My Name
John Brott
My Experience
PGA Member - 1982
1996 Senior PGA Club Professional Champion
Technical Editor - Golf for Dummies
Volunteer - www.allexperts.com
My Web Site(s)
How my tip will help:
You'll learn the causes of the shanks, and how to setup in a position that will help eliminate your shanks.
Here's my tip:
Many golfers shank the ball from time to time while some, you could say, are afflicted with the shot.
The majority of shanks happen when the ball comes in contact with the hosel of the club (the point at which the clubface and shaft meet). There are three causes to this phenomenon. The three causes are interrelated and can be present individually or in combination:
- 1. Standing Too Close to the Ball. The centrifugal force generated by the swing ("centrifugal force is an outward force associated with rotation") causes your arms to tend to travel on a path of least resistance. In other words, your arms want to move on the path determined by where they hang loosely from the shoulders. So, if you stand so that your arms are closer to the body than they would be if they were just hanging, you would have to pull your arms in towards you in the forward swing to hit the ball solidly. With the centrifugal force of the swing pushing your arms away from you, the club will sometimes change path enough so that the hosel makes contact with the ball.
- 2. Sitting Back on the Heels. The ideal swing is one in which the weight shifts slightly away from the target and then forward to eventually end up with most of it resting on the front foot. For that to happen, one must push off the back foot, and for that to happen in the proper sequence, one must push off from the ball of the rear foot. When one is sitting on his heels, the weight must move to the balls of the feet before the weight can shift forward. So, at the point in the forward swing when the weight should be shifting toward the target, it is shifting from the heels towards the ball. This shift towards the ball also moves the swing path closer to the ball, making it likely the hosel will strike the ball.
- 3. Improper Aim. If the golfer is set up to the right (for right-handed players) of the target, instinct and reflex will cause the club to be swung to the left towards the target. When the club is taken either straight away from the ball or to the inside, it must loop up and over the top to get back on the target path. That motion sometimes causes the club's path to move away from the golfer and bring the hosel in contact with the ball.
Advice
The Fix: The cure for the shanks is to set yourself in such a way to eliminate the unwanted move toward the ball in the forward swing. This can be achieved by assuming the position of the touring pros, namely:- a. Bend from the hips so that the shoulders plumb just past the toes;
- b. Flex the knees just to the point of unlocking them;
- c. Play the ball far enough away to allow the arms to hang from the shoulders;
- d. Make sure the weight is on the balls of the feet and;
- e. Make sure you are standing on a line running parallel to the target line.
