My name is Mike..........................

[Hallsy]

...................and im suffering the shanks . Went to the range last night for a practice after work. Traffic was good and got to the club early and thought it would be better to have an hour on the course instead. First three holes to par and all good. On the fourth had a good tee shot leaving me my 52 degree wedge and bang, shanked it out right, not just the once but 3 times. I then proceeded to shank every shot with my 9 iron down . Normally they are my confidence clubs, i could chip and run lob with confidence but not last night. Went on the range after and from my 7 iron up im fine but from 8 iron which i hit half good half shank down its not good. Ive never really suffered with it before and have hit the ball sweeter recently than i have for a long time so will have to look up some drills for the weekend or hope its just a 24hour thing

 

[Scrindle]

What is a shank?

(Forgive my ignorance)

 

[CirenBhoy]

I've started ready Dr Bob Rotella's "The Unstoppable Golfer" which is all about confidence in your short-game. Therefore I'm going to suggest that this is 90% in your head and that after hitting 1 shank yesterday your brain talked you into the rest. Have confidence in your technique, know that you can play the shot.

Failing that whenever I've shanked one its been due to not "swinging" the club , being too tense and releasing through the ball.

Having just started reading this book its interesting how much we all focus on our bad shots. You just have to look through the posts put on this and other forums. Maybe we should celebrate our good shots/holes/scores instead.

 

[Foxholer]

Shanks on the range with the short irons are not all that uncommon in my experience, but unless there really is a problem, hardly ever transfer to the course.

I've had range sessions where exactly what you experienced has happened, and I've only had 2 or 3 shanks on the course in the past 2 years!

I put it down to the mats!

If, however, you start doing it (on the range) with the mid-irons, it's time to see a Pro!

 

[londonlewis]

Take two weeks off from the game. Then give it up altogether.

Just kidding. I agree with the above - Trust your technique, forget about hitting the shank and work on it at the range. You will be swinging free without shanking the ball in no time.

I was at Westerham at the weekend and some chap hit an almighty shank on the hole adjacent to mine, so much so that it rolled straight passed me. He laughed it off before producing a fantastic stroke that cleared the trees and finished with a chip and a putt of the hole. It happens to everyone, once in a while.

 

[hackandburn]

Hi Mike - I've suffered the shanks many many times over the years so you have my total sympathy!! I agree with the comments earlier in that most cases it's a confidence thing but in my case I have a definite swing fault.

We're always taught to hit the ball slightly from the inside which is good advice but in my case I went too far and as a result was coming at the ball too much from the inside so basically with the hosel first which resulted in the dreaded shank.

So now when I do hit the odd one (more likely at the range than on the course) I know what caused it and find it quite easy to correct so it doesn't rattle me too much.

The fault I've described above tends to (but not always) affect lower handicap players (I'm off 6) and generally means you're actually not far away from a good shot although this doesn't help when you see your ball flying off at right angles into the cabbage!!

Hope this helps!!

 

[Hallsy]

Thanks for the replies. Its never happened before so tomorrows round will be interesting.

 

[kid2]

That's a great name that is.. ..:thup:

Must be something to do with the name because I spent 6 months with them.... Only recently they took off.......... Don't even let the thought of them inside your head tomorrow pal and go out and tear the course up..... Not much help I know but there's so many things that can cause them its better to forget you even had them.....

 

[SocketRocket]

The first place I would check is the take away. make sure you are not pulling the club back too far inside (behind you) this can make you start down by throwing the club outside the ball and creating these horrible shermans.

A good drill at the range is to put a long rubber tee in the matt. Place the ball around two inches inside the tee and then work on hitting the ball and missing the tee. If you are getting outside you will get feedback as the clubface strikes the tee.

A good swing thought when practicing this is to hit the ball more off the toe of the club.

 

[JustOne]

What is a shank?

(Forgive my ignorance)

My favourite EVER post

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Try to deliberately hit one.......more or less impossible.

 

[Hallsy]

Well only played 9 holes today but no sign of the shanks at all, and a +4 for the nine to boot so happy with that :thup: