Shanking mid to long irons. Advice needed!

[Brett13]

Hey everyone, lately I have been shanking my mid to long irons. With my wedges through 8 iron, I have been making making solid consistent contact. However, 7iron-4 iron I hit it off if the hosel pretty much every time resulting in shots that go way off to the right. Even when I make decent contact with mid to long irons, the ball goes much shorter than usual and slices quite a bit. I had this issue a while back, and fixed it by setting up further from the ball, but this isn’t working anymore. I have attached an example.

 

 

Does anyone have any advice? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

[Brett13]

Here is another example.

[golfarb1]

There are two ways to shank 

Inside -out

outside -in 

You are shanking because of a small outside -in movement just before impact 

Before making suggestions let’s try the simple route -substituting a box for the clubhead cover . 

Setup an empty box as shown in the below still . In your case the ball should be a little closer to the box .Note that the box is slightly angled in/out. Hit balls with the box in place. At first you probably will hit the box . Don’t worry ; if you swing easy you will not hurt yourself

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by golfarb1

[Brett13]

1 hour ago, golfarb1 said:

There are two ways to shank 

Inside -out

outside -in 

You are shanking because of a small outside -in movement just before impact 

Before making suggestions let’s try the simple route -substituting a box for the clubhead cover . 

Setup an empty box as shown in the below still . In your case the ball should be a little closer to the box .Note that the box is slightly angled in/out. Hit balls with the box in place. At first you probably will hit the box . Don’t worry ; if you swing easy you will not hurt yourself

 

Thanks so much for the reply! I actually tried using a box yesterday and it didnt seem to help with my shanks. I’m glad to know the reason behind this though. Do you recommend any specific cues to think of to try to correct my outside in issue? It looks to me like my back elbow should be coming in closer to my body but I’m not sure. Thanks for the help!

[golfarb1]

Setup

toe of the club is off of the ground

upper arms should be almost vertical

 

you should have less hip bend 

to do this will mean that you should move closer to the ball

Impact 

Notice that your arms have disconnected from your torso , moving the clubhead and hosel closer to the ball and that your legs especially the left . are far too bent 

 

Try straightening  ONLY  your front leg  in early downswing and moving your trail elbow not ONLY down but ALSO towards the right front pocket of your shorts. 
If you get your trail elbow in a better position , it will be slightly bent , not straight at impact and your trail arm will be closer to your body and farther from the hosel

 

 

[rbpwrx]

There are some good things here. You lead with the lower body well, and you shallow the club nicely.

BUT.

1/ Your setup is very flat, and the club does not match that. So the toe is WAY up in the air. Looks like almost 5°! Practically impossible to hit a ball flush with that mismatch. If your swing feels natural that flat, then you need to get your heads bent flatter, or get fit for proper clubs.

AND.

2/ You are casting at it and slashing across the line before impact. That is fixable, but it is going to feel VERY different from what you are doing. Some suggestions for what to try:

- The pro drill: lead with the hands way past the body 1, 2, 3, 4 times, then swing on 5 (very old drill you can find on YouTube, been around for decades);

- The release shift: since you are hitting at it, just move that 'hit' about 3 ft PAST the ball. I.e. instead of releasing AT the ball, try releasing WAY AFTER you have already hit the ball. One way to do this is with SOUND - look for vids on the where to hear the 'swish' in your swing (i.e. way after impact);

- Trail elbow: from the top of the backswing, literally don't let yourself turn through UNTIL you FEEL the right elbow connecting to your ribs. Ideally even further left, toward your belly or even left thigh. But LET that trail elbow fall into contact with the body, and KEEP it there as you swing through. That'll fix a lot of problems with the hands and wrists;

- The Zatch: Try swinging the BUTT END of the club all the way to the target. Another way to prevent early release. Try to feel the fat end of the grip swinging all the way past your left ear toward the target. Try in slow mo - will feel VERY different;

- The right pinky: Since you are clearly right hand dominant, use that to your advantage, and lead with the right pinky *all the way through to finish.* That will keep from 'slamming' the right hand closed and hitting AT it before impact (which is the main cause of your shanks);

- The right palm: another way to use natural right hand dominance - feel that you are 'covering' the ball trough impact, palm toward the ground. That will keep the right fingers trailing behind, and lessen the tendency to 'slam' it.

- The straw bale drill: Since you have an aggressive, hit-y move, go with it: place a big heavy thing two or three feet *past* the ball (toward the target)(cardboard box, archery target, straw bale, big exercise ball, etc), and hit STRONG into that heavy thing. This will train you to put the hit/ release where it's effective - AFTER impact. It'll keep the lead arm leading. Basically a sideways wood-chopping move.

- Eyes on the divot. Another option: don't look at the ball. Look at the ground a foot or two PAST the ball. Try to swing through THAT. 

