I need help... real issues with the shanks

[Lump]

For the best part of this season I have really really struggled with the shanks. I have always hit very close to the hosel but this season it's been a nightmare.
I honestly don't think I've got a shonky swing but I have a real issues keeping my hands close to my body on the downswing. What do the experts think?
Please be a cruel as possible, I've got a lesson on saturday and I'd like to be prepared for what he may have me doing.

Down the line:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_v36ab-_bQ (This shot is the reaction to my shank, a big pull draw/hook)

Face on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxr24I76UOA (I actually hit a shank in this video)

My shanks still get good height and distance but go wwwaaaayyyy right.

 

[macca64]

when i was shanking thru having lessons,it was me coming over the top,he said when i did it i was'nt hitting it from the inside,don't know if this helps. Face on ,wish i could see it in slow ,not sure if your hands were turnig over,

 

[CMAC]

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?47347-Where-does-the-shank-come-from

 

[JustOne]

This shot is the reaction to my shank, a big pull draw/hook

What is it you 'feel' you are doing differently to hit that shot?

 

[Lump]

What is it you 'feel' you are doing differently to hit that shot?

I can hit the high fade without a huge fear of shanking. I think the pull hook comes from subconsciously knowing thats my bail out shot. I feel like I'm leaving the club face well open to achieve the "safe" high fade.

 

[Dodger]

Look just follow this and you'll be cured in seconds.

Address the ball with your club past the ball so the back of the hosel is on the far side of your ball as you look at it at address and simply swing away.

You will not shank,keep working on it by doing this and you'll soon be able to go back to addressing the ball normally instead of looking like a knob.:smirk:

 

[SocketRocket]

Your golf swing looks very good. The only small issue I can see is a bit of early extension that pushes your right hip forward in the downswing and this will tend to get the club further away from you creating a Sherman. keeping your tooch line in contact with an imaginary wall behind you may help but I would suggest a drill when at the range. Place the ball an inch inside the rubber tee in the mat and hit the ball without touching the tee. Placing one of those green ball baskets a foot behind and a few inches inside the ball line will also help you to swing from the inside.

 

[JustOne]

If I didn't know better I'd say they were 2 different golfers in the same clothes

..and really I should walk away from this post... still, here we go....

The DTL strike is a beauty - is that an 8-iron? - a little low inside with the clubhead on the takeaway, good shoulder turn, head stays pretty still, looks like you come into the ball pretty straight but the clubface a touch closed hence the ball starts a little left. Not the best takeaway action, but not the worst.

The guy who shanked it looks like he's lucky to hit the ball at all....

Looks like his shoulders are closed (aiming right), the right shoulder is very low and subsequently the shoulders turn quite flat (throwing the club out more?). His weight seems to be very much on the right side, even his eyes appear to be looking behind the ball. The ball looks just forward of center yet his hands are centered, both feet are very square and almost looks a little 'knock knee'd.

Then the head moves around ....quite a bit [click picture to enlarge or right click and 'open in new window']



At impact you can see 2 white posts over his right shoulder and an entire brown wall, his head has moved forward by 4 inches, and DOWN by 4 inches .....hard to hit a ball consistently when you do that. I'd even (possibly) say that if you compress that much then you HAVE TO swing out more else you'll dig the club into the ground. I'd certainly say it would be harder to control the club head precisely especially as you say you're already prone to hitting out of the heel of the club.

Personally I'd focus on the shoulder turn, if your swinging too flat then the club will swing away (out) from you.

I'd probably try putting a head cover under your right armpit and keeping it there for the entire swing, or under the left.... or both!! You look very lose and there's a lot of movement in that 'shank' swing.

 

[bobmac]

I see this



Look at the difference between your left hand and Luke's....yours has rolled which drags the club way back inside.
Luke's left hand is still almost pointing down towards the ball meaning the club goes back much more square with the clubface parallel to his upper body, following his right forearm line.
Try to swing back a bit straighter, keeping the toe of the club down, maintaining the angle Luke has with the yellow line.

 

[Foxholer]

On your shank swing, you stepped forward after the swing. Was that just a reaction to the strike or was it because of a balance issue. Falling forward, onto the toes, on the downswing can certainly generate shanks!

BTW. I suggest you worry less about the 'arms close to the body' - unless that is a symptom of a fault. Bob's example - Luke - actually does a pretty good job of swinging with his hands quite a long way away from his body!

 

[Twire]

Look just follow this and you'll be cured in seconds.

Address the ball with your club past the ball so the back of the hosel is on the far side of your ball as you look at it at address and simply swing away.

