El Hoselos

[Tee'd Off]

OH Man! Its happened! The worst case et of the laterals. I have been afflicted for over a week now. I can't even chip without the dreaded clunk. I have gone through buckets at the practice range hitting shank after shank (shudder)! Funny thing though when I stood on one leg I was able to hit some nice smooth shots with the 7 iron to about 150. After this little drill to relieve the frustration I went back to my normal swing and WHACK El Hoselo yet again. I have decided to give myself a break for awile. I wish I had the consistancy of hitting shanks for normal shots. It is really crazy I cant hit anything be it a chip, a pitch, and full swing without EL Hoselo. It is truely sad..........

[dorkman53]

If only you had GFF irons, the shanks would feel so much sweeter.....

[Mr 3 Wiggle]

You must have a problem flipping the golf club. Pity.

[golfaholic]

Ouch.

Been there done that.


Post video?

[The Purist]

That sucks.

I can't believe its even happening on full shots. Maybe you are coming too severly in to out and leaving the clubface open. You could try hitting what feels like a pull hook and see if that doesn't correct the problem (sometimes the best correction is to exaggerate the opposite effect).

If that doesn't work, I copied this from Ripit's shank thread last week:

Some people swear that shanks are caused by a clubface that is too closed, and others think it comes from the clubface being too open. I believe it can be either or neither. Most people think the face of wedge rotates around hosel, but this isn't true. The shaft/hosel rotates around the sweet spot of the wedge...that means that if the clubface is too open or shut, then the hosel will be closer to the ball. Knowing this may be enough to help you figure things out on your own.

Many will tell you to stand further from the ball, but that advice can actually (and usually will) make the problem worse. The further you stand from the ball the easier it is to be pulled into the ball by gravity and the swing...basically easier to lose spine angle (towards the ball). The swing arc also becomes more exaggerated if you stand too far away and you can end up coming from too far inside and the club doesn't stay down as long through impact (even though it seems to because fat shots are easier when standing too far from the ball). This is why you can hit the ball higher than normal by standing further away than normal.

You will hear mention of using a 2x4 just outside of the ball to help cure the problem, but this kind of practice rarely transfers back to the course.

You will also hear about staying connected better. Tucking the shirt sleeve in the armpit (left arm) can help some on little pitch shots, but its not usually the problem if you are striking your full shots well.

Keeping more weight on the left foot throughout the swing can be very helpful...especially if you are trying to time a weight transfer on less than full swings. This will keep your COG in one place and give you more consistent contact.

The one thing that almost always works is keeping the clubhead down through and past impact. If the clubhead comes up a little bit at impact, then you can actually shank almost anywhere on the leading edge of the face of the wedge). If you keep the clubhead down through impact and beyond, its almost impossible to shank (even if you hit it right on the hosel...just try it yourself on 10' pitches and you will see what Im talking about).

[Mr 3 Wiggle]

IMHO...shanks are the miss of someone who plays a lot of golf, but doesn't fully understand the golf swing. Kids who play a lot tend to get them...as do newer golfers who have become addicted. And contrary to popular belief, you can shank the ball with a square or even slightly closed clubface. When I was a kid I heard the term hold the angle and thought that in order to get more power and increase my clubhead lag I had to physically hold the angle with my hands and arms. This caused me to swing out sharply at the ball. I went through a whole summer of shanking until it was explained to me what I was doing. I'd bet money that your left wrist is not flat at impact and the club is ahead of your hands. When you swing in to out and flip the club, a shank is a common result. If the club is trailing your hands it's nearly impossible to shank a golf ball (unless you try).

[The Purist]

I'd bet money that your left wrist is not flat at impact and the club is ahead of your hands. When you swing in to out and flip the club, a shank is a common result. If the club is trailing your hands it's nearly impossible to shank a golf ball (unless you try).

Surely a flat left wrist might be good enough for short knockers like Pavin and Irwin, but real men like yourself put a 45* bow on the lead wrist.

[NiftyNiblick]

F2 irons and wedges will definitely take care of that, but if you can get old Jerry Barber Golden Touch irons, they're even better.

[noshuz]

Geez talk about power of suggestion! After reading this and Deadly's post I procceded to get a severe case of the shanks for 2 straight range/round sessions. WTF? Anyway they left me after that but I was wondering how/if you guys got thru it. Man that crap can really get in yer kitchen!

[Not a hacker]

As someone who has been afflicted b the shanks before, I can offer no cure. Only sympathy. I found that my worst case of the shanks started when I was using blades. I was htting it great and then out of the blue, shank. The swing felt exactly the same as the preceeding shot, so it made it very hard to figure it out. I tried all sorts of 'tips', but in the end it just slowly went away after I ditched the blades and went back to players cavities. I've never shanked the chips but have played with a guy that started doing it mid round and kept it up all the way round. Farkin hilarious to watch.

[Home-slicer]

I have also gone through at least one case of the snap fades, for a week or so, in all four years of my illustrious career. My theory is that it is small muscle fatigue in the forearms, causing an improper or late release. My theory is based on the following; I always get them in the beginning of the season, when I first start hitting a lot of balls. I am always sore the day after they start, and they always leave as quickly as they arrive, much like soreness when you start lifting weights after a layoff. A short break might help. God bless you, though, it is a miserable experience.

[noshuz]

I think mine is from so many swing changes. When I got my new clubs I made a promise to myself to try to get better. Grip was the first to change which while it wasn't drastic but probably hardest to deal with. What's funny was that they were there one day with my kitchen so full that I canceled a tee time for the next day at a nice course to make a tee time at a crappy course. When I got to there next morning, standing over my first ball of a bucket before the round I absolutely had no doubt that I would hit a solid shot. I didn't have one shank the whole round. I don't get it. It's like golf STD's

[jjloans]

Just a thought... I have had issues with hitting the ball close to the heel, and recently had a big spate of the shanks... I found that my prescription sunglasses (for a heavy nearsightedness correction) caused a distortion, the ball is actuallu 1.5" or so CLOSER to me than it looks! No wonder I am shanking it! IF you wear corrective glasses, this may be your problem too... hope it works out for you... I am having to try to almost miss the ball to the inside to achieve good contact, which is messing up my coconut!!

[Mr 3 Wiggle]

Just a thought... I have had issues with hitting the ball close to the heel, and recently had a big spate of the shanks... I found that my prescription sunglasses (for a heavy nearsightedness correction) caused a distortion, the ball is actuallu 1.5" or so CLOSER to me than it looks! No wonder I am shanking it! IF you wear corrective glasses, this may be your problem too... hope it works out for you... I am having to try to almost miss the ball to the inside to achieve good contact, which is messing up my coconut!!

That's wierd. Seems like if you set the club behind the ball and properly swing it, you should return it to the same place. The only time I shank is when the club passes my hands prior to contact.

[Tee'd Off]

The illness has passed. The issue was more mental then any swing fault. It seemed that I developed a nasty 'hit' the ball syndrome. This would see me lunge at the ball from the top which would cause my swing & timing to get thrown out of whack. The shanks went away when I stopped giving a sh!t & the smooth tempo and straight shots returned. This is one funny game...........