You start a round and then… shankkkk

[EMC2144]

7 hours ago, Aflighter said:

Try hitting behind ball more and what I mean is, when addressing ball, ground club head atleast inch or more from ball instead of right up at ball.seems to keep hosel from contacting ball.

I gave that a go, which resulted in chunk after chunk (but at least the ball went straight).  I also tried to move further away, to the point where I was "set" with the ball at the end of the grooves on my irons.  It seemed to work a little bit.  One of my things is that I almost never ground the club head.  It's always worked for me to have the club head just off the ground, and give it a waggle (like how many do with their driver, I just do it with every club).  It's certainly strange to look at when I watch it on video, but it has worked up until now.

[rfeight]

Unfortunately, I usually get the shanks after I've played some really good golf. I think psychologically I feel great and tend to exaggerate my motions. As a result, I roll forward on my toes and separate my hips from my arms in my downswing causing the toe roll. When it happened this spring, I went to a local pro here in Michigan, Bill Mory, and he had me break down the back swing and follow through doing baby steps. First knee cap to knee cap. Then 3 quarter to 3 quarter. But what really worked was when he had me adjust where the sound of the swing peaks. Instead of it peaking after it hit the ball, it swooshed 1/3 of the way down and peaked at the ball. It added distance, connected my arms to my body again, and changed my focus from my hips to my swing. A little bit no in line with my Swing Machine golf, but got me on track. 

Along a similar vein, I recently played my best two rounds of the year, with a chance for par or birdie on most holes only to follow it up with a round where I couldn't find a fairway. The challenge being this 9 holes, 19 - 27 of Hawk Hollow , is almost surrounded by water. Nerves combined by 3 missed tee shots made for a bad round. How do other TST members deal with a bad round like this?

I think I'll start another thread for this one.

[70sSanO]

For me it is basically the tried and true setting up close to the ball with a shallow backswing too far inside resulting in an over the top swing sometimes sprinkled with a bit of not setting up behind the ball.  It is a glorious sight to behold.

Two areas I am working on will hopefully improve my hitting and eliminate the above...  I am incorporating the Faldo pre-set to eliminate the shallow backswing.  Getting rid of a shallow backswing seems to be fixing most of my lower body issues of raising up when I lift my left heel too high and now I barely bring it off the ground.  I am also setting up with the ball towards the toe of my club.  For years I have had a slightly wider arc downswing but I hated setting up on the toe so I always went through different gyrations to compensate for it so I could setup centered on the clubface.  But now I am resigned to doing it and that has been a big improvement.

John

[taxgolf]

It is not my season. Was on the range, and off we go, shank, shank. angermanagement wasn't there. Then I started to hit it better, relaxation and bamm, shank, top. Hellraiser. Pinhead was there. At the end a pro came to me and gave me the following tip. 

 

Place a bottlel roughly 20 cm / 13 inch (?) on the outside and in line with the ball. The brain is now paying attention to other things than hitting the ball and it makes you swing more in to out. As soon as you start swinging out to in, you hit the bottle before you hit the ball. And it worked. Hitting it flush again. Lucky me. Confidence grew and positive feelings came back. 

 

Such a mindgame

[EMC2144]

44 minutes ago, taxgolf said:

It is not my season. Was on the range, and off we go, shank, shank. angermanagement wasn't there. Then I started to hit it better, relaxation and bamm, shank, top. Hellraiser. Pinhead was there. At the end a pro came to me and gave me the following tip. 

 

Place a bottlel roughly 20 cm / 13 inch (?) on the outside and in line with the ball. The brain is now paying attention to other things than hitting the ball and it makes you swing more in to out. As soon as you start swinging out to in, you hit the bottle before you hit the ball. And it worked. Hitting it flush again. Lucky me. Confidence grew and positive feelings came back. 

 

Such a mindgame

Not quite suse I understand how something that far away would help. It would be more like 8 inches but still. I tried the 2 ball trick. Problem is I put them too close together sometimes. So if I hit a little towards the heel, I'd hit two. I did find it entertaining when you feel the extra resistance and when both flew well.