You will not shank,keep working on it by doing this and you'll soon be able to go back to addressing the ball normally instead of looking like a knob.:smirk:

^^^^ This will cure them ^^^^

Out on the course I address the ball with the heel of my club (irons only). At the driving range a drill if your brave enough is to put 2 balls down, one about 3 inches outside the other, address the outside ball and then hit the inside one.

 

[Dodger]

Cut the pish and do it the Dodger way.

It will cure you.

 

[Lump]

Cut the pish and do it the Dodger way.

It will cure you.

Do you still address the same distance away but stretch the arms or stand closer to adjust for the few inch difference??


I thought bobs tip had sorted me today, I went 17 holes without a shank until I had to nail a wedge to keep a team match going....ended up full on shanking it into the tree's.
Couldn't have the lesson, will have to wait till next weekend.

 

[Kellfire]

I have a very simple drill which focuses what I'm doing so I avoid the dreaded shank.

Set up with your ball sitting just inside one of the plastic tees, just enough that a middled iron strike won't strike the tee.

It gives me the feeling of staying compact and swinging around myself rather than letting my arms drift out and cause a shank.

 

[Lump]

I have a very simple drill which focuses what I'm doing so I avoid the dreaded shank.

Set up with your ball sitting just inside one of the plastic tees, just enough that a middled iron strike won't strike the tee.

It gives me the feeling of staying compact and swinging around myself rather than letting my arms drift out and cause a shank.

My problem is I don't feel where my shank comes from and the rounds (or should I say holes) that I don't shank on I hit the ball where I want.
Example being today, after the shank on the 17th. I smashed my drive on the 18th leaving a 135yrd shot to the green. I had to birdie the hole to draw the team comp and win the side bet. With all the guys watching at the side of the 18th and the 3 guys on the fairway I nailed an iron to 2ft. WTF, I had a 75yrd pitch the hole before and gave it the full hosel treatment, yet a pressure 8 iron to a tight front pin gets dispatched as if it was nothing. Thats what annoys me, its not a consistent issue but enough to unnerve me.

 

[Dodger]

Do you still address the same distance away but stretch the arms or stand closer to adjust for the few inch difference??


I thought bobs tip had sorted me today, I went 17 holes without a shank until I had to nail a wedge to keep a team match going....ended up full on shanking it into the tree's.
Couldn't have the lesson, will have to wait till next weekend.

adjust distance.

Try it,money back guarantee.

 

[Kellfire]

My problem is I don't feel where my shank comes from and the rounds (or should I say holes) that I don't shank on I hit the ball where I want.
Example being today, after the shank on the 17th. I smashed my drive on the 18th leaving a 135yrd shot to the green. I had to birdie the hole to draw the team comp and win the side bet. With all the guys watching at the side of the 18th and the 3 guys on the fairway I nailed an iron to 2ft. WTF, I had a 75yrd pitch the hole before and gave it the full hosel treatment, yet a pressure 8 iron to a tight front pin gets dispatched as if it was nothing. Thats what annoys me, its not a consistent issue but enough to unnerve me.

To my untrained mind that would suggest that you're always quite close to the hosel so the good shots come off that hot spot on the face very nicely, but a fraction out and you're in shank territory. That's exactly what I was doing.

My pro put tape on my irons and told me to address out the middle and strike with the toe. Even when actively trying to do that, it was middle or towards the heel. It really showed me how much I was losing the club away from my body. Try that, see where you're really hitting the ball from.

 

[SocketRocket]

To my untrained mind that would suggest that you're always quite close to the hosel so the good shots come off that hot spot on the face very nicely, but a fraction out and you're in shank territory. That's exactly what I was doing.

My pro put tape on my irons and told me to address out the middle and strike with the toe. Even when actively trying to do that, it was middle or towards the heel. It really showed me how much I was losing the club away from my body. Try that, see where you're really hitting the ball from.

Trying to hit out of the toe is a good swing thought for a Shermanite

 

[CMAC]

Maybe this will help

[video=youtube_share;Tiz0zaysGMw]http://youtu.be/Tiz0zaysGMw[/video]
http://youtu.be/Tiz0zaysGMw

 

[deanobillquay]

Look just follow this and you'll be cured in seconds.

Address the ball with your club past the ball so the back of the hosel is on the far side of your ball as you look at it at address and simply swing away.

You will not shank,keep working on it by doing this and you'll soon be able to go back to addressing the ball normally instead of looking like a knob.:smirk:

This is a good tip, it works for me.