Are the shanks contagious??

OK, here's what happened...

Yesterday I decided to hit the pitching/chipping green before work. I set up on the right side, fairly close to the green and start hitting some fairly decent chip shots.

There is a guy at the far back middle of the range (only about 20-30 metres from the green) and to be brutally honest, he was horrible.

I don't know how he was doing it, but ever 2nd or 3rd ball would come flying across the front of me (I wasn't in too much danger of being hit). He was shanking them MILES right.

I thought "OK, this guy's new, just trying to figure out the short game etc." and continued on chipping away when all of a sudden....

SHANK.

SHANK.

SHANK.

Aggravated pull

SHANK.

...and so on.

I was like "What the hell? Are the shanks as contagious as yawning or something?" I have never shanked a chip/pitch shot. I hit plenty thin and blade them across the back, but I've never hit it with the hosel before!

Funnily enough, today during my very average round of golf, I actually had one of the better chipping/pitching days I've had. Chipping to within a foot 2 or 3 times, and not often outside of 4-6 feet.

Go figure.

I think the answer to that is yes... the thought of a shank was firmly in your mind so you subconsciously had a few.

It's the same when ever I get close to a birdie chance... I could be playing the perfect putting round but that birdie chance has a 90% chance of going astray!

I noticed something similar the other day about the subconscious. I had 5 putts lined up of the putting green about 6 feet from the hole. I got a phone call and when i finished talking I noticed that i'd popped all 5 into the hole one handed while not paying any attention to it.

If you'd shanked and not seen him do it first there'd be no thoughts about it being contagious.

The question you have to ask is whether you'd have shanked it anyway or whether you shanked it because you saw him shank it?

Oracle : I'd ask you to sit down, but, you're not going to anyway. And don't worry about the vase.
Neo : What vase?
[ Neo turns to look for a vase, and as he does, he knocks over a vase of flowers, which shatters on the floor ]
Oracle : That vase.
Neo : I'm sorry...
Oracle : I said don't worry about it. I'll get one of my kids to fix it.
Neo : How did you know?
Oracle : Ohh, what's really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?