Why do I shank these shots?

[dhacker1956]

I have one major swing problem (not to mention all the small ones) that I can't figure out how to solve. When I am using a sand or lob wedge on a less than full shot I will about half the time shank the living daylights out of it. I have tried to swing more upright assuming that I was getting to flat trying to ease up on the swing and for a while it will be ok. Then, you guessed it it will come back. Always at the most inopportune time. And once it happens once I defy anyone not to think about it every time you get another half shot. Every so often I will even do it on a full swing with the sand and lob wedges from the turf. I NEVER do it from the sand on on a true flop shot. And I never have the problem with the gap wedge or any other iron!! Please give me some suggestions to try. This costs me sometimes 3 shots per round. even once cost me a berth in the club championship finals. HELP!!

Other than "Its in my head" any mechanical suggestions?

[jonf]

I used to have this problem. It is possible you are being too tentative and hesitating in your swing. Just because it's not a full swing does not mean that you should not attack the ball. The other important this is not to try to sweep the ball off the grass. You have got to hit down on it. I made that change this year (hitting down on the ball with my short irons rather than sweeping), and it made a huge difference in terms of avoiding those ugly shanks and skulled shots. Keep in mind, a change like that is not a quick fix - its a big change both physically and mentally. The first few rounds I played were ugly, but I really started to get the hang of it and my iron play benefitted greatly. Hope this helps

[BC MIST]

Most shanks are caused, not by a swing path that is too much from the inside, as some erroneously believe, but by an outside swing path that pushes the hosel toward the ball. The shorter shaft length of the SW or LW causes a more upright shaft axis plane encourages an outside path.

I have shanked a few along the way and when I do I simply look at the inside quadrant of the ball and feel my hands drop vertically downward from the top. Problem solved.

[Started2k3]

I have one major swing problem (not to mention all the small ones) that I can't figure out how to solve. When I am using a sand or lob wedge on a less than full shot I will about half the time shank the living daylights out of it. I have tried to swing more upright assuming that I was getting to flat trying to ease up on the swing and for a while it will be ok. Then, you guessed it it will come back. Always at the most inopportune time. And once it happens once I defy anyone not to think about it every time you get another half shot. Every so often I will even do it on a full swing with the sand and lob wedges from the turf. I NEVER do it from the sand on on a true flop shot. And I never have the problem with the gap wedge or any other iron!! Please give me some suggestions to try. This costs me sometimes 3 shots per round. even once cost me a berth in the club championship finals. HELP!!

Other than "Its in my head" any mechanical suggestions?

The bolded statement is a "mental" problem. You can't go back in time and redo the shot, so learn from it and never dwell on it. Right now you fear this shot, so it is always somewhere in your head. Get the fear out (however you can). Remember you MAKE the shot half the time.

Mechanical suggestions? I don't really have any.
What could be the possible reasons:
- as simple as crowding the ball (a little too close approximately an inch)
- significant swing difference between partial and full swing (like jonf said attacking the ball with a full swing and trying to sweep the ball with a partial), which may result in your body being slightly out of position at impact (spine angle, weight shift, shoulder rotation, etc).

I am sure there are more.

Charles

[byerxa]

I tend to shank these in batches occasionally when I am practising a bunch of them in a row. The main culprit for me is deceleration and flipping at it with my hands. I also tend to get a bit too close to the ball. Fortunately it almost never happens to me on the course. Instead I tend to chunk when I decelerate

[golfin-buddy]

I thought we were not allowed to use profanities on this website! Whenver you do get the s**#*ks, ask yourself what creates it, why does the ball fly off sideways.

Here are the two reasons I usually see.

1- your club is coming from too far from the inside with am extremely open clubface, sending the hosel to make direct contact with the ball (not very likely in 99 % of s*#*ks. or

2- Like BC mentioned, your coming from a very steep attack angle which is most likely ot be coming over and across the line leading to the hosel making contact. most likely.

fixes

remember that the half shot is exactly just that... a half shot. This means that the golf swing needs to be consistent, a half shot is just a shorter version of the full swing. Take some videos of both your full swing and your half swing and play them from the mid point of the downswing (just above belt high). The clubshaft in the full swing is probably pointing at the ball. Draw a line from the clubshaft all the way to the ball on both swings. If they both point down at the ball great.

see the Word doc attached. for an example

Now play the next few frames into impact. if the shaft goes over that plane or line, then you are over and across making the hosel rocket a possibility. If it doesn't go sideways, it's because you were able to make an adjustment pulling your hands towards your body at impact and swipping across the ball.

