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HELPPPP Infected with the S-Word

Sully

Sully

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Feb 17, 2014
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Location
Boston
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Alright guys it's finally come to this as I just cant take it anymore and its been going on for too long. There starting to bring me down and I'm ready to give the game a break. It started about a month ago when I went on a trip to Myrtle Beach. I'm warming up on the range before our first round and making solid contact with the irons. Then BAM 45 deg to the right barely getting off the ground. Then another and another. I picked up went to the practice green and said forget about it, practice short game and ill be fine for my round. Nope, completely wrong. Shanked 90% of my iron shots, however none with wedges or pitches. They stayed with me my entire trip and I played the the worst golf of my life. Moral of the story.....RUINED my trip.

Here we are a month later and I am completely infected with them. I cannot get rid of them for the life of me. I have tried everything and anything, so I'd appreciate some insight from Freddie or anyone else! Driving the ball great, my short game has been even better, including 50-80 yd pitches, but anytime I get a 9 iron - 4 iron in my hand everything goes completely wrong. I just don't understand it. I attached 2 recent swings, one a completely shank off the hosel to the right and another one the went straight but barely got off the ground.





Any help or comments are appreciated.
 
Get the lower body more active on the downswing. Your lower half should start the downswing. Also, get the feeling of hitting the ball with the back of your left hand. In order to ingrain those feelings, take full swings but only go fast enough to hit the ball 100 yards. Get those feelings grooved before going to full swings.
 
Ya, starting the downswing with my lower body has always been a major issue for me. Do you see anything specific causing these?
 
Sully said:
Ya, starting the downswing with my lower body has always been a major issue for me. Do you see anything specific causing these?
Click to expand...

What I see is an over the top swing caused by the lack of lower body involvement and an early release. Usually, the trap I fall into with this, I don't release the club because if I do I will pull hook the snot out of it. So I hold the face open and pray, which leads to massive slices or shanks for me.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a PGA instructor or a golfer with any notable ability. But I have fought shanks and an over the top swing. It's nothing to be ashamed of, just nature of the beast.
 
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No I hear ya man I'm not ashamed. It's just frustrating to be happening this long and I went from striking the ball fairly well to feeling like I can't even touch an iron.


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Sully said:
No I hear ya man I'm not ashamed. It's just frustrating to be happening this long and I went from striking the ball fairly well to feeling like I can't even touch an iron.


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Click to expand...

One other thing that I just saw, you lose your right knee flex. When I did that, it caused my weight to stay on my left side, I never turned behind the ball. Work on maintaining that leg position through out the back swing. That way you can turn behind the ball, use your lower half to start down, and then release your hands without worry.
 
Sully, it may just be you're standing too close to the ball. Back up an inch or two and see what happens.
 
Canes said:
Sully, it may just be you're standing too close to the ball. Back up an inch or two and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Ive tried that as well, which seems to make the problem worse. The only thing that really seems to help is set up with the ball on the heel.
 
Canes said:
Sully, it may just be you're standing too close to the ball. Back up an inch or two and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Yes this. Also take a look at the bottom video and see where your hands are at address (as compared to the range grass in the distance) and then notice where your hands are when you strike the ball. You have a huge forward move of your hands which is one cause of the shanks. I've had this problem, and my solution was to hold my hands out a bit farther at address, but my address position isn't classically correct, it just works for me. In any case, I think if you worked on a more consistent reach throughout your swing, you will see better ball contact. I used some dry erase marking pens to get a better idea of where on the club face I was striking the ball. I was quite surprised that I wasn't hitting the center of the club very often at all, and mostly was hitting towards the hosel.

Your swing reminds me A LOT of what I used to do, and I'm much better now. What worked for me was to see where I was striking the ball on the club face and to try consciously in my downswing not to move my arms/hands forward and keep them closer to where they were at setup.
 
RadRob said:
Yes this. Also take a look at the bottom video and see where your hands are at address (as compared to the range grass in the distance) and then notice where your hands are when you strike the ball. You have a huge forward move of your hands which is one cause of the shanks. I've had this problem, and my solution was to hold my hands out a bit farther at address, but my address position isn't classically correct, it just works for me. In any case, I think if you worked on a more consistent reach throughout your swing, you will see better ball contact. I used some dry erase marking pens to get a better idea of where on the club face I was striking the ball. I was quite surprised that I wasn't hitting the center of the club very often at all, and mostly was hitting towards the hosel.

Your swing reminds me A LOT of what I used to do, and I'm much better now. What worked for me was to see where I was striking the ball on the club face and to try consciously in my downswing not to move my arms/hands forward and keep them closer to where they were at setup.
Click to expand...

