the shanks - a regular occurence

[davieboy1872]

in my short golfing career, less than 3 years, i have developed the shanks 3 times.

the first time i was around the 19 handicap bracket, tried a few swing changes that worked for a wee while and managed to improve my ball striking. however a few days later i got a terrible case of the shanks. as i worked my way through it (approx 3 weeks) i managed to shake it off and got myself to a 14 handicap.

the second time was similar, a few tweeks to the swing for improvement which worked and again, a few days later, boom! shanksville. once i got by that dose, my game massively improved, ball contact was superb, could shape shots and distance increased massively. got down to around 8 handicap and regularly broke 80 on my course which is par 72.

this is the 3rd time. again brought on by trying to move to the next level. went to the range and for the first 30 or so balls everything was great. then it happened again. if you stood next to me on the range just now you would think it was the 1st time i had ever swung a club.

what the **** is going on??

is this normal for someone who is improving?

[danieldrieberg]

For me, a shank will occur if  I get too handsy on the start of my backswing. Quiet wrists maintaining the triangle at take away may help.

Also try 3/4 swings with a mid iron (8 iron) to get groove back. Nice even tempo keeping every thing smooth. Big muscles, (legs, back etc) in sync with hands and arms.

Two more drills to break the cycle

Feet together and 3/4 swing

Forget backswing ----start at the top like your playing baseball and let it happens..Will feel weird but it does work.

[boogielicious]

Focus on set up.  I will shank it once and a while if I set up too close to the ball when I am distracted or rushing or my tempo gets too fast.  If it happens at the range, slow down, go back to basics and start with easy punch shots to get confidence back.  Work back to a full swing.

[davieboy1872]

Think I have fixed it, my right hand was dominating the swing. Loosened the pressure on it and let my left had take the lead.

[davieboy1872]

It's not fixed:-( Having a nightmare just now. When I manage to not shank it, I lose about 60 yards of distance. Normal shot with 8 iron is around 152 carry. Struggled to reach the 100 marker tonight. Hate this game:-(

[hanalei]

At least for me it was my grip, I had a relatively weak/stiff grip, high in the palm which didn't allow the club to swing freely. Since changing my grip I haven't had 1 shank. Basically in my left hand I hold the club with fingers only...very loose..same with the right hand, buts its in a relatively strong position under the grip. When swinging I tighten my fingers slightly which allows control along with closing the face slightly. I also make sure my eyes are pointed straight at the ball, not looking at the bottom of my eye sockets.

[TidyFreak]

Had a brief bout of the s****s at the range the other day and worked out that it was due to a sligthly flat downswing - backswing was on plane, but not the downswing hence the hosel hitting the ball . Concentrated on the shoulder plane on the way down and it was all good.

TF

[divot dave]

Originally Posted by davieboy1872

It's not fixed:-(

Having a nightmare just now. When I manage to not shank it, I lose about 60 yards of distance.

Normal shot with 8 iron is around 152 carry. Struggled to reach the 100 marker tonight.

Hate this game:-(

Bite the bullet, and do one or more of 3 things:

1) take a video of yourself shanking from a couple diff angles and analyze.

2) take a lesson for the purpose of having a professional eye identify the fundamental flaw (not to reconstruct your swing but just identify the flaw)

3) go back to the basics... posture, BALANCE, rotation. start with small swings, pitches, 1/2 swings, 3/4 swings

had the shanks recently myself and had the fortune of a golf instructor nearby to give me his take on the cause. his input really helped.

[reedf]

This can also happen if you are getting out of balance and having your weight too much on your toes.

[jaybo]

I used to get them once a year for a week or two, I had everyone and there brother tell me what to do.  The trick for me was to find someone at your course who beat them, me this guy told me to grip the club as tight as I could with my RIGHT hand.  You will pull the crap out of your shot for a while but it was the only thing that worked for me.

The shanks are the worst feeling a golfer can have on the course, you get scared to even swing the club.

[davieboy1872]

Originally Posted by jaybo

I used to get them once a year for a week or two, I had everyone and there brother tell me what to do.  The trick for me was to find someone at your course who beat them, me this guy told me to grip the club as tight as I could with my RIGHT hand.  You will pull the crap out of your shot for a while but it was the only thing that worked for me.

The shanks are the worst feeling a golfer can have on the course, you get scared to even swing the club.

im there now, scared t swing a club.

infact im so sick of it, im considering putting the clubs on ebay and chucking it

[Fatphil]

Don't reallly have any advice other than an opinion that only better players shank.  Beginners tend to stand up, pull away and toe the ball.  Shankers are holding the angle OK and coming at the ball from the inside, you just get a little wide with your hands.  The difference between a solid strike and a shank is less than an inch.  Guess that don't make ya feel much better but that's all I got.

[davieboy1872]

Originally Posted by Fatphil

Don't reallly have any advice other than an opinion that only better players shank.  Beginners tend to stand up, pull away and toe the ball.  Shankers are holding the angle OK and coming at the ball from the inside, you just get a little wide with your hands.  The difference between a solid strike and a shank is less than an inch.  Guess that don't make ya feel much better but that's all I got.

appreciate it, thanks.

went to the range tonight. hit 60 balls. first 3 were shanks. the rest were fantastic.

after the 3 shanks, went to the Xplanar and it then occured to me that my swing path was off on the follow through, so i made an exagerated effort to exit left. BINGO! it worked so hopefully im shank free for a while, no doubt it will be back for a 4th time

[shortstop20]

If exiting left was stopping the shanks, you must have been severely in to out. I've been there, it sucks. Lol Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

[davieboy1872]

If exiting left was stopping the shanks, you must have been severely in to out. I've been there, it sucks. Lol Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

Yep, I do have an in to out swing path, natural shot is a draw. Looks like it was too severe. I will go to the range after work to see if i can repeat last nights success. Funny how these things can creep into your game. The day it happened I was on a launch monitor at an indoor golf academy. The first 20 - 30 shots were great. I was getting an average smash factor of 1.46 which I believe is pretty good. Then suddenly I was mis hitting everything with no obvious swing change. Hate and love this game

[IceDave]

Don't know if it helps but I start s****ing when I move my upper body in the downswing towards the target. Used to have a severe over the top swing to add to the problem. But now the only time I get the shanks is when i do the upper body downswing move. Hope this is understandable and helps...