Try that and see if there are any differences in the two moves. If this doesn't work , please seek counselling

[john dunigan]

Hi there,

As a golf teacher (I prefer, Coach) i see shanks regularly (and I've never gotten them myself!). The ONLY way you can hit a shank is if the club head gets outside the target line before the club face reaches the ball. In my experience (1400+ hours of lessons per season) most of the time the club comes into impact from the outside--a swing path error. If you pay attention, you can actually see the blur of the club head as it enters the impact zone and see for yourself. If you can't see it you are most likely focusing on the ball and not the thing that influences the ball--shame on you! You can use the Arc of Approach and the Obstacle Course exercises that I've written about to help you evaluate and retrain your club path. The three ball drill also helps quite a lot. That one I can describe like this.
l
x l
l
x
/l
/ l x
/ l

The object ball is the x in the middle and there are two "blocker" balls on an angle one outside the target line for before impact path and one inside the line for after impact. If you can hit the object ball without hitting the others, you are just fine. Repeat ad infinitum. If you don't hit either blocker ball and still shank the object ball. you are moving your weight toward the toes rather than your heels on the downswing and most likely your pelvis is moving the whole machine toward the ball. This is a shank from the inside--rare, but I do see them from time to time. Remember this, the only way you can shank from the inside is if your get too close to the ball. You can set up too close or your body moves toward the ball on the way down. You may have to feel like you are sitting backward with your rear end as you swing.

Hope this helps,

JD
johndunigan.com

[leftylucas]

Hello John and welcome, what an honor to have you on our site. Are you in the area now or just surfing around the net? I love the tips on your website which was referred to me by Pat Laderoute, a local teacher here in Ottawa. He has helped me greatly and I will go back to see him again.

Could you possible give me a drill to engrain the forearm thrust and that magic move where your arms and hands go back and down to get the club back on plane. I am a lefty and sometimes reading something gets lost a bit in the translation.

[byerxa]

Hi there,
If you don't hit either blocker ball and still shank the object ball. you are moving your weight toward the toes rather than your heels on the downswing and most likely your pelvis is moving the whole machine toward the ball. This is a shank from the inside--rare, but I do see them from time to time. Remember this, the only way you can shank from the inside is if your get too close to the ball. You can set up too close or your body moves toward the ball on the way down. You may have to feel like you are sitting backward with your rear end as you swing.

Hope this helps,

JD
johndunigan.com

I am learning the harsh way that you cannot cheat on proper posture. For me the feeling of "sitting backward" is not good and I tend to squat. This throws my balance way off and it gets ugly. I have to work hard to really get the butt out and "up" to truly get my weight more centered. When I do this properly the power into the swing is sooo much better and I stay properly planted on my feet. But it takes a lot of discipline to maintain this (to me) unnatural position throughout the swing.

[john dunigan]

Feel like you are just about to sit up on a bar stool. that may help. Not that I've ever been to a bar!

JD

[byerxa]

Feel like you are just about to sit up on a bar stool. that may help. Not that I've ever been to a bar!

JD

I find that analogy better, but for me I have to avoid "sitting" analogies. Of course everyone different, but for me it is a matter of getting into the athletic position with my C of G back over my feet such that I can swing freely with a solid foundation. I am still amazed to this day how much influence this has on swing consistency, and how much core strength is required to do this properly.

[Fallys0820]

I've been running through shank occurrances that I've had in the past, and I can only think of the one that has been listed above. I will shank a shot only when I'm too close to the ball. There may be something else ultimately causing a shank, but most of the time it's the result of standing too close.

Upon further thought, the only other time I can think of shanking is when I hit a really bad punch shot.

Like I said, this could be for another reason, but it always gets worked out when I have the proper distance from the ball.

Take that idea for what it's worth! I know it's an explanation of what I do wrong and correct, but maybe it might be the same problem for you when it happens.

Scott
aka Fally

[john dunigan]

You are right. There's only one cause of a shank from the inside. You are too close to the ball. Now lots of people set up too close, but just as many who experience the dreaded s word move closer to the ball during the downswing. Once you put your finger on the real cause, the problem is easily solved.

[sweeper]

OK I am not a TGM expert but I will try to explain it using TGM terminolgy...
Please don't shoot me...

We feel the sweetspot of the clubhead through the lag pressure on #3 pressure point (the first joint of the right hand index finger where it touches the clubshaft).
If this lag pressure is lost(prolly because of over acceleration) , hands tend to start the hosel towards impact. That means we're steering the shaft and hosel towards the ball (as opposed to dragging or driving the sweetspot of the clubhead to a point on the plane baseline) and shank it...