shanks!!!!

Well seeing that you have a lower index than mine, not sure if you want to heed my advice/tip for getting rid of the shanks but I've noticed that when my arms/elbows start to get detached from my body on the downswing, then the shanks can set in.
 

Put a water bottle or a basket or something just outside the golf ball. Hit. You won't shank it or you'll smack the bottle/basket/etc. Heck even put a little tee out there and miss it.

Shanks are like hiccups, hold your breath real long and they go away. I sometimes will do it if I shift my weight too far and cause a sway instead of rotating.

Warmed up with the sand wedge. No problem. great contact. Then picked up the 8 iron and was hitting some shanks today. Next time it happens I will follow this advice below. I think I was having trouble clearing my hips properly. Maybe jerking them open too early (getting stuck) or moving them too much laterally. Hip sway. Something was causing me to move closer to the ball on the downswing and hit hosel rockets.  Hard to believe that I was taking the club outside. It always feels very inside. Next time maybe the water bottle or headcover drill will give me an idea of what's happening.  Butch says that an outside-in swing path and closing the face is the culprit. 

 

Solution: Put an object, like a headcover, just outside the ball to learn to swing down from the inside.

dont move (shift) your spine angle.

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

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.

Stupid phone corrected shanks to "Shania". Lol

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.

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" .

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

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