Has this happened to you? What do I do?

[caslad81]

Hi everyone,

Ill start by introducing myself as I am new here. My name is Mark and Im from Castleford West Yorks, I have been playing just over 3 months and have been having regular lessons and practicing 3 times a week and trying to play at least once.

Progress has been good with the irons and hybrids after a battle with an out to in swing but I have left the driver and woods alone due to a massive push fade(havnt got to the woods in the lessons yet)

Anyway I managed to break 100 about 4 weeks ago and shot an 86 the weekend just gone! so after todays lesson brimming with confidence I decided to have a go with the driver, 15 balls later no difference still the high push fade so I thought I would go back to the irons and wait untill my next lesson to start with the woods.

DISASTER, 150 shanks later and I feel like I have never hit a golf ball before, nothing feels right and I dont no what to do as I cant get a lesson untill next week and I am supposed to be playing at Oulton Hall on Monday. Has this happened to any of you? do you have any advice on how to concore this? Sorry about the long post!

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

[AuburnWarrior]

Shanks - caused by poor weight distribution. Put more weight on your left side (presuming you're a right handed golfer) and strike confidently through the ball.

Oh - and make sure no-one stands to your right for a while..

Welcome..

 

[Redwood]

As Auburn said, normally when I shank it it is caused by poor weight distribution, mainly for me it seems when I have too much weight on my toes or the front of my feet.

I'm no expert but could it have been caused possibly by standing a tad too far away from the ball after hitting the driver?

 

[EaseNgrace]

As Auburn said, normally when I shank it it is caused by poor weight distribution, mainly for me it seems when I have too much weight on my toes or the front of my feet.

Exactly the same cause for me too, along with gripping too tightly.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Exactly the same for me. The weight goes forward in the swing so instead of the sweetspot coming back to the ball the hosel does.

 

[JustOne]

Different for me

 

[Redwood]

You're not part of this conversation, JustOne, with your weird Voodoo malarkey!!!

 

[slugger]

my shanks a few months back were caused by a lack of stability in the legs and also not turning my shoulders properly on the back swing. Make sure and get a shoulder turn in there... don't just swing the arms!

 

[viscount17]

you're trying too hard, maybe expecting too much? trying to get driver distance with an iron?
check your set-up as above, relax and swing free

and yes, it happens to me (just not quite so badly).

 

[Oddsocks]

I find mine are often cause by my left leg being turned slightly to far out, on the down swing the leg then naturally moved into the ball (weight shift) and bang, road train to shanksville.

alot of mine is caused through damaged ACL/PCL ligaments in the knee, but ive been advised weight movement through incorrect leading leg (right for lefties) is the most common issue.

As also posted in this i find mine is when i really try and force a shot, instead of working on clean contact & good tempo, i sometime try raw sheer brute power, shift my weight and another prov1 bites the dust!

 

[caslad81]

Thanks very much for the reply's. I went again last night to see if it was just an off day, but no such luck.

2 buckets of balls and 180 straight right push slices and shanks. I know as soon as I take a backswing I am not going to get the face of the club on the ball properly.

I checked my stance, ball position, aim and swing plane in the mirror to no avail, nothing looked different but nothing felt right. I just don’t get that feeling that I had before that I was going to make good contact with the sweet spot even with the short irons.

How can I go from hitting the ball so well and improving noticeably every week to not even been able to hit a PW 20 yards?? All because I tried my driver for 10 shots!!

Anyway I have managed to get a lesson tomorrow to try and fix it before Monday's game, which I have been looking forward to for ages. Could it be in the mind? Rant Over!

Thanks again for the help!

Mark

 

[Oddsocks]

Sounds like a lesson time. for the cost of £30 you could spend 50 quid in range balls and work the problem deeper into your swing.

Im sure i read somewhere that a swing is based on muscle memory (or something along thoose lines) the more you play with this fault the more your body will assume its natural.

£30.00 problem idetified, £10 in balls after the lesson, problem gone!

