You'll see a shank every couple years or so on the PGA tour. Every year on the European tour, and on a monthly basis on the Nationwide and seniors.
The most significant player I have ever seen shank on National television was Sergio a couple years ago with his driver. He like topped it and it went REALY low and like 100-200 yards.
Tiger though, would've liked to see that.
Olie, the shot Tiger hit was more of a push or half-shank. Faldo called it a "pro" shank, meaning that it wasn't a complete hosel shank, but the face was definitely wide open at impact. I don't remember ever seeing Sergio do that with the driver, but I'll take your word for it that he did. That's pretty incredible when you consider Sergio's one of the very best ball strikers in the world, especially with the driver. And, with today's equipment, the driver is probably easier to hit than a 5 or 6 iron blade (for instance). Sergio must have had a pretty large dip in his concentration for that to happen with a driver!
"Shanking' is exclusive to irons since by definition it is hitting the ball on the hosel so Garcia couldn't have "shanked" a driver. On the other hand the action was probably the same - face wide open as a result of blocking the release.
Stats can sometimes be a tad misleading. Oftentimes they fail to reveal the entire story. And while it is amazing that Tiger can take his driving accuracy and turn it into the TOUR's #1 ranking in G.I.R., just as critical is where on the green his shots end up.
Anyone who watches the PGA TOUR regularly will observe that a majority of the pin positions, especially on the weekends, are located in inaccessible places. They tend to be cut right over ridges or jammed to the edge of greens, or in the back of them. It is beneficial to stay below the hole or in the fall line. Players who leave themselves out of position will always face very difficult putts.
I believe Tiger's putting woes are more a result of his poor positioning on the greens. He tends to be not only aggressive, but his ball-striking has been erratic. He has distance-control issues. These problems put a ton of stress on both his short game and his putting.
I agree that it's important to be in the right place on the green, however, lets compare Tiger's stats to say, hmm, how about Phil Mickelson.
Tiger vs Phil
Driving Accuracy #178 - 54.3% - #144 - 58.9%
GIR #1 - 70.6% - # 5 - 69.5%
Prox. to Hole # 2 - 28.0 ft - # 11 - 29.2 ft
Putting Avg. #135 - #4
The statistics are fairly similar with one glaring difference...... putting average. Granted the statistics don't say where the approach shots are ending up, but I'd think if you're in the top 2 in hitting the ball close to the hole, that he'd be winning more if he was putting better. Also, Tiger's played 9 tournaments and has 2 wins and a 2nd, not too shabby for someone who's driving accuracy is killing their game. Last year Tiger was 188th in accuracy at virtually the same percentage but was 5th in putting and won 6 times. I know it appears otherwise but I'm not a statistical nut, but the statistics in this case bear out what I think is fairly plain if you watch him play, his putting this year is what's been hurting him the most. I think it's his stroke more than his positioning on the greens that's been the problem, especially when other players are making putts from the same spot. Maybe he's focused so much on his full swing that he hasn't put the same time into his putting, although I'm sure he'll rectify that if it continues to be a problem.
I agree that it's important to be in the right place on the green, however, lets compare Tiger's stats to say, hmm, how about Phil Mickelson.
Tiger vs Phil
Driving Accuracy #178 - 54.3% - #144 - 58.9%
GIR #1 - 70.6% - # 5 - 69.5%
Prox. to Hole # 2 - 28.0 ft - # 11 - 29.2 ft
Putting Avg. #135 - #4
The statistics are fairly similar with one glaring difference...... putting average. Granted the statistics don't say where the approach shots are ending up, but I'd think if you're in the top 2 in hitting the ball close to the hole, that he'd be winning more if he was putting better. Also, Tiger's played 9 tournaments and has 2 wins and a 2nd, not too shabby for someone who's driving accuracy is killing their game. Last year Tiger was 188th in accuracy at virtually the same percentage but was 5th in putting and won 6 times. I know it appears otherwise but I'm not a statistical nut, but the statistics in this case bear out what I think is fairly plain if you watch him play, his putting this year is what's been hurting him the most. I think it's his stroke more than his positioning on the greens that's been the problem, especially when other players are making putts from the same spot. Maybe he's focused so much on his full swing that he hasn't put the same time into his putting, although I'm sure he'll rectify that if it continues to be a problem.
Yeah, I agree with you on this. The Masters was a perfect example. His putting was dreadful, especially on Sunday when he needed it most (and ironically, this occurred while he was hitting some GREAT iron shots). He had not just one, but two eagle putts inside 10 feet and didn't come close to making them. He also missed quite a few putts inside of 15 feet for birdie, and if I'm not mistaken, he had 2 or 3 3-putts on Sunday.
I feel for anyone that hits a shank! They really @#$%!! I haven’t had any for a while, then had two this weekend in a Tourney. Took double bogies on both of them. Almost a triple on one of them. They happen under pressure and most golf courses are not forgiving for a lateral shot!!!
An open face is not a shank. Not sure what it is, but it is not a shank. There I said it… Shank, Shank, Shank!!! I’m not afraid of saying it.
I'm shanking about 50 percent of my shots right now. The other 50 are terriffic. Thought I'd fixed the shank but it's back and it's bad. Doesn't affect the driver of course, so I'm driving really great right now, but my irons are a mess.
July 15th, 2006, 01:50 AM
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