Wow Paul . . . You must have psychic powers. I went to the site this morning to search out the shanking fixes and this brand new daily tip was already right in front of me. I hadn’t had much of an issue with this awful shot for some time, but it showed up three times yesterday while playing. Two were back to back which is quite embarrassing. Two were with a UW anr the other with a SW. My fear of when another woud show up was with me after the very first one. (I had shanked a few SW pitch and longer chip shots in my practice session the day before, so the seed was planted then I guess. Your tip makes a whole lot of sense & I think I was doing exactly what you described. Wish I could have figured it out myself while playing, but my brain was pretty much scrambled after shank #2 and I was glad to be finished when the round was over. I did receive a couple of well meaning tips yesterday, but I don’t get caught up in that anymore
Thanks again . . . I will get it fixed now that I have the info I needed.
Well, I totally agree with the concept, i.e., weight to far forward in set up can result in shank but that is not the only way to achieve same. How do I know this you ask? I can safely say that I, as our local “shankapotomus”, have Paul Wilson beat at this shot. Specifically, a shank can also be achieved by overrotation from the top i.e., over the top AND too strong a right hand grip. JUst wanted to point this out because this awful, uglyist shot in golf can be achieved a number of ways and one fix is not all inclusive.
Right, but as you did this uncoil with your shoulders I bet the weight was on your toes. I say this because you would have been way over the top which would have you on your toes it the downswing. You have been a follower for quite some time. I truly hope you have not been doing this type of swing recently.
Paul, old crap creeps into my swing all the time depending upon the situation. It is difficult, no, I would say almost impossible to prevent it from happening for me and I’ll bet just about everybody else who has played for years previously. I recall your comment in the video with the long ball hitter, you were “all over the place” when playing a round with him. So if it can happen to you, a professional who does this for a living, it can happen to us hackers as well. That said, I’m beating balls all the time trying to achieve the correct positions every day!
Are you doing nightly practice swing working on positions? The whole idea is for you to build a great swing. If you legs are always touching they would be doing the same thing. Club parallel to ears. Same thing. Coil. same thing. Hinge wrists. Same thing. Those are the 4 things you need to master. If you are doing the same thing you would get the same result. So no matter if there is a ball there or not you should be thinking of this ending point. All you do is practice swings at home every night. Over and over until you have them mastered. At the range you are doing 3 practice swings (hitting the positions) then hitting 1 ball. Make the positions more important than the ball and you will get it.
Well put me down for one of the rare few that for the first time in a long time I hit a couple of severe hosel rockets when I played with my dad last week .. and i mean directly left at about a 75 degree angle worm burner about 20 yards…
on more than one tee “with my DRIVER ” once on a par five with a nice big open fairway in front of me … lol .. used my 3 wood and moved the ball forward about 220 yd…
check list
> upright stance see club and ball clearly and not toes
> left shoulder rotating more parallel into coil
If you are doing this with driver you are not shanking it. There is no hosel on a driver so you cannot shank a driver. If it was going way left or right you are looking up severely. In doing so the club is coming off the ground. This causes the tow or back of the heel to hit a round object forcing it way right or left.
You did say this way on the tee of a par 5. I guarantee you are swinging too hard and hooking up. Slow down. Loosen up the arms. The harder you hit, the more you will look to see what you hit. This is human nature.
Back on the course after many months, extremely long and difficult winter this year in Canada. Hitting the ball off the heel, my old nemesis, is back. I suspect it is partly bending over, getting my weight beyond my toe-line and partly failing to turn ‘in a cylinder’ leading to lateral movement in the downswing, thus over flattening the swing plane and resulting in a path that is too far inside.
Anything else I should look at to potentially fix this?
This is just hitting with arms. It sends it over the top and you hit the heel. Do some roll overs and hit hooks to get the wrists loosened then focus on body rotation to straighten it out and turn off the arms. Simple. When you are off for the winter you need to be doing 25 practice swings at least 3 times per week to stay used to the swing. Then you will start the season as you ended it. This means you can take it to a whole new level each year.
