Shanks, do they ever disappear?

[Nels55]

I had some serious bouts of shanking years ago.  My eventual conclusion is that there is no cause or fix for them other then becoming more coordinated.  Once I learned that the shanks are no big deal and are simply caused by a shot pattern that is too close to the heel they no longer bothered me.  I still hit one occasionally same as pretty much every other golfer but I don't care. 

 

One thing that I have observed is that average golfers hit a lot more shanks then they realize.  For a right hander that shot that is short and right is very often a miss hit up on the heel that catches a bit of hosel.  When I see one or several of those from a playing partner almost invariably the next solid shot will be a big pull because the poor golfer believes that they left the face open on the shots that were actually shanked.  

[sprcoop]

20 hours ago, Nels55 said:

I had some serious bouts of shanking years ago.  My eventual conclusion is that there is no cause or fix for them other then becoming more coordinated.  Once I learned that the shanks are no big deal and are simply caused by a shot pattern that is too close to the heel they no longer bothered me.  I still hit one occasionally same as pretty much every other golfer but I don't care. 

 

One thing that I have observed is that average golfers hit a lot more shanks then they realize.  For a right hander that shot that is short and right is very often a miss hit up on the heel that catches a bit of hosel.  When I see one or several of those from a playing partner almost invariably the next solid shot will be a big pull because the poor golfer believes that they left the face open on the shots that were actually shanked.  

I call those mini shanks.  I had a bout of those early in my golf life.  Just like you said I was unaware of the cause thinking I was leaving the face open.  Finally figured it out when I saw the plastic build up on the hosel. 

 

Didn't end well and still dealing with the effects 35 years later.  This is why it's so important to be aware of where on the clubface you are striking the ball.

 

FOOT SPRAY!!!

[Barfolomew]

I'll do them on the range sometimes when hittin the 60 shortest easiest club lol.... I think its natural from softball playin days when I was used to hittin the barrel

 

Usually not focusing....

[Valtiel]

On 9/18/2021 at 9:36 AM, Buzzkill said:

My grip (both hands) has always been strong and I started using Furyk's right hand grip over a year ago, still draw the ball with my swing pattern.

 

 

 

By the way, although shanks supposedly come from shorter irons, I can/do hit some impressive 45 degree righters with my 4 iron too!

If your grip is extremely strong and you still draw the ball even with a double overlap grip then your natural swing likely has lots of clubface rotation, and a need for it for some reason or another. Easy to occasionally get lazy with getting the club all the way back to square and present the hosel. 

I like to imagine that DJ had a shank problem when he was a kid, learned that too much clubface rotation was causing it, and decided "ok, I just won't rotate the face then". 😆

[Lefty_3Jack]

On 9/17/2021 at 5:19 PM, GoTime said:

I shank the ball all the time and am currently slightly a + handicap. The key to getting rid of them is not giving a s*** that you have them to begin with.

 

Ian Poulter is known to cold shank pretty regularly, he's done pretty well for himself.

 

Good to hear this.  Currently a 3.5 and think sometimes, "you've got to be the only guy with this low of a handicap that fears hitting the neck multiple times a round."  It also tells me that they're never going away.

 

Currently hitting heel draws with the driver.  Didn't even think that was possible until last week.

[Markrobert1980]

Whenever I get the shanks my issue is lack of rotation, Mostly with wedges but if I rotate correctly the shanks never happen.

[jholz]

I can distinctly remember the first true shank I ever hit. It was on the 9th hole at Boomerang Links in Greeley, CO in roughly 2004. I'd been playing for roughly 24 years off and on by that point, and still hadn't hit a true shank on the course.

 

But, in this particular instance, I had an easy little sand wedge shot into he green from about 50 yards, with water down the right side. Isn't that the classic setup for a shank?

 

Well, as you can guess, the laziness of an "easy shot" combined with the anxiety of "water down the right" put me in the perfect mental state to hit a shank. And boy did I - directly into the pond on the right side of the fairway. Threw down another ball and did the same thing again. And then with a third. I was so pissed that I just quit the hole and walked to my car. I had no idea what was going on. 

 

It was probably about two months ago that I had a very similar shot into a green at my home course, except this was from severe downhill lie with the ball slightly above my feet on a random knob in the fairway. It was no less frustrating than the first one, surely, but the difference was that I knew what was happening. Instead of throwing down another ball or walking to my car, I simply chuckled, walked over to the ball and hit it again. That's about all you can do. 

 

It's clearly a shift in my thinking about the causes and effects of a bad golf shot. I had a weird lie and put a bad swing on the ball. That's what happened. It isn't a mystery - it's just golf. 

 

I think that switch in mentality, and the knowledge and experience which allowed it to occur, has had more positive impact on my game than any mechanical change I could ever make. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by jholz

[nitram]

Yep, at my daily wedge practice session this morning I hit four in a row with a gap wedge hitting a little 90 yard shot. It just confirms to me that I can (no disrespect to Mr. Nelson) stand too close to the damned ball.

[Hawkeye77]

Darn this thread. Was out playing with the wife this evening and my reliable 7 iron (now it's infected) let me down off the tee on a par 3.  From the sideline, still looking at her phone, "That really sounded funny."  Then as I'm driving down the hole - "No, it's way back there and farther right."  Yet, I can't live without her.