Sooooo mad.....

[ericstamper]

OK....last round of golf i hit 4 balls off the hosel while hitting pitch shots.........im a decent chipper, but i was feeling weird and almost scared to hit the 20-40 yrd pitch shot.........any tips??? after hitting the hosel shots i just started to open the 60 degree wide open and hit huge flops.......which got me on the green but not close enough to make birdies...........

[shortstop20]

I'm doing this with my irons and wedges, it's driving me nuts. It cost me 4 shots on the front nine today and I shot a 40.

Course has a stroke index of 66 mind you.

[kevin.chan]

I have the same problem last time where I lean forward ( putting too much weight towards my toe ), later when i adjust my body weight towards my heel , the SHANK symptom disappeared.

[soloredd]

My round yesterday was going great through 5 holes. I was +4 and really felt confident I could go around 85, subbing 90 for the first time. On the 6th hole I pipe my driver and then started the hosel rocket show. For the next 6 holes I fought this. Would drive well but couldn't get on the green. I had to start punching my 5 iron down the fairway it got so bad. Finally got out of it on a par 3 with my PW but by that point I had gone +16 over the 6. Ended up +26 for the round. My under 90 was there. I'm not sure how I fixed the hosel rockets but I think I was using all arm and no rotation. When I hit that PW on the par 3 I definitely felt more of a complete rotation back and through the swing.

This is why I always play 18. I've hit +4 for a front 9 before only to go +20 over on the back 9.

[saevel25]

I had a similar issue on the driving range the last night... about 10 shots would be good then all of sudden the great hozel rocket goes off to the right. I am not sure if mine is a hozel rocket more than a whicked slice. Because it doesn't shoot off directly right and low. It goes out about 40 yards and takes a detour right. Probably something like 10K worth of side spin. But i decided to try this, i tried to play everything off the toe, that forced me to turn it over or i would miss the club horrible. Its scary to try that to fix it.

I had alot of good shots after it when i feel like i am staying down on the ball more. I tend to want to stay on my back side and straighten up to early, old habit. It wasn't bad since i use to flip my hands and time up my swing. But now that i am fixing the flipping of my hands, i find that i need to stay down and through the ball more.

So i would say the fix for this is feel like you are keeping your head down a bit longer. Also, i use to have the chip shot issue, i found that was caused by taking the club to the outside to much. Rotate the club a bit more down the line in the backswing or just a bit inside. This will help there.

[blackxpress]

Hard to say without actually watching what you're doing but, from what I do know, that problem usually results from 1 of 2 problems. Either your lower body is too active or your wrists are too active or a little of both. You couldn't tell it from looking at my handicap but I've become quite good at chipping and pitching after years of struggling with this very thing. What I do is keep my left arm nice and straight and my wrists and lower body as quiet as possible. No wrist cock at all and as little hip rotation as I can possibly get away with. It's just like a putting stroke. Straight back and straight through. I imagine I'm trying to putt the ball to the hole. The only difference is that I'm holding a wedge or a short iron in my hands instead of a putter. I'm probably not saying anything you haven't heard many times before but I notice in my own game that whenever I start struggling with my short game it's because I've allowed my wrists to start breaking or my lower body to start turning or swaying. It doesn't take much extra movement to really mess up my timing and cause me to start sh---ing the ball or chunking it or skulling it or whatever.

[saevel25]

With chipping, i try to keep my weight on my left side. Depending on the shot, i will hinge the wrist a bit in the back, or i just forward press and use a putter stroke. There's now way you can hozel rocket this type of chipping unless you have serious movement through your chipping motion. Pitching is a different story, i try to have some weight shift in my pitching. Just a little turn onto the left leg helps me square up the club and hit down on it.

[double_j]

Sometimes the shanks are just inescapable. They come and they go almost without explanation. Best thing you can do is clear your head and let muscle memory guide your swing. You can also try carrying a tee in your left pocket - I have it from a reliable source that that's a shank cure-all. J/K.

Seriously, if it wasn't the shanks and you're truly having trouble with 20-40 yard chip shots, here's how I play mine (these are the low flier/run-out type of pitches, although you can vary spin to make it hit and check if you know how to do it).

Feet together, open stance (stance aligned about 45 degrees left of the target line), 80% of your weight is on the forward foot. Choke down to the middle/bottom of the grip for more control. Play the ball off your back foot with the clubface square to the target line and your hands forward (the clubhead will be slightly hooded due to this set up).

Your focus during the swing should really be on keeping your lower body absolutely quiet and your weight on the forward foot. Your backswing is still controlled by a shoulder turn and its length determines how far you will hit the ball. Your primary swing thought should be 'down and through' with a finish that mirrors the length of your backswing.

I like what one of the other posters above has said - this is basically an exaggerated putting setup with more of a 'down and through' mentality to ensure that the clubhead keeps accelerating through impact. Also, keep in mind you can alter the ball flight and spin by changing the ball position in your stance. This is my go to chipping stance and I'll use it anywhere from the greenside to 50 yards out.