[taxgolf]

I came to much from the outside. No connection, whatsoever. It is just about awereness. Give it a try. You can move the ball up closer if you preferre.

but a Large part has to do how you feel. I felt ruwheid, excited, didn't sleep that well. And more excuses. Fact of the matter is, I feel this is not my season. My injury hampered me. After holliday I will get it done, pick my game up!!

[taxgolf]

Juist saw Rahm shank it horrible. It happend to anyone. Relief

[newtogolf]

37 minutes ago, taxgolf said:

Juist saw Rahm shank it horrible. It happend to anyone. Relief

It's like watching a guy take a kick to the groin, it hurts to watch.  

[Buckeyebowman]

6 hours ago, newtogolf said:

It's like watching a guy take a kick to the groin, it hurts to watch.  

Yep! Like the commentators said, they've never seen the "tracer" take off at such an angle! So, even the pros do it!

[dave s]

Couple of shank memories: One of my playing partners years ago shanked chip shots completely AROUND a green once.  He picked up, went to the next tee box and sat on a park bench with a glazed-over fixed stare while we finished up.

Honestly, I've never shanked a full shot.  It's always the chip-shanks that have come and gone over the years.  After one bout that lasted nearly a full season, I realized my right knee was breaking down during the downswing which caused the club path to route further outside of the intended swing plane.  Shank one. Shank two.  It was so bad, I was lining up the ball almost off the toe of the club face to hit square. When I figured it out, it was back to soft hands, keep lower body quiet and rotate arms, torso and chest through the chip and pitch shots.  Problem solved for me.  Knocking wood ... they haven't come back!

Once in a blue moon I'll shank a chip shot.  Thankfully, it's maybe one in a hundred or more.  And nothing gets into your head more quickly than seeing a hozel-rocket going nearly straight right on you. And if it happens twice in a round, oh boy!

Hope it works itself out for you.

dave

[Buckeyebowman]

Your friend sounds like me, dave s! Full shots I've never had a problem, nor with chips. But the 40-50 yard pitch fills me with terror! I haven't hit one in a while. Usually I end up pulling those shots now.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Buckeyebowman

[taxgolf]

On 25-6-2016 at 11:15 PM, newtogolf said:

It's like watching a guy take a kick to the groin, it hurts to watch.  

It hurts indeed. But I have to say that I can't suppress a feeling of relief. I am not the only one, even pro's do it. 

 

I was able to play 9 holes with a friend last Sunday. Met him on the range. He asked me to join. So I ran to the tee box, thinking, 'oh dear, not the best prep'. I have a new shaft (Oban, the best) installed in my driver. Performed very stable and well. Than I had to hit the first iron shot. Stuck it next to the pin. Didn't shank during the 9 holes. After a few holes, I wasn't even thinking about the possibility that I could even shank a ball. Hit pure, solid contact. Poohhh. Happy camper. 

[dave s]

14 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Your friend sounds like me, dave s! Full shots I've never had a problem, nor with chips. But the 40-50 yard pitch fills me with terror! I haven't hit one in a while. Usually I end up pulling those shots now.

LOL!  Me too on those 40-50 yard shots.  And trust me, I stay OUT of that range at all cost.  I could probably throw down 3 balls and shank two without a problem from that range!

[EMC2144]

I wish I was good except within 50 yards. Everything between my woods and 75 yards in hopeless right now. Although it makes me great in scrambles. I bomb drives, shank easy irons, but can rescue my team around the green, and my putting has improved. On a 9 hole scramble I had 2 chip ins and 2 putts over 20 feet. My team liked me when we weren't like 150 out. Then I may as well have putt. But it's so frustrating to have that issue, when you try everything to fix it.

Edited June 27, 2016 by EMC2144

[mdaugherty24]

Here is a quick fix. Address the ball like u normally would but put ur weight on ur heels. Make a few practice swings that way.

[EMC2144]

I actually have tried that, but I don't get as solid a rotation or power. It's weird that it came from nowhere. Also found that if I put my shoulders back (like push the blades closer together) it works better, but not sure if that's good honestly. I think it's the weight that I lost and not having the same stability. 30 pounds in 3-4 months is hard to adjust to.