Help please

[Big Johnny69]

Have been fighting the shanks my two rounds and one range session this year so far. Have never had them this bad before (went through a whole medium bucket at the range hitting nothing but shanks). Also fighting popups with the driver.

Any drills to help flatten out the driver swing, and any drills to help with the shanks? Many, many, many thanks in advance. I don't want to have to waste the first portion of my season curing this problem. The first club events come up at the end of May.

[davevandyk]

i wish i could help you Geoff, you can watch Tincup for the shanks!

[Big Johnny69]

Anyone with better advice than watching a movie?

[jonf]

change of clubs?

[Big Johnny69]

Nope, only if I had thrown them in the pond.

Just can't explain it, feels like I've never played before. At a loss for words right now. Well any word that is more than four letters long.

[KickerOfElves]

I can't claim to be any expert (that's for sure!) but as someone that has been working hard at actually building a swing I can offer some reminders of basics to check (of course I haven't seen your swing so one or more of these might be useless for the way you go after the infuriating white sphere).

- try one of the one-piece takeaway drills such as the headcover under the left arm. When I start hitting shots off the toe or heel a lot of times it's because I am out of sync.

- another one I find helps is to initiate the backswing and the downswing with a pull of the shoulder, not a push... from address start the backswing with the right shoulder pulling away, and on the downswing start with the left shoulder pulling towards the ball. If the opposite happens you can end up coming down too steep and you can lose your spine angle.

Lastly, check your address position and make sure all the basics are what they should be. Today I found myself lining up with both shoulders level at times instead of the left higher...simple mistakes are to be expected the first time out I suppose.

[Big Johnny69]

Thanks for the tips Kicker. Not first time out though. Two range sessions and two rounds. But I'll check the basics. I'll consider anything right now.

[Powerdraw]

lack of rotation of the sweetspot...feel as if you are turning the clubface, via the back of left wrist counterclockwise through impact. either that or you are severly offplane my fellow club ho.

your goal is hitting down and outwards through inside aft of ball rotating counterclockwise over the ball.

[el tigre]

Perhaps your backswing is getting a little long and/or your hands are getting a little quick? I find that when I get quick hands, it results in a wristy release with the driver (causing pop-ups) and an over-the-top move with irons that has my hands too far in front of the ball at impact, causing "lateral pitch outs".

This is just a guess of course, but I fight this problem every spring after hitting into simulators and nets all winter. The dead-giveaway for me is when I see/feel any kind of chicken-wing follow-through. That's when I know I need to concentrate on tempo and balance, and I go to the range and practice A TON of 1/2 and 3/4 pitches.

Hope this is useful. BTW, if you don't cure them this week then Steve Hall can probably fix it in 5 minutes (I assume he's back at Mountain Creek this year). He is an excellent instructor and a really nice guy to boot.

[Big Johnny69]

[quote=el tigre] "lateral pitch outs".[quote]

Thanks for the tips el tigre. And that is the best description ever. I'll have to remember that for future use.

[KickerOfElves]

I had a sweet lateral pitch out yesterday at the range...

About 80* hard right and square into the 4x4 post holding the netting that separates the grass tees from the mats (when the grass tees are open). Post was about 4' away from me. "Whap! THUNK!"

Played that one cool, acted like "wasn't me"

[Big Johnny69]

Thanks for the story, but it doesn't make me feel any better about my issues.

[John]

Whenever i get a case of the shanks i find the best way to get rid of it is to get over the ball get comfortable and take any thought of a target out of your head. I know you can swing a club Geoff so just concentrate on actually making contact and go from there. Check your positions in a mirror too and make sure your cocking your wrists.

[Nat Williams]

A good drill for the shanks (and anything wrong in your swing) is to take a large bucket out and hit 25% shots (backswing to 9 o'clock).

Take about 10% of the bucket worth of shots like that, them move to 30 or 35% etc working your way up.

befoer you know it they are gone ... basically what el tigre is suggesting.

[dbleber]

I have an article at home about this and it worked well for my father in law when he was fighting the shanks. Basicaly it is usually cause by poor spine angle and usually its your hips that are to close to the ball. The end result was to stick your butt out and make sure you have a straight back, bend at the hips type stuff. I can bring with me a sat and you can take a look. I think thi scan happen after the winter when you are just out of the groove and are thinking to much on results and the swing itself that you forget about body position at address.

