A brief hello and why I am here

[regaleagle]

Good evening all. I am an avid golfer, and have read posts here for the past year but had not decided to join until now. A little bit about me: I am 42, started golfing again a little over a year ago, and am a 12.4 handicap. What happened on the course today was the impetus for me joining this site. Before I get into that, and I will try to keep this as brief as I can, I will tell you a little bit about my game.

I never golfed seriously until I was in my late 20's. I could count on one hand the number of rounds I played in my teens. I was a great baseball player, with excellent hand-eye coordination, so swinging came naturally. I golfed quite seriously for two years from '97-'99 when I was living in AZ. It was at that time I first shot an 89, which made me quite happy. The high 80's then became somewhat frequent, though 90's was probably my average. I never kept a handicap. Just as I started to improve, I fell in love with a gal, moved away, and didn't golf but a few rounds over the course of 11 years. Then, last summer, I took it back up. I played more rounds last summer than I ever have in a year, oftentimes both Saturday and Sunday. There is little golf in the winter where I live, so 7 months a year is probably max weather wise. I'd guess I played close to 40 rounds.

I have been doing the same this summer. I joined a men's club and started tracking my handicap. It was 13.5 when I joined, and has been hovering between 12 and 13. My strengths are that I hit the ball very long, and am a good ball striker. My weaknesses are occasionally spraying the driver, and my putting and chipping. The latter two are the parts that really prevent me from going low. A few weeks ago, I shot a 77, which was the first time I ever played in the 70's. I have been close many, many times, but always managed to screw it up. Anyway, I felt very good finally doing it, and my game has really been coming around. That is, until I recently started shanking the ball. It's awful. I will offer that I have recently purchased new irons- Ping S56- and don't recall ever doing it with my old irons (Ping ISI). However, it is with these new Ping's that I shot the 77. And, I was hitting them BEAUTIFULLY at first. Then, out of the blue- shanks.

Which brings me to today. I was 7 over par after 14 holes at a very difficult course. I felt good. Then, I finished 8-7-8-7 for a 93. Awful. It was the most disappointing round of my life. I have never had such a bad four hole stretch. It was, of course, due to a horrendous case of the shanks. What's most frightening is I have absolutely no idea how to stop them. I tried backing away from the ball slightly, to no avail. It was hosel rockets to finish the round. Disgusting. I am at a loss as to how to stop them. I tried, in vain, for the rest of the round. My setup was the same as always, and there was nothing that felt "off" in my swing. I will stop here, but thank you for reading if you made it this long. I don't know where this goes, but I need to put an end to these things.

[iacas]

It's not an attempt to be glib, but the shanks are caused by one thing and one thing only: the sweet spot gets outside of the golf ball.

What can cause that?

- The weight is back in the heels so it moves forward and re-centers itself during the swing.

- The left arm shoots out too far, shoving the sweetspot out with it too.

- The weight is in the toes and stays there too long, providing less room for the hands to stay in enough.

- etc.

Put a water bottle just outside the golf ball on the range and miss it - you'll quickly feel something different.

[inthehole]

on your setup, try setting up with the ball farther out near the toe of the club - this helps me with the shanks - especially while chipping.

[regaleagle]

I appreciate the input, and I know you're not trying to be glib. I have an inside out swing, hit a draw, and am wondering if it is my left arm which is the culprit. The reason being, I tried setting up away from the ball, and the result was the same leading me to believe it was a swing flaw problem, not a setup issue. What is so disconcerting about the whole affair is that there is no way to "play" a shank. It ruined what could have been an excellent round for me.