Shanks

[notsohard]

Originally Posted by Sacman

I'm struggling with the shanks. I tend to get to flat in my swing and my back shoulder likes to drag behind me. This makes it real tough for me to get the club head square. Does anyone have a drill to help me square up the club head better?

dont move (shift) your spine angle.

[killo]

My old nemesis. Over the last few years they have plagued me. When they popped up I would put the clubs away and not play for several months or years. This time when I started back playing I was determined to work through them. I feel I have finally worked myself out of them now with more play. Now the only time one sometimes sneaks up on me is when I have a downhill lie or the ball is below my feet. I just haven't practiced those enough.

I think my main problem was that I was taking the club back too far to the inside in my backswing which was making me return from even further inside coming back through. Essentially getting stuck and not being able to square up the club face. I also believe I was having some posture problems where I was standing too erect. One drill that I would use to help work myself out of them was to stand with my feet together and hit balls. Just turn back and through 3/4 swings. There were times where I had to do this while playing on the course. Another thing I would do is exaggerate taking the club back to the outside. Although "outside" to me at the time was probably straight back to most people.

Some of the things I have found to be the cause:

Too far inside backswing

Weight out on my toes at address and during swing

Poor posture

[shortstop20]

For me the Shania were caused by a flat swing, a transition in which I was pulling the handle and an overbent right elbow. The feeling of keeping the right arm straighter for longer and not letting it bend past 90 degrees fixed my shanks.

[shortstop20]

Stupid phone corrected shanks to "Shania". Lol

[boogielicious]

Sacman,

Happens to me occasionally, more at the range.  For me, I am speeding up my tempo and I also get too flat.  To correct, I take a step back and intentionally become a little slower and more deliberate in my takeaway.  This puts the takeaway in the right plane.  Works on the course too.  Slowing down relaxes me as well.  In reality, my takeaway just goes back to where it should be with regards to tempo.

[HighlandLaird]

Hello sacman,

I had a terrible dose of the shanks many years ago, and found it was caused by trying to "steer" the ball to the flag.

I was advised how to cure it by a top English tournament pro-----he told me to address a ball, and deliberately miss it on the near-side, then repeat the process, but deliberately miss the ball on the far side. He had me repeat this over and over, and finally got me to hit the ball-----MAGIC:-  no more shanks.   Presumably works just by retraining us to "find" the ball.

Best wishes and good luck beating the "Shermans" .

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by shortstop20

Stupid phone corrected shanks to "Shania". Lol

I wouldn't mind "hitting" Shania, as in, "I'd hit that!"

[canadianpro]

Lots of correct advice....too much inside and flat on the back swing....not enough tilt from the hips at address....no turn in the backswing...."flipping the clubhead" as anxiety increases...thinking of Shania rather than hitting the ball

[treblig]

After a year or so of playing, two weeks during a round it happened - shanks and cldnt work through it. Since then they come and go - consistently after 4 or 5 holes it sets in. I understand (i think) the problem , but why does it set in randomly.

[sebsmash]

For me I would shank the ball by coming in too steeply and over the top. If I try to keep my hands closer to my body on the downswing it fixes the problem, feel like your hands almost brush your back thigh on the takeaway and down swing

[cipher]

Originally Posted by sebsmash

For me I would shank the ball by coming in too steeply and over the top. If I try to keep my hands closer to my body on the downswing it fixes the problem, feel like your hands almost brush your back thigh on the takeaway and down swing

I would not have your hands brush your back thigh in the takeaway.  If you take your hands too much inside too quickly on the takeaway, it tends to lead to coming over the top.  Closer on the downswing, yes.

[mvmac]

Use the search function above and type in "shanks", lots of threads http://thesandtrap.com/newsearch?search=shanks

[michaelmcla]

Had an awful round today at the course, basically shanked every iron shot on the front 9 and quite a few on the back 9 to, this rarely happens normally if i miss hit something i hit it fat. So my question is are there any drills i could do to stop this nightmare happening again or will it just pass with time?

Thanks

[jshots]

I go through this almost every spring after taking a few winter months off.

Not so much of a drill but go out to the range and start off with very short swings and work your way to full swings very slowly. Start off with short chips until you feel you are making really solid contact. Move on to a little bit longer swing, up to a half swing, up to 3/4. At each step just hit balls until you really feel you are making solid contact.

I find that I can always get good contact with shorter swings, or at least its easier to figure out if something is obviously wrong. Then I can start taking longer swings, adding swing length in increments really helps me feel what I'm doing to cause my shanks.

[bplewis24]

I thought this was a thread asking where Shanks-a-Million has been.

Anyway, I'm a professional when it comes to finding ways to shank the ball.  I can do it with any club, from any lie, and from any distance.  When I was getting a lesson last year, I asked the instructor about it.  He mentioned a drill using contact tape to see where you're hitting the ball on the club-face, and then making a conscious effort to hit the ball on the toe of the club.

This won't really cure anything, but it can help create a psychological quick-fix when you're on the course and suffering from the shanks.

[saevel25]

Its hard to say, Shanks can be produced from a lot of things

1) very open club face

2) very over the top golf swing

3) standing to close to the ball

4) Misc, just pray they go away

Believe me i had shanks for one day, then i havent' seen them again in year. Its could be one of those things, it could be something else. They really are a mystery sometimes

I would say post your swing, down the line and face on view. Maybe there's something we could pick up. A quick tip would be to line up with the ball more towards the toe of the club. Just to see if its ball position. That's kinda a first tip.

[el shanko]

did someone call.........

[michaelmcla]

Thanks for the advice guys il try and get a video up soon, its frustrating standing there and having no clue what you did wrong. i just had to laught it off even though i was boiling inside