Shanks

[MS256]

I used to get the shanks quite a bit (always with short irons, never long irons). Funny thing about them was that anything I tried to get rid of them worked (at least for a little while). Then it was like my brain figured out I had tricked it by changing something and would make the shanks come back until I changed something again and fooled my brain again. Ha ha!

Some days trying to hit the toe worked and some days it made it worse. I once played an entire round trying to hit the ball with an imaginary extra inch at the end of my club. Another time I played the entire back nine with my five wood. Funniest time of all was when my son told me to try to shank the ball. I told him that was nuts but he said "I don't think you can do it". The rest of the day I tried my best to lead the hosel right into the ball and couldn't shank the ball at all and hit every shot perfectly. Unfortunately the next time I tried that it didn't work either.

Finally one day I was messing around and decided to try to swing like Steve Stricker with no wrist hinge. Hit the ball perfectly that day stuck with that approach and I haven't had the shanks in 4 years.

[michaelmcla]

Il have to try some of them MS256 aslong as i can stop the shanks nothing more embarassing than someone watchin you and then you shank it across the fairway.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by MS256

I used to get the shanks quite a bit (always with short irons, never long irons). Funny thing about them was that anything I tried to get rid of them worked (at least for a little while). Then it was like my brain figured out I had tricked it by changing something and would make the shanks come back until I changed something again and fooled my brain again. Ha ha!

Some days trying to hit the toe worked and some days it made it worse. I once played an entire round trying to hit the ball with an imaginary extra inch at the end of my club. Another time I played the entire back nine with my five wood. Funniest time of all was when my son told me to try to shank the ball. I told him that was nuts but he said "I don't think you can do it". The rest of the day I tried my best to lead the hosel right into the ball and couldn't shank the ball at all and hit every shot perfectly. Unfortunately the next time I tried that it didn't work either.

Finally one day I was messing around and decided to try to swing like Steve Stricker with no wrist hinge. Hit the ball perfectly that day stuck with that approach and I haven't had the shanks in 4 years.

Aaaand here come the shanks! LOL.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by MS256

Finally one day I was messing around and decided to try to swing like Steve Stricker with no wrist hinge. Hit the ball perfectly that day stuck with that approach and I haven't had the shanks in 4 years.

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Aaaand here come the shanks! LOL.

Yep.  Might just as well go and sell the clubs now!

[el shanko]

slow down when you start your back swing. usually when i draw back quickly thats when the power slice come in play.

[That is Good]

What works for me (I'm a righty) is to pretend there's a handkerchief pinched in my right armpit and I make the swing without letting it fall out.

None of the people I golf with say that word out loud, we all refer to it as the "S" word.

[MS256]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Aaaand here come the shanks! LOL.

I've still got my five wood for when they show up again. No problem. Everything's just a long chip shot. Then there's the putter too!

[davieboy1872]

Had an awful round today at the course, basically shanked every iron shot on the front 9 and quite a few on the back 9 to, this rarely happens normally if i miss hit something i hit it fat. So my question is are there any drills i could do to stop this nightmare happening again or will it just pass with time? Thanks

simple answer is keep your head behind the ball, loosen your grip and accelerate through the shot

[iHack]

I had a great swing grooved. My ball flight started out left and drew slightly back onto target loved just watching it. Recently my ball is just hanging out there without drawing back in. I can feel something different with my swing but don't know wtf it is. So discouraging. I think I am staring to come in steep. I put a lot of time on range today and could not fix it, I started to get the shanks. My shots were coming off the heel. I injured my left hand 2 weeks ago and it still isn't 100%. Is it possible that the weakening of that hand is causing it. I can feel that I'm not releasing the club but don't know why, my driver and 3 wood are perfect. It just my irons suffering. A lot going on int that paragraph any thoughts are welcome. :~(

[forepoints]

Wow! That sounds like me but I didn't injure myself. I was hitting it well, really grooving my swing then suddenly, the dreadful shank appeared. I didn't think much of it, laughed it off I thought then suddenly, it happened again and again. It got worst - it robbed me of my confidence. I was shanking more and more. It was frustrating to say the least.

I read a really good article in Golf Digest last month written by Butch Harmon about shanking so I decided to give it a try. He suggested that I open my clubface instead of shutting it down. He goes on suggesting that I should try to hit it as though I want to slice the ball. Somehow in the mechanics, by hitting it with an open clubface, it's harder to hit the hosel which causes the ball to shank.

Give it a try.

[cutshot878]

Someone on sandtrap (an older post) said that when his elbows were bent at address he had a tendency to shank. He said that on the downswing the arms (aided by centrifigal force) extend at impact and the clubhead moves out just enough (if you're elbows are bent too much) to hit the heel and sometimes the hosel.  I have been struggling with a few shanks per round and this tip helped me today. I simply extended my arms (at address) and didn't allow any bend in the elbows and kept the arms very straight. I was able to hit draws and fades and was hitting some very solid shots. I was hitting it in the center of the clubface and even a few on the toe---which is progress for me because formerly I was almost always hitting slightly on the heel.  Trying to keep my weight on the balls of my feet and now this new straight arms (no bend at the elbows) set up I think might be the key to leaving Shankville for good. So long Shankville. Hello Center-Ville.

