but I often pull a pitching wedge and try to hit 3/4 shots where I know I'm staying as far from the bloke's head as possible.

Sure enough, when the guy leaves and I pretend I'm knocking his teeth out on my finish, I hit the cleanest shots of the day. I've learned to take notice of this effect and not allow my swing to get restricted.

In My Bag:

Adams Super LS 9.5˚ driver, Aldila Phenom NL 65TX
Adams Super LS 15˚ fairway, Kusala black 72x
Adams Super LS 18˚ fairway, Aldila Rip'd NV 75TX
Adams Idea pro VST hybrid, 21˚, RIP Alpha 105x
Adams DHY 24˚, RIP Alpha 89x
5-PW Maltby TE irons, KBS C taper X, soft stepped once 130g
Mizuno T4, 54.9 KBS Wedge X
Mizuno R12 60.5, black nickel, KBS Wedge X
Odyssey Metal X #1 putter 
Bridgestone E5, Adidas samba bag, True Linkswear Stealth
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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I didn't read the entire thread, so if my suggestion at the end has already been made, then count this as a plus one. I went on a several day vacation a while back and read Mr. Hogan's 5 Lessons during that. When I got home I guess I was trying for more wrist/forearm rotation than was good for me. Anyway, I started shanking pretty much every iron in my bag. Fortunately I had a teaching pro to go to, and soon the issue was in the past. He suggested that if there should be another bout the solution was in the old drill where you stretch a towel across your chest and tuck the ends under each arm. You can't hit full shots this way ( at least I can't ) but it will help with the feel you need to beat the S's.

Driver: Titleist 913 D2 10.5*, Aldila RIP Phenom 50

Fairway 1: Titleist 913F, 17*, Titleist Bassara W55

Fairway 2: Titleist 913F, 21*, Titleist Bassara W55

Irons: Titleist AP1 714 5-PW, Aerotech Steelfiber i95

Wedges: SCOR 4161 48/52/56/60, Genius 9

Grips: GolfPride New Decade Red Mid-size on all of the above.

Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 - Super Stroke Slim 3.0

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Note: This thread is 3924 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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