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Living here in Canada our golf season just recently started. I've been going to the driving range religiously and been striking the ball fairly well. Just last week 1/4 way through my bucket I shank a shot dead left (I'm a leftie). Believe it or not I've hit about 5 buckets since then and I can't seem to get the ball back in the air, all i could hit is shanks. I went to see the local pro tonight and he couldn't seem to pin point the problem. So he decided to start with the fundamentals and work his way up. I had mentioned that I seem to hit them a little better if I stand a much further from the ball (really exagerated and very uncomfortable). He seems to think that would be just a temporary fix and thinks its not the greatest of ideas. So we started working on my back swing which he thought was a little to handsie and with not enough shoulder turn. He also think I tend to be very handsie on the downswing. Anybody experience the same problems? I want to avoid having to spend money on 10 lessons to get to the bottom of this. Any help or sugesstions would be greatly appreciated.

Peter

I had the same thing happen to me and it is horrible. I was hitting flush shots then out of the blue every shot was a shanked hosel rocket.

I found out that I was not driving my left shoulder through my downswing (right shoulder for you since you are a lefty).

Also, the inside out swing gadget they sell on ebay helped me as well but mainly I found out that I was not using my body and shoulders during my downswing and mainly using my arms to hit the ball.

Having the shanks is the worst feeling in the world - I hope you find a cure.

First of all shame on you for using the "S" word! We call them hosel rockets around here or some other form that isn't so contaigous!

Anyway, usually the hosel rocket comes from standing to close to the ball, to much outside in swing path.

The best drill I can tell you to stop the hosel rockets and get some feel back is to place a ball down and then place another ball directly on top of it only about 4 inches away or so. So now you're addressing the ball, you're going to have one ball that is 4 inches further away from you than the other ball. Address the futhest ball, swing and hit the closest ball. So with this drill you'll be addressing one ball, but impacting another.

A more extreme drill is to place a 2x4 along your target line outside the ball about 5 inches or so. Address the ball and swing. I guarantee you'll not hit a hosel rocket, because if you swing with that type of swing you are probably going to break your club on the 2x4.

Here are some easy things to work on:

1. Take a tee and put it in the ground about 2 inches from the ball away from you at address (not infront or behind on the target line.
Then make sure you hit the ball with out touching this tee.

2. Make sure your arms brush the front of your body as you swing though impact.

3. Being too hansie can be a problem so listen to your pro.

Note: either the hands present the hozel (neck) of the club to the ball causing the shank (reaching too much for impact) or the weight of the body moves too much toward the toes through impact causing the hozel to make contact with the ball. This movement can start from the knees moving toward the ball too much, or the head moving out toward the ball during the takeaway.

Calm Down you hands and body

So you guys think moving away from the ball would be a good idea? Is that a compensation adjustment or is that just the way we should be standing; theoritically? Gotta get to the bottom of this!

Thanks for the tips guys! I will give these a try. I'll make sure not to use the "s" word again.

Its not just a compensation adjustment...the thing is that you're probably standing to close right now (I know from experience cause I do this too). So when you actually stand away from the ball it feels like you are just WAY away from the ball, when in actuallity if you would have someone take a picture of you with your new stance, it probably will look very normal and not look as far away as you feel. I just takes a while to get used to any changes like that. I just wouldn't move back alot, maybe an inch or two and see how that helps, but the two ball drill I told you about and the tee and ball drill that glfdiva told you about are very good things to help you quit doing this.

If you do have someone take a picture of you setting up to the ball from a down the line view, what to look for is that you've still got good posture and not to hunched over. And you want to make sure that your hands if you were to draw a straight line to the ground from them they would be directly over your toes. There are exceptions to this cause everyone is different, but that's just a general idea of what should be going on.

Scud, I myself have suffered from the ill-timed laterals. Over the years I have found the cause of my "miscues" is not rolling my right (your left) hand over at impact. What the lack of roll does is causes the hosel of the club to lead through the hitting area. I'm not saying this will cure your "miscues", but it's worth a try. Good luck with the laterals.

i'll get it the same funk every now and then with my short irons. Almost everytime the solution for me is to stand back away from the ball about two inches. It took me so long to figure that out.

I just posted this elsewhere, but it might help with your question as well.

I've shanked more than my fair share of shots on the golf range, but I almost never shank a shot on the golf course. I asked a pro why this was and his explanation makes sense.

He explained that on the range (on a mat) I don't hit down on the ball enough. I tend to sweep the shot rather than hit down on it like you do on the course when you hit an iron and take a divot. When you don't hit down on the ball as much as you normally do, the club face tends to move slightly further away from your body than it normally would (a physics thing). This moves the club shaft closer to the ball and occasionally in contact with the ball causing the shank.

So, I now try to hit down on the ball (think: take a divot), and the shank rarely rears its ugly head. The most important thing about shanks is that when they occasionally happen, you just need to forget about it and continue to play as if it never happened!

Good luck,
Dave

Believe it or not -- I have the same problem. It happened on a golf course about three months ago and still isn't fixed today. Did you ever find a solution? I'm seeing a golf pro who gets me hitting the ball on the driving range while he's with me, but as soon as I try a bucket on my own, the shanking problem comes right back.

It has not impacted my driver or my woods -- only my irons!

Does anyone have a suggestion?

I shanked habitually, and tried everything to solve it. Closed stance, tee in ground, all the usual stuff. But I solved it by accident.
Make sure you pronate (look up the word if necessary) your left wrist.
The left wrist needs to be down, so that the left thumb is parallel with the forearm, not pointing upward. And keep the left arm straight during the back swing. And don't try to overpower the swing with the right hand. Use very little grip pressure with the right hand on the club. That fixed my shanking for good.