It happens to just about every golfer. One day you’re warming up on the range or hitting an iron shot from the middle of the fairway and—bam!—you catch one off the hosel and the ball goes rocketing sideways. You might shake it off, but what if it happens again and again and again? (They seem to come in bunches.) The first step is admitting you have a problem. You’ve got the shanks. As I said, a shank occurs when you hit the ball on or near the hosel, like I’m demonstrating in the photo above. It looks awful, feels awful and makes you wonder what the heck went wrong. A shank is the result of the hands and, in turn, the clubhead being farther from the body at impact than they were at address. It’s typically caused by your weight shifting onto the toes as you swing down. It could also be caused by standing too close to the ball at address—but that weight shift is the real killer. To fix the shanks, first take a few breaths and calm yourself. This is a common fault with two easy remedies. If you’re on the range, place two balls down side-by-side and address the one closer to your feet (below). Your goal is to hit shots without touching the outside ball. The visual cue of the second ball should keep you from drifting onto your toes during the swing.
However, you can’t put down an extra ball when you’re out on the course, so what do you do then? You can correct the problem by addressing your shots with your toes raised off the ground (below), feeling them pressed against the tops of your shoes. This sets your weight more in your heels and makes it all but impossible to shift toward the ball as you swing down.
The biggest thing to remember about the shanks is, they’re almost always temporary. And now that you know why they happen, you should be able to remedy the issue quickly.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