[1972Apex]

Stop thinking so much and stop changing clubs every time you hit a bad shot .
Myself I try to remember to never have more than 300 separate thoughts in my heads during my takeaway...

[Big Johnny69]

So you're saying I have to get rid of thoughts 301, 302, 303.....

And Denny, bring along your article. Can't hurt, unless I hit you with a shank.

[Ginker]

Most times when I see ppl have the shanks its caused by head movement.. So stop trying to see where your ball goes soo soon and keep your nogen still..

[Big Johnny69]

But the head has to move so I can count my swing thoughts, nod= one swing thought. The fingers are on the club so I need something to use to keep track.

["Richard"]

Anyone with better advice than watching a movie?

Get a hooker (if you aren’t married)

Thotho doesn't condone adultery

but all joking aside (and I'm not suggesting this by any means)... just a funny related story, I have a friend who plays baseball and when he is plpaying really really bad he goes out and picks up a really hidious or fat girl... calls her his slump buster.

[dH]

I'd say that was a slump starter!

[Nat Williams]

just a funny related story, I have a friend who plays baseball and when he is plpaying really really bad he goes out and picks up a really hidious or fat girl... calls her his slump buster.

ROFL

["Richard"]

So you are saying that is how Geoff's slump started.... LOL

[Big Johnny69]

Not how my slump started. That would be called winter. Only swinging the clubs twice during the off season. But that is what Mark Grace called a slump buster for sure.

[Chieflongtee]

It would help if you got rid of your actual irons which are actually the size of a pea. My prediction. you won't be a Titleist man much longer

["Richard"]

geoff, what do you shoot regularly? Maybe your equpiment doesnt suit you. Irons the size of peas... maybe something a bit more forgiving? Even some tour players use cavity backs Dana Quigley uses the G5 irons which are pretty much the same as my g2s. You have to be awesome to be able to shoot better with blades than with cavity backs. thats what I've read anyway

[Big Johnny69]

Its all about what you are comfortable with. I would say my irons now are between standard and midsize. But they are a cavity back, something along the lines of TA3s. I've played to a 7 and can pretty much hit any club out there. Some of my best ball striking came last year with a set of MP-14s. One of the smallest heads you can find. Big oversized irons just don't appeal to my eyes. If they did I would have kept those Raven Undercuts I had. I just prefer a smaller head. I know I can play them, just not sure where the swing went. Guess I have to put out an APB.

[Chieflongtee]

Its all about what you are comfortable with. I would say my irons now are between standard and midsize. But they are a cavity back, something along the lines of TA3s. I've played to a 7 and can pretty much hit any club out there. Some of my best ball striking came last year with a set of MP-14s. One of the smallest heads you can find. Big oversized irons just don't appeal to my eyes. If they did I would have kept those Raven Undercuts I had. I just prefer a smaller head. I know I can play them, just not sure where the swing went. Guess I have to put out an APB.

So you prefer looks over performance?

[KickerOfElves]

Its all about what you are comfortable with. I would say my irons now are between standard and midsize. But they are a cavity back, something along the lines of TA3s. I've played to a 7 and can pretty much hit any club out there. Some of my best ball striking came last year with a set of MP-14s. One of the smallest heads you can find. Big oversized irons just don't appeal to my eyes. If they did I would have kept those Raven Undercuts I had. I just prefer a smaller head. I know I can play them, just not sure where the swing went. Guess I have to put out an APB.

Psst, Wilson Pi5s!

You could go to a Wilson Staff bag


We've talked about it before, but I agree with you about oversized iron heads...and I play closer to a 70, or so it seems this early in the season

[Big Johnny69]

So you prefer looks over performance?

Kind of a tough question to answer. If I like the look it inspires confidence in me. I wont' argue with performance. I can get used to the look of an iron if it came down to it. But I would rather have something that appeals to my eye. It sounds stupid and trivial but the last thing I want to think of before pulling the trigger on a shot is "Gee I really don't like the look of my iron." If I like the look, at address I don't think of anything other than making a good swing.