Lots of other drills/ tricks to try. But basically you have to move that release/hit from *before* impact to *after* the ball. It's a huge difference. See what works for you. Use what you naturally do, just put it where it's effective. AFTER the ball. Shanks-be-gone.

Edited May 17, 2022 by rbpwrx

[Brett13]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:57 AM, rbpwrx said:

There are some good things here. You lead with the lower body well, and you shallow the club nicely.

BUT.

1/ Your setup is very flat, and the club does not match that. So the toe is WAY up in the air. Looks like almost 5°! Practically impossible to hit a ball flush with that mismatch. If your swing feels natural that flat, then you need to get your heads bent flatter, or get fit for proper clubs.

AND.

2/ You are casting at it and slashing across the line before impact. That is fixable, but it is going to feel VERY different from what you are doing. Some suggestions for what to try:

- The pro drill: lead with the hands way past the body 1, 2, 3, 4 times, then swing on 5 (very old drill you can find on YouTube, been around for decades);

- The release shift: since you are hitting at it, just move that 'hit' about 3 ft PAST the ball. I.e. instead of releasing AT the ball, try releasing WAY AFTER you have already hit the ball. One way to do this is with SOUND - look for vids on the where to hear the 'swish' in your swing (i.e. way after impact);

- Trail elbow: from the top of the backswing, literally don't let yourself turn through UNTIL you FEEL the right elbow connecting to your ribs. Ideally even further left, toward your belly or even left thigh. But LET that trail elbow fall into contact with the body, and KEEP it there as you swing through. That'll fix a lot of problems with the hands and wrists;

- The Zatch: Try swinging the BUTT END of the club all the way to the target. Another way to prevent early release. Try to feel the fat end of the grip swinging all the way past your left ear toward the target. Try in slow mo - will feel VERY different;

- The right pinky: Since you are clearly right hand dominant, use that to your advantage, and lead with the right pinky *all the way through to finish.* That will keep from 'slamming' the right hand closed and hitting AT it before impact (which is the main cause of your shanks);

- The right palm: another way to use natural right hand dominance - feel that you are 'covering' the ball trough impact, palm toward the ground. That will keep the right fingers trailing behind, and lessen the tendency to 'slam' it.

- The straw bale drill: Since you have an aggressive, hit-y move, go with it: place a big heavy thing two or three feet *past* the ball (toward the target)(cardboard box, archery target, straw bale, big exercise ball, etc), and hit STRONG into that heavy thing. This will train you to put the hit/ release where it's effective - AFTER impact. It'll keep the lead arm leading. Basically a sideways wood-chopping move.

- Eyes on the divot. Another option: don't look at the ball. Look at the ground a foot or two PAST the ball. Try to swing through THAT. 

Lots of other drills/ tricks to try. But basically you have to move that release/hit from *before* impact to *after* the ball. It's a huge difference. See what works for you. Use what you naturally do, just put it where it's effective. AFTER the ball. Shanks-be-gone.

I just saw this reply, but thank you so much for ur advice! I haven’t been able to try these drills yet since I just saw it, but I have been working more on an inside out swing path and trying to shallow the club more to try to fix my shanks. It has helped a little, but still shanking pretty bad as well as hitting well behind the ball causing fat and hooked shots. Here is video from today, do you recommend the same drills that you have stated previously or has my swing changed too much? 

[Brett13]

And here is a video of an iron where I am chunking and hooking it. So frustrating! However, there has been a bit more success with me trying to have a more inside out swing. Just not anywhere where it needs to be!

[rbpwrx]

On 5/24/2022 at 7:15 PM, Brett13 said:

I just saw this reply, but thank you so much for ur advice! I haven’t been able to try these drills yet since I just saw it, but I have been working more on an inside out swing path and trying to shallow the club more to try to fix my shanks. It has helped a little, but still shanking pretty bad as well as hitting well behind the ball causing fat and hooked shots. Here is video from today, do you recommend the same drills that you have stated previously or has my swing changed too much? 

Yes. I still recommend all those drills. Anything to get your release past the ball.

 

Right now everything is fine in the backswing. But you are hitting at the ball rather than swinging through it.
 

It's that early release that is getting you into the ground before the ball.

 

One more thing you can try:

 

Get rid of the ball. Make some swings and notice on the mat where your actual 'divot' starts and ends. Just take natural swings.

 

Notice where your feet are, notice where the club hits the ground, noticed the length of your "divot."

 

now without changing anything in your foot position or swing, place the ball where your "divot" begins.

Then take the exact same swing.

 

I'm guessing your ball position will move backward three or 4 inches.

Try to ignore the goddamn ball. Just trust that your swing is going to intersect with it, and take a free Full swing.

 

Watch video of some pros. They are often looking at point a foot or two past the ball. They're not trying to hit the ball. They are trying to swing through that point.

 

Ironically if you are trying to hit the ball you will duff it. If you are trying to swing through, you will flush it.