Fixing the shanks while on the course?

[SyR]

The past few years I haven't been able to play much golf, but normally when I do play I hit my irons straight as a die and only really suffer with my driver and my feel around the green. I played a round at the weekend at Meon Valley in Hampshire. On the first hole I was fine, no problems, 3 wood down the left side of fairway, lay up with an iron short of the stream, chip onto the green and 1 putt.

As the course was busy the progress was very slow and we had a 4-5 minute wait for the next tee. I hit my 3 wood down the middle, then sliced my second into the rough (I thought this was odd as normally I pull my irons. Third shot was a wedge shot onto the green...then the dreaded shank strikes and my ball scoots off into the bushes on the right side of the green.

I managed to hack the ball out of the bush but sadly only as far as the bunker. Every iron shot from then on with the exception of my lob wedge, was a shank. By the 9th I was a complete wreck...and getting low on balls. The slow play all the way round didn't help things either.

On the 10th I found that if I shortened my swing and rolled my wrists at impact, I could just about hit the ball straight but with the risk of a snap hook...this became my coping mechanism to get me through the final holes.

The strange thing throughout this was that my drives were long and straight and my putter really saved my bacon. My practice swing felt fine, the people I was playing with couldn't see anything wrong with my swing and it felt to me as though my body had decided that the shank was how a golf shot should be, so timed the shot accordingly

While I'm sure I can rid myself of these by hitting a basket of balls down the range, it would be good to hear if anyone has some tips/drills to break this 'hiccup' effect while on the course?

 

[andiritchie]

Hit everything with your feet together,its not pretty but it works

Nice and smooth just get the ball going forward

 

[M1tch]

or do like one of the pro do. i think it was in may mag!! it was Paul Casey he brings his heels just of the ground and that does it to

 

[birdieman]

If they start on the course as bad as you had there is no cure, the fear will have set in and you'll be about as loose as a day old corpse, unable to swing at all.

Just get out of there with an excuse about doing your back or knee or something and come back another day when they'll likely have disappeared.

 

[Macster]

......and stand away from the ball a bit more, usually cures me.

Not that it ever happens to me.....Noooooo..... Nooooooo......*shakes head*

Next topic please......

 

[Cernunnos]

No instant cure for the shanks, they can hit at any time & are like the flu... a sod to get rid of.

I once shanked 4 consecutive wedge shots straight into the wooded pool/ditch to the right of me, then nearly managed to throw my wedge in the left hand wooded pool. (only time I've ever come close to thowing a club in anger.) Actaully I was quite calm... walked over picked up my edge & explained to my playing partner I'd see him on the next tee. Somehow managed to finish the rest of the round appart from that hole & ended up fighting those damn shanks for quite some weeks afterwards on the range.

Odd thing is, they suddenly got cured when I had a rest from golf for a couple of weeks & sudenly everything was back to normal... Strange, very strange.