 

[forefortheday]

Try hitting a few at the range with your toes on the mat but the middle part of your foot off the mat.

If it's your weight going towards the ball that should help (did with me anyway)

 

[19th]

One of the things you can check is hitting with your hands - not waiting for the clubhead to come in. The timing required for this is something we do so naturally that we never stop to congratulate ourselves but when it goes, look out!!

If the hands are ahead of the ball, clubface still open, shank(ish) result - annoyance - in faster with the hands, worse result, more frusteration, in faster....etc!!

Concentrate on the club HEAD hitting the ball, watching the ball position even when it is half way to the hole and start by only hitting with half power, to stop this 'I'll show you' hand action but do not decelerate into the shot.

Saturday was a normal golfing round for me. Lost six strokes in the first part of the round. Drive to position a- nine iron to green, hit with hands, ball into crap, two shots later onto green. Hole two same and so on. By hole seven calmed down and realise I don't have to knock the cover off the ball to get the required result.. hey presto, golf scoring back on track!

Give it a try, may work for you, it does for me - but only when it is too late for scoring!!

 

[JustOne]

When you shank the clubhead is arriving at the ball further away from you than it started, so the ball then hits the hosel. This often happens when you start with your hands too close to your thighs, they basically move away from your legs slightly on the way down and you shank it.

Make sure that your hands START 4 or 5 inches away from your thighs before you swing, then there'll be plenty of space to swing the club through properly.

Hope that helps.

 

[CrapHacker]

Forget about shanking it.

Just practise getting into your proper setup position - which you know you can do.

Check your grip - which you know is decent.

Then take some slow half swings with a 6 iron.

Once you have your feel back, slowly increase your swing power and length back up to a full swing.

Worrying about what you DON'T want to do is only more likely to make it happen.

Simples

Sigmund CrapHacker.

PS

If you start concentrating on weight shift and balance and all that stuff too much, try the baseball drill.

Baseball Drill

 

[Spartacus]

I would bet my house that your sh@nk is coming from a lack of club head release.

Try this to help overcome this destructive shot.

Take your wedge and grip it lightly with just your right hand. Grip it half way down the grip.

Now keeping your right arm straight but very relaxed, use your shoulders to turn the club back but do not hinge your wrist until the club head momentum of moving backwards allows it. Once you feel the wrist hinge, hold it and complete your shoulder turn.

The next part of the drill is to turn back towards the target and wait for the feeling of the club head wanting to release naturally before you un-hinge your wrists.

The idea of this drill is to have a very loose feeling of setting and un-setting the wrists naturally by using the weight of the club.

When you come to actually placing 2 hands on the club to play a shot, use your left hand to just sit lightly on the shaft and still maintain the feeling of the right hand being dominant on the club. Do not allow the left hand to have any influence during the swing.

I guarantee it that if you follow this drill, your sh@nks will disappear.

 

[Split_Fairway]

i used to get a lot of shanks as well. for me this was caused by standing too close to the ball at address. to find if you are standing the correct distance from the ball take your address position take your right hand off the club and see if you can swing it between the butt of your club and your leg without it touching either one.

 

[caslad81]

Hi all,

I thought Id report back on how things went. Anyway the past weekend went well shot an 86 and a 84 I managed to get the swing back, everything felt good all shots coming off the sweet spot with a 2-5 yard draw. Then I went yesterday 186!and today 158! I cant understand what is going on? topped shots thin fat slices pushes hooks and even misses which had never happened to me! As it stands now I have
decided to jack it in, I cant deal with the frustration of practicing 10 hours a week and been consumed by this game, not to mention the cost. I am going away for a few days but cant see me changing my mind so I will have plenty of nearly new tackle which I will post on here if anyone is interested.

Thanks

Mark

 

[Region3]

That's not a typo is it?

86, 84, 186, and 158 ?

If it's really that bad, and you know you can play, a decent pro will spot the problem in a few minutes.

Your swing can't get that bad in a few days.