[BostonBrew]

I too, unfortunately, get the shanks on occasion. Mine come from not clearing my hips which causes the clubhead to move away from me just enough to catch the ball on the hosel. When that happens, it tells me my lower body is moving too fast, so I try to start my downswing with my arms leading the way. I doubt my arms are actually leading the downswing, but that's what I feel like I'm doing. That typically gets me hitting the ball solid again. I also try to slow my tempo down.

[BirdieNumNums]

I had a similar problem which I've only recently fixed.  Shank-free the past week!

I was playing the best golf of my life, 3 consecutive rounds at par or under. (And, I had never went under par previously). I battled the last 6-8 months trying to figure it out.  I'd make adjustments, thinking I've found the fix, for it only to come back the next day or 2.  My problem is somewhat what forepoints was saying.  I have a strong grip, but I didn't change that because I was still square at address. All I did was check the position of my backswing.  I was crossing over too far.  If at the top of the backswing the toe of your club is supposed to be pointing to your target, I was pointing it prolly 10-20 yards to the right of it (right-handed). I began taking practice swings from the top of the backswing, regrooving the swing from there making sure that the toe was pointing to my target or even left of it at the top.

It started to sink in mid-round on Saturday without me having to consciously thinking about it.  Shot my best round this golf season!  More importantly no shanks, even with some shots on the toe(Which hasn't happened since the shanks appeared).

[shanksalot]

I have from time to time been known to shank a shot; see my name for proof of that. What I have found works for me is when I set up to the shot I try to have the ball closer to the toe than the heel. Played a lot of golf with 1950's blades and the best area to hit the ball on those clubs was towards the heel. Of course it turns out the way you can hit shanks is when you hit the ball off or near the hosel which is of course right next to the heel. Pretty much don't hit one of these lovely shots but if I get lazy sometimes it pops up again.

[iHack]

Thanks for input. I couldn't take it scheduled lesson with pro tomorrow, need it fixed.

[twomey7]

Youtube shanks, I found the video by Hank Haney to be quite helpful, as well as other videos.

[cutshot878]

Originally Posted by BostonBrew

I too, unfortunately, get the shanks on occasion. Mine come from not clearing my hips which causes the clubhead to move away from me just enough to catch the ball on the hosel. When that happens, it tells me my lower body is moving too fast, so I try to start my downswing with my arms leading the way. I doubt my arms are actually leading the downswing, but that's what I feel like I'm doing. That typically gets me hitting the ball solid again. I also try to slow my tempo down.

So when you say you're not "clearing the hips" do you mean that your hips are moving laterally? I struggle with this issue and I also have to try to "feel" like I'm starting my downswing with my arms on iron shots.  I "feel" like I'm keeping my lower body still while dropping the arms straight down (or at a slight angle toward the ball if I'm trying to draw it or if I have a lie with the ball above my feet)  If I don't try to restrict my lower body from sliding laterally I can hit some pretty nasty shanks with the irons. Also, narrowing my stance a bit has helped. The wider your stance, the more your legs and hips will move laterally. I have tried to initiate the downswing (with the irons) by just clearing the left hip and letting the arms be passive but I tend to clear the left hip too fast and with too much lateral movement. With the 3 wood and especially driver, I keep the arms passive and just clear my left hip on the downswing. These clubs are too long and heavy for me to "feel" like I'm reliably swinging them with just the arms on the downswing. You can't shank a wood, thank god.  But you can hit a lot of big push fades or push hooks, depending on open or closed face at impact.

[BostonBrew]

Originally Posted by cutshot878

So when you say you're not "clearing the hips" do you mean that your hips are moving laterally? I struggle with this issue and I also have to try to "feel" like I'm starting my downswing with my arms on iron shots.  I "feel" like I'm keeping my lower body still while dropping the arms straight down (or at a slight angle toward the ball if I'm trying to draw it or if I have a lie with the ball above my feet)  If I don't try to restrict my lower body from sliding laterally I can hit some pretty nasty shanks with the irons. Also, narrowing my stance a bit has helped. The wider your stance, the more your legs and hips will move laterally. I have tried to initiate the downswing (with the irons) by just clearing the left hip and letting the arms be passive but I tend to clear the left hip too fast and with too much lateral movement. With the 3 wood and especially driver, I keep the arms passive and just clear my left hip on the downswing. These clubs are too long and heavy for me to "feel" like I'm reliably swinging them with just the arms on the downswing. You can't shank a wood, thank god.  But you can hit a lot of big push fades or push hooks, depending on open or closed face at impact.

Not quite what I mean. When I have trouble clearing my hips, I'm referring to my hips rotating too soon and pushing my right elbow out and that results in the clubhead moving away from me an inch or so. I try to feel like I'm driving my right elbow into my right hip on my downswing. And if my hips rotate too soon, then I'm in trouble because now my elbow (and of course clubhead too) have shifted out towards the ball. When the club gets to parallel with the ground on the downswing is about when I want my hips to start rotating towards the target. I feel like this allows me to deliver a square clubhead and stay on top of the ball.

As for lateral movement, a shift towards the target at the top of my backswing is what I look for. Not a lot, but just enough to drive my weight into the ball. It's subtle and when I'm really on my game, I do it subconsciously. But when I'm off, it's my swing thought that triggers the downswing.