Shanks

[midnightbui]

I just got over the shanks.  I had it real bad for about 2 months.  They are not completely gone for i had one the other day, but better than before.  I would shank 95% of my range balls.  With every single iron.  Tried everything i mean everything and nothing helps.  I put impact tape on my irons and the hosel was filled up with marks with the center clean as can be. So this is what worked for me again i tried everything imaginable including countless weeks on youtube and on forums etc.  this is what worked for me.  Go through your normal routine and set up to your ball as usual, then take a step back 4-6 inches and then hit.  It might feel weird at first that you are too far from the ball but you actually are not.  Dont do anything like lunge at the ball just take your normal swing as usual and you will hit more of the center than the hosel.  Let us know if that works.

[boil3rmak3r]

  grandaddy510 said:

i've been fighting the shanks the last few weeks and i think i've figured out the problem. it seems that my shoulder rotation started getting too flat...

I rarely hit a shank with a full swing. Last year, though, I fought a shank on partial wedge swings. I made it a point to hit as many 1/4 and 1/2 wedges into my indoor net this winter to try to figure it out. Early on, impact tape showed that I was striking the ball very close to the hosel on these partial wedge shots (and shanking some, to boot). After watching a video on this site that, iirc was posted by Erik, I think I found my solution. The video (I'm typing this on my phone and won't bother trying to link it right now, especially since I don't know how) explained that many of us turn our shoulders on a plane that is too shallow. The shoulder turn plane should be perpendicular to your spine angle. If you are going to error, it's much better the have the shoulder turn plane too steep vs too shallow. Well, I watched my swing and discovered I needed to steepen my shoulder turn plane on all swings. This is something I'm working on. Anyway, I'm wondering if grandaddy is on to something here. When I steepen my shoulder turn on partial wedge shots, the ball is right in the middle of the club face. It seemed to cure that issue for me. Can any of the instructors on the site confirm that the shoulder turn plane can, indeed, be the main culprit for shanks?

[sopel10]

I got the shanks about a year ago.  Both on full shots and partial wedges.

Full shots:  Slow down my tempo on the backswing so that I don't come out of the plane.

Partial shots:  Pretty much think about my head staying still at all times.

Standing farther from the ball is a quick fix, but did not work for me long term.

[MS256]

Okay, I rarely post any kind of a "swing fix" and especially something like a fix for a shank. I've been down enough dead end roads to know that nothing is for sure.

That said, I probably hit over 1,000 golf balls last night and this morning with no sign of a shank so I think it would be remiss to not mention what I found although it may mean absolutely nothing to anybody else.

Tried standing farther from the ball and that only made it worse, got me off balance, and caused some other things to fall apart in my swing.

Tried using more spine angle and more attempt at my shoulder angle matching my spine angle at the top of the backswing. That also didn't work (by itself).

I wanted to stay away from any ridiculous quick fixes I've used in the past like intentionally trying to hit the ball on the toe.

Finally I stumbled on something that combined the suggestions from @boil3rmak3r and @midnightbui .

I found that if I set up with my normal setup except with the end of the toe of the club on the inside of the ball and then flexed my knees just enough more to cause the club head to move out to the sweet spot everything stayed balanced with my left arm still hanging straight down as normal.

In my backswing as my back leg straightened it caused more of a slant to my hips and thus made my shoulders have a better slant without any conscious effort. That in turn made the club drop much more naturally to the inside and go through the ball on a much better path.

Unexpected but welcome was that my head stayed more still and I had better extension after impact. Also unexpected but welcome was that my butt stayed on the line much better and my head stayed down through impact much better.

Most importantly (for me) no sign of a shank.

One caveat: My legs are ridiculously long for somebody 6'1 1/2" tall.