(Video and Journal) Found Power - Sick with Shanks Now - 3 Months to Get to a 7 Handicap - $100.00 per hole Match

[xburbx]

Interesting. I will note that. I went to the range today and felt real good. I'm trying to work on distance control with my pitching wedge. Now that I can hit it about 140-145 I need to e able to feel out that 120-135 range. Focusing on the entire torso turn has been so important. If I get armsy its over. Tomorrow I will hit a lot of putts and chips. I have a match with one of my buddies this weekend.

[xburbx]

Btw - my rounded swing heavily promotes a draw. I play for it. I have tried over and over to manipulate the club to a steeper outside the plane takeaway and my consistency would struggle. I like the idea of Matt kuchars coach keeping him as close to the plane as possible te entire swing. My more rounded swing is to the inside on the take away. I don't care as long as I swing to the right on the downswing. I naturally make a move to the inside on the way down. As long as the arms don't get to involved I don't come over the top. From what I gather, that's the major reason not to. I could be wrong . I just find this swing to feel a lot simpler and natural. I also recommend people look up ball flight law so they can tell what path their club and face are taking. It helps a lot to understand this. It then makes understanding how to work a ball much easier to grasp. It helps diagnose a swig too. Shanks are not covered in tl all flight law and that's why I had to figure my way out of them.

[xburbx]

Played 3 rnds this weekend. Lots of good holes but I still need to shake off the high holes. I find that I can usually minimize them by July each year. My short game and touch is usually back at that point from the winter. I was wondering if anyone reading this is a fairly average distance hitter that plays less than a 5 handicap. If so I would be curious to know how you see different shots and where you find you score the best. Also - I'm going to be using statracker.com again this summer. I will be using it every round at least until the big match

[xburbx]

Went to the range today. There is a little practice green there. My practices are going to change. I will be hitting the practice green first w an entire large bucket . Then I will hit almost the entire bucket with wedges while targeting little greens. I will hit maybe 20 percent long irons and drives. I want my putting and up/down stats to be really good and it should show on stattracker

[xburbx]

Billy ho to win us open. I've been practicing a ton. My stats showed me my scrambling and putting has been trash. Not acceptsble

[AwYea]

From everything you've said, You're shanking because you're laying the club off in your backswing. Your swing is too flat. Things to check....

-Check your grip. More than likely your grip is too strong with your left hand too far left and your right hand too much underneath the club, which promotes a flat swing and a takeaway that's too far to the inside. Try weakening your grip and make sure your right hand is on top of the shaft, not underneath.

-Make sure the club is going straight back and up, not inside and around during your takeaway. Again, this is grip related.

-If you can, use a mirror and check the position of the club at the top of your backswing. It should be parallel to your you're target line and not pointing to the left(if you're a righty). You can do this inside if you have a yard stick or grip handle. If you have neither, just really choke up on a wedge so you can take a backswing without hitting the ceiling.

When you get laid off it causes you to use too much legs on the downswing and your hips get out in front of the ball which causes you to shank. Make sure you're turning your hips and not swaying your hips backwards and forwards.

When you try to correct this it's going to feel like your going to slice everything. So, don't panic and revert back. Stick with the above.

[xburbx]

So I have hit a lot of buckets w my rounded swing which I'm sure looks like it is laid off at the top. It also has cured the shanks and simplified things. I will check that top position as you mentioned and I will take video of the new swing. I have been very very focused on short game lately and hitting short irons at targets.

[AwYea]

Originally Posted by xburbx

So I have hit a lot of buckets w my rounded swing which I'm sure looks like it is laid off at the top. It also has cured the shanks and simplified things. I will check that top position as you mentioned and I will take video of the new swing.

I have been very very focused on short game lately and hitting short irons at targets.

In my 1st post I said your grip is too strong with your left hand too far left, I meant right. Sorry about that.

I can tell you in my 30+ years of playing and helping others, shanking is caused 99% of the time because the club is laid off at the top and the swing is too flat. Shanking happens to a lot of good golfers, especially one's who play a draw. When you get laid off it causes you to over use the lower body and instead of the club rotating through impact, you shove the hosel outwards.

I doubt very seriously that rounding your swing off has cured your shanks unless you were coming over the top and playing a slice or fade, but you said you were playing a draw. More than likely you're not shanking now because you've slowed your hip action somehow on the downswing.

If you're "sure" you're laid off you need to fix that, period. It should be your #1 priority. You may not be shanking right now because your timing the lower body, but as soon as that timing goes, and it will, you'll be shanking again or duck hooking.

[xburbx]

Played a par 3 course tonight. This will be my new stomping ground. This will be where my short game gets tight. Thank you for the advice on having the club laid off. I'm going to record my swing this weekend to see what positions I am in. Your advice was exactly the stuff I was hoping would pop up here. Thanks for helping.

[Ctp722]

Could you guys show some images of "laid off" at the top?

[AwYea]

Originally Posted by Ctp722

Could you guys show some images of "laid off" at the top?

Here's one...

http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/OiZgMcajE5o/hqdefault.jpg

[jshots]

You should post video of your swing.

[skip0ls]

90% of the time shanks come from getting nervous and speeding up the take away. Hit a dozen balls with a super slow mo backswing, regular down and follow through. Then get back up to your "regular" speed in increments. If you shank one on the course, just slow everything down in your head.

[xburbx]

Tomorrow I am going to have a new video of my swing up. To be honest, I will keep working on it but in truth I realized my next step (which should have been the first), is dedicating myself to putting and wedges. I just picked up two new wedges to fill some distance gaps and i am going to join a local par 3 course. My short game is t bad, but it is not where it needs to be. Every tour pro says they need to work on the their 100 yds and in. They don't say "I need to hit the ball further off the tee". If people ever watch the LPGA they will notice the women typically hit clubs as far as amature men. They still shoot well under par. I like power but the need to show it is not relevant to scoring . If you can drive a ball 250 you can shoot in the 70s

[xburbx]

So I was going to post a new video of my swing but I actually don't want to mess with it or see it. In hitting the ball well and I am completely focused on my wedges, chipping and putting. I will hit the range for long irons and woods 1x per week to keep a level of comfort but 80-90 percent of practice will be at the local par 3 and putting green. I have drills I am doing and stats I am tracking. In commited to see if this will push my game to the next level. Wedges I have - 56,52,50 and 47