Had some good results yesterday focusing on turning as my first motion in the backswing as opposed to a lateral move back, which was resulting in my major slide.
Hi Paul, thanks for the tip!. Have played beautifully lately but in my last practice session on sunday, when I was trying to fix (at least work on) my flat swing (trying to get it more upright), I started to shank every single shot with my short irons. I even shanked it with my 7 iron! Hit more than 60 and I got desperate and left. I can wait to go tomorrow to try a more upright position.
Paul: Great Tip! Thanks! I’m very tall at 6’10” and my clubs are 2″ longer than standard. I constantly struggle with shanks on my wedges, sometimes 5-10 per round. I have to stand close to the ball with my height and I definitely bend over to get to the ball. Any other advice for my situation? Wider stance? More knee bend? More shoulder turn in backswing? Thanks!
Greg Hill
Sounds like its a posture problem. People that shank it tend to be too bent over. Make sure that your posture is taller. Watch this video:
Sit On The Edge Of A Bar Stool To Set Up: https://ignitiongolf.com/setup-edge-of-bar-stool/
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16 Responses to “Why You Shank It”
April 27, 2016
RYDGJRWow Paul . . . You must have psychic powers. I went to the site this morning to search out the shanking fixes and this brand new daily tip was already right in front of me. I hadn’t had much of an issue with this awful shot for some time, but it showed up three times yesterday while playing. Two were back to back which is quite embarrassing. Two were with a UW anr the other with a SW. My fear of when another woud show up was with me after the very first one. (I had shanked a few SW pitch and longer chip shots in my practice session the day before, so the seed was planted then I guess. Your tip makes a whole lot of sense & I think I was doing exactly what you described. Wish I could have figured it out myself while playing, but my brain was pretty much scrambled after shank #2 and I was glad to be finished when the round was over. I did receive a couple of well meaning tips yesterday, but I don’t get caught up in that anymore
Thanks again . . . I will get it fixed now that I have the info I needed.
April 28, 2016
Paul WilsonGary,
Very good timing. Just follow the steps and you will never shank it again.
April 27, 2016
KenPerezWell, I totally agree with the concept, i.e., weight to far forward in set up can result in shank but that is not the only way to achieve same. How do I know this you ask? I can safely say that I, as our local “shankapotomus”, have Paul Wilson beat at this shot. Specifically, a shank can also be achieved by overrotation from the top i.e., over the top AND too strong a right hand grip. JUst wanted to point this out because this awful, uglyist shot in golf can be achieved a number of ways and one fix is not all inclusive.
Later, Ken
April 28, 2016
Paul WilsonKen,
Right, but as you did this uncoil with your shoulders I bet the weight was on your toes. I say this because you would have been way over the top which would have you on your toes it the downswing. You have been a follower for quite some time. I truly hope you have not been doing this type of swing recently.
April 28, 2016
KenPerezPaul, old crap creeps into my swing all the time depending upon the situation. It is difficult, no, I would say almost impossible to prevent it from happening for me and I’ll bet just about everybody else who has played for years previously. I recall your comment in the video with the long ball hitter, you were “all over the place” when playing a round with him. So if it can happen to you, a professional who does this for a living, it can happen to us hackers as well. That said, I’m beating balls all the time trying to achieve the correct positions every day!
April 29, 2016
Paul WilsonKen,
Are you doing nightly practice swing working on positions? The whole idea is for you to build a great swing. If you legs are always touching they would be doing the same thing. Club parallel to ears. Same thing. Coil. same thing. Hinge wrists. Same thing. Those are the 4 things you need to master. If you are doing the same thing you would get the same result. So no matter if there is a ball there or not you should be thinking of this ending point. All you do is practice swings at home every night. Over and over until you have them mastered. At the range you are doing 3 practice swings (hitting the positions) then hitting 1 ball. Make the positions more important than the ball and you will get it.
