Got
Shank?
Without
question, the worst shot in golf is the shank or dreaded hosel
fade. This shot occurs when the club swings too much out in
front of you at impact. When the club swings too far out in
front you, it will contact the ball in the heel or hosel of
the club-head. I think for those players that have had this
occur, the hardest shot in the game, is the one right after
a shanked shot.
The funny thing about this mistake is that most people think
the shank comes from the club-face being too open at impact
or that they are standing too close to the ball. I do believe
that standing too close to the ball at address could cause
the problem. However, in most cases a player that shanks it
will get too far from it at address in an effort not to hit
the hosel or heel of the club.
Correct swing
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Over
my years of watching many swings, I think there are 2 common
errors in hitting a shanked shot. 'The first is in swinging
the club too far around the body on the backswing and too
far out to the ball at impact.
Pictured
below, the club is too far around the body.
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The
2nd most common cause is spine movement towards the ball,
either on the backswing or on the downswing. Meaning that
the body leans in to the ball and the arms, hands, and club
move out to the ball at impact. Truthfully speaking in the
worst cases, it is a combination of both problems.
Here the spine angle has lowered toward the ball (from the
original angle shown above left), and the ball is coming
off the hosel.
First, how to fix the spine. Take a small pillow at the
house and rest your forehead against the pillow and place
the pillow against a wall. Get in a proper golf posture
without a club. Practice swinging your arms and rotating
the torso back and through without pushing the pillow into
the wall. The idea is to feel level in the rotation with
no up and down movement. When hitting golf balls try to
keep your head up and the spine rotating level and not up
and down. Remember, you really don't want to keep your head
dead still in the swing, but it can't move up and down and
be successful.
Second, how to fix the arms and club swinging too far around
the body on the backswing. Practice hitting 3/4 shots with
a short iron or wedge. At the 3/4 position on the backswing
get a 3/4 rotation of the torso, a 3/4 wrist hinge, and
a 3/4 position of the arms so that the left arm is parallel
to the ground. When the left arm is parallel to the ground
make it feel parallel to the target line. Hit balls trying
to not allow the arms or club to swing around too far in
the backswing at this 3/4 position. Practice off a tee with
two other tees used as a gate to swing through. If you find
that your hitting the outside tee, try to hit the inside
tee and see what happens.
Great golf, Neil
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