Rob, I do have to say after this month that a swing though like yours has really been the only way to make somewhat decent contact. Setting up on the heel or further away and on the the downswing come back down closer to my body. Almost like you taking the club outside and looping it in, closer to your body.
 
Well there are few flaws in your swing that are contributing to your shanks.

1. All you weight is on your heals. It should on the balls of you feet. By adjusting your weight forward to the balls of your feet it will push your upper body out and this will push you arms out a bit as well. The ball should now be placed in the middle of the club face. Provided your arms are hanging freely under your shoulder this will put in a good position to make a descent pass at the ball without shanking it.

2. Because the weight is on your heels and you straighten you right leg on the back swing, you are unable to clear the hips on the down swing. This what is causing the shanks. If and when you move to the balls of your feet and keep the right leg flexed through the entire swing. Your hips will clear naturally

3. You are not over the top. You actually drop the club quite nicely into the slot but agin the weight on the heals is killing your delivery into the ball. The first two flaws are impeding the hips from rotation through the hit zone. They just stop once they each the address position of the down swing. You must keep everything moving through the swing.

4. Don't extend the arms out to the ball. Once on the balls of your feet you'll be able to extend down the line instead of reaching for the ball at impact. By reaching for the ball you are swinging under the plane and hitting the ball with a square club face but the hosel is making center contact.

These four are a start and should get rife of the laterals you have found or that have found you
 
Well 1st .. Sorry. , I've been afflicted with every other shot in golf .. But never that one . 2 nd, when I went to a golf digest school.. They had a golfer that has the same issues . They secluded him from us ( like a virus I guess ) , and for the next 2 days . They had him hit shots with a shoe box just opposite of the ball . Almost almost touching it . They had him hit for the next 2 days , trying to hit the ball and not the shoe box . Well , he hit the shoe box .. And quite a few times . Infact they went thru a lot of shoe boxes . But the good thing , after 2 days ... He was hitting straight again .

Just a little sensory / training tip for you

good luck, you will beat it
 
I'm far from an expert, and this maybe a symptom of you on your heels as mentioned before, but you don't keep your spine angle through the shot. You almost stand up through the shot. If you stop the video at impact you can clearly see you have lost the spine angle and your head is higher. Not saying that is the cause of the *****, but it can't help. Great video by the way, you can really see what's going on in the swing there.
 
I had some shanks today and it is because couple things in the downswing... One I tend to stand taller/closer to the ball during impact. Two I slide through impact. Both of those are fixed by pulling the left hip back off the line during impact. That helps your body clear and effectively pulls the club face back off the ball so no hostel on the ball. Drill to help is putting your butt against a wall and try to keep your left cheek in contact with the wall at impact.

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I had quite a few yesterday while at the range too, I tend to crowd the ball a little too much and my hips can't turn in time so they slide and I come through hosel first. Terrible when they show up.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Well there are few flaws in your swing that are contributing to your shanks.

1. All you weight is on your heals. It should on the balls of you feet. By adjusting your weight forward to the balls of your feet it will push your upper body out and this will push you arms out a bit as well. The ball should now be placed in the middle of the club face. Provided your arms are hanging freely under your shoulder this will put in a good position to make a descent pass at the ball without shanking it.

2. Because the weight is on your heels and you straighten you right leg on the back swing, you are unable to clear the hips on the down swing. This what is causing the shanks. If and when you move to the balls of your feet and keep the right leg flexed through the entire swing. Your hips will clear naturally

3. You are not over the top. You actually drop the club quite nicely into the slot but agin the weight on the heals is killing your delivery into the ball. The first two flaws are impeding the hips from rotation through the hit zone. They just stop once they each the address position of the down swing. You must keep everything moving through the swing.

4. Don't extend the arms out to the ball. Once on the balls of your feet you'll be able to extend down the line instead of reaching for the ball at impact. By reaching for the ball you are swinging under the plane and hitting the ball with a square club face but the hosel is making center contact.

These four are a start and should get rife of the laterals you have found or that have found you
Click to expand...

I have recently had this virus too, and although not the same fix, the root issue seems to be the same, I had slowly but surely gotten into a poor position at address.
I think tadashi has given good advise. Fixing your set up, getting off your heels and into a more athletic position will probably get you back in business.
I'm no pro either, but I can relate to the frustrations felt when you go from hitting the ball well to not being sure when the S will pop it's head up again.
 
Thanks for all the comments and help guys. Freddie I tried what you mentioned at he range and at the course today but still not looking good. I don't get it, anything 100 yards and in was perfect. Divot after the ball, controlling the flight and distance. But as soon as I move beyond a 100 yds bam the shanks appear. Hybrids are ok, but I