case of the shanks!

[Ryanrocksfender]

boo!!!!! so at the range today i got a bad case of the shanks every shot was 30 yards left and no distance... i hit a few good shots but i thought i was over this phase! anyone have tips to get over the straight right shank? also when i did move the ball closer to me it seemed to go away... does anyone have a set distance they should stand from the ball?

[kfowler]

I had the case a couple of weeks ago. My instructor told me that I had too much weight on the balls of my feet. I was losing balance on my downswing causing very inconsistent ball striking and frequent shanks. We worked on sticking my butt our further and getting more of the weight to the middle of my feet.

Another thing to try is to line up two balls with one about 2" outside of the other. Line up to the outside but hit the inside ball. This keeps you from taking the club back to much to the outside causing you to lose your balance.

[wolfridge]

I had the shanks for......an entire summer

BUT, this story has a happy ending. I figured I was stretching over the ball and hitting it straight off the heel, so I put the ball 3" out and swung normally. Sweet spot. After a while, I moved it back in slowly until now its back to my normal feeling swing.

I don't know if that'll help you, but moving the ball out and reaching for it helped me.