Are these related incidents?

[Hammer1982]

I should point out that I have big problems with my six iron. Basically, I just can't hit it properly. I sought to rectify this recently by hitting practice balls with it - because it's my swing that is the problem, right. Anywho, low and behold I still couldn't hit the plastic balls without shanking them. I just couldn't get a clean connection on any of them. I cut my losses and return home.

But today, I play a round of par 3 with the guys and the first hole - one that I always use a sand wedge on - I shank it! Now I never shank it on this hole, and the sand wedge is the one club I can use, consistently achieving a clean connection, but today it let me down badly.

Is it madness to believe that I wouldn't have had these problems on the course today had I not tried in vein to improve my six-iron shots in practice? I don't think so. To me, there's nothing better than hitting a sweet tee shot. By the same token, there's really nothing worse than hitting a horrible one. Help!

[mvmac]

I should point out that I have big problems with my six iron. Basically, I just can't hit it properly. I sought to rectify this recently by hitting practice balls with it - because it's my swing that is the problem, right. Anywho, low and behold I still couldn't hit the plastic balls without shanking them. I just couldn't get a clean connection on any of them. I cut my losses and return home.

But today, I play a round of par 3 with the guys and the first hole - one that I always use a sand wedge on - I shank it! Now I never shank it on this hole, and the sand wedge is the one club I can use, consistently achieving a clean connection, but today it let me down badly.

Is it madness to believe that I wouldn't have had these problems on the course today had I not tried in vein to improve my six-iron shots in practice? I don't think so. To me, there's nothing better than hitting a sweet tee shot. By the same token, there's really nothing worse than hitting a horrible one. Help!

You're correct that the issue lies with your swing. Shanking the sand wedge shouldn't be that surprising because you're basically making the same swing. If you can shank a 6 iron, you can shank any other club in your bag. The swing fault doesn't "go away" when you're hitting another club.

[Hammer1982]

I'm pleased to report that I can hit my six iron quite well now - and it only took two three-hour sessions at the range over the last two days. My hands are destroyed, but it's a small price to pay given that I've conquered some of my demons around that certain club.

I made two changes: a) softened my grip, allowing for more rotation in the backswing (I think) and b) kept my left arm closer to my body during the back swing. Isn't it crazy how two simple, yet major changes can have such an impact?