July 23, 2016
Brian AnthonyRaskHey Paul,
Well put me down for one of the rare few that for the first time in a long time I hit a couple of severe hosel rockets when I played with my dad last week .. and i mean directly left at about a 75 degree angle worm burner about 20 yards…
on more than one tee “with my DRIVER ” once on a par five with a nice big open fairway in front of me … lol .. used my 3 wood and moved the ball forward about 220 yd…
check list
> upright stance see club and ball clearly and not toes
> left shoulder rotating more parallel into coil
.. anything to add?
cheers,
IronBrian
July 24, 2016
Paul WilsonBrian,
If you are doing this with driver you are not shanking it. There is no hosel on a driver so you cannot shank a driver. If it was going way left or right you are looking up severely. In doing so the club is coming off the ground. This causes the tow or back of the heel to hit a round object forcing it way right or left.
You did say this way on the tee of a par 5. I guarantee you are swinging too hard and hooking up. Slow down. Loosen up the arms. The harder you hit, the more you will look to see what you hit. This is human nature.
Topping: https://ignitiongolf.com/stop-topping-golf-ball/
Stop Topping Your Fairway Woods: https://ignitiongolf.com/stop-topping-fairway-woods/
Topping: Watch for the Blur: https://ignitiongolf.com/watch-for-the-blur/
Spine Angle Follow Through: https://ignitiongolf.com/follow-through-eyes-tilted/
Good Habits Series – Topping or Thin Shots: https://ignitiongolf.com/good-habits-topping/
Look For This Clue: https://ignitiongolf.com/thin-topped-clues/
May 19, 2019
StevenFarberHey Paul,
Back on the course after many months, extremely long and difficult winter this year in Canada. Hitting the ball off the heel, my old nemesis, is back. I suspect it is partly bending over, getting my weight beyond my toe-line and partly failing to turn ‘in a cylinder’ leading to lateral movement in the downswing, thus over flattening the swing plane and resulting in a path that is too far inside.
Anything else I should look at to potentially fix this?
Cheers,
Steve
May 20, 2019
Paul WilsonSteven,
This is just hitting with arms. It sends it over the top and you hit the heel. Do some roll overs and hit hooks to get the wrists loosened then focus on body rotation to straighten it out and turn off the arms. Simple. When you are off for the winter you need to be doing 25 practice swings at least 3 times per week to stay used to the swing. Then you will start the season as you ended it. This means you can take it to a whole new level each year.
May 20, 2019
StevenFarberHad some good results yesterday focusing on turning as my first motion in the backswing as opposed to a lateral move back, which was resulting in my major slide.
Hopefully this is the last of this problem
May 20, 2019
Paul WilsonSteven,
Hope so. That slide is definitely not good. TURN knowing you will shift.
December 2, 2019
JoseCarcellerHi Paul, thanks for the tip!. Have played beautifully lately but in my last practice session on sunday, when I was trying to fix (at least work on) my flat swing (trying to get it more upright), I started to shank every single shot with my short irons. I even shanked it with my 7 iron! Hit more than 60 and I got desperate and left. I can wait to go tomorrow to try a more upright position.
Thank you very much! Greetings from spain
December 4, 2019
Paul WilsonJose,
Great. I don’t like too flat.
Also, watch these:
Why You Shank It: https://ignitiongolf.com/why-you-shank-it/
How To Cure the Shanks: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-shanks/
May 20, 2020
GregHillPaul: Great Tip! Thanks! I’m very tall at 6’10” and my clubs are 2″ longer than standard. I constantly struggle with shanks on my wedges, sometimes 5-10 per round. I have to stand close to the ball with my height and I definitely bend over to get to the ball. Any other advice for my situation? Wider stance? More knee bend? More shoulder turn in backswing? Thanks!
Greg Hill
May 20, 2020
Paul WilsonSounds like its a posture problem. People that shank it tend to be too bent over. Make sure that your posture is taller. Watch this video:
Sit On The Edge Of A Bar Stool To Set Up: https://ignitiongolf.com/setup-edge-of-bar-stool/
Taller Setup: https://ignitiongolf.com/bartender-setup/
Stand Tall with Short Clubs: https://ignitiongolf.com/stand-tall-short-clubs/