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Ok boys and girls I need some serious advice. I have been attacked by the shanks:

This is only happening with my PW and GW though. I line up and hit the ball at a 90 degree angle? It has happened a couple of times and every once in awile it comes back. I will set up to the ball at it will literally go right (if I am aiming at 12:00 it goes to 3:00).

Is it my heading coming up or maybe i am tilting my wrists at the the target before takeaway?

Please Help!

your not releasing the club, try focusing on releasing it.

A good rhythm always helps with the shanks

What I do is not scientific, but will make sure you get thru the ball...stand further away then you normally do. I can shank it when I am too close to the ball with my wedges and don't complete the turn. This almost always works for me and what I do on the course if I ever have one so as to not hit another.

Make sure you are making a full turn. Practice bringing your body thru the shot by practicing your follow thru.

The shanks are the worst. Good luck shaking them.

I know you are getting all types of info here,but i have always found that a more upright swing prevents you from hitting a shank.

If these are partial swings, you may be decelerating. Also, you could be moving your eyes toward your target before impact.

Thanks Guys-

I love this website!

Funny you just posted this.. I was going through a period of this, and my cousin who I play with does it all the time.. that is until I found my fix, well atleast it was "Mine and my cousin's fix"

I gripped the club a little firmer, and that is all it took.. I felt when the club head was hitting, either the ball or the ground, my head opened up on me.

This will make you feel better at least:

YouTube - Tiger shanks!

I went through nearly 3 months of pain and torture. Drives were pop ups, wormburners, shanks and most shots not making it past the red tees. "Practice sessions" were moments of self mutilation and torture (like Silas from Da Vinci code). I had 185 to 195 yard 5 iron shots with the ability to control the distance and direction to literally rolling the dice on where shots were going. only able to hit a 7 wood in the whole bag. I had to seek professional help. I had 2 lessons in the past 2 weeks (and a couple of 'tweak tips) since then and had many swing faults compounded due to a back injury (from December 2006) and right hand injury.


I have since overhauled my set from driver through the PW (keeping only the putter and sand wedge - the only two clubs I had any degree of self respect to hit correctly). I renewed my use of the Swingyde that had helped me with my swings when I started learning last year.

Before you endure such torture, get a lesson or two or three or more (like me). You will learn to enjoy yourself again.

You can mess with your swing and try all the tips you want, but if you want a sure fire way to dianose and fix the problem lay a piece of 2x4, or foam insulation if that scares you, on the target line with a ball about a half inch away from the board. Take your normal set up and hold the club in place while you bend down and place a long tee on the same angle as your shaft right behind the hosel. Take a few short practice swings and see if you are hitting the board or the tee. If you hit the board you are probably reaching for the ball or falling into the shot (i.e. you are standing too far from the ball). If you hit the tee you are falling out of the shot or pulling into the ball (i.e. you are standing too close to the ball). Keep working this drill until you don't hit the board or the tee and your shanks will be gone. Secondary benefit you are ingraining the proper swing path and learning to make contact on the sweet spot. Enjoy.

Actually, I've found this to be quite the opposite with the shanks. Shanks occur when the hozzle of the club hits the ball. This is typically caused by the hands releasing too early, and the club goes 'out' to the ball, resulting in contact with the hozzle. I know I had this problem last year and it was because of this very thing.

This especially makes sense if this is happening with your wedges. I know for me, I usually swing my wedges with less of a 'turn' because I am taking a shorter swing. A lot of times, I make the mistake of not finishing, and swinging mostly with my wrists instead.

My suggestion to you is to try and maintain some lag on the way down, and turn into the ball rather than swinging with your hands. Hope this helps. We have all had the Hozzle Rockets at one point or another, and they are not fun for a second.

I went through a period of the lateral shots late this summer / autumn. I decided it was time to take lessons. The instructor immediately discovered that I was not releasing the club head and had more of a "slide" than a hip turn. Those two combined, well, you know.

It was my tempo. I was just going way too fast. I am really focusing, now, on swinging with a smoother tempo and feeling like I am slapping the ball with my right hand while still keeping my head behind the ball. (Proper hip rotation and not a slide.)

I have, for the most part, eliminated those lateral shots. If they creep in during a practice session, I take a step back, cool down and then hit a few halfway back halfway through pitches, really focusing on proper release and tempo.

Thats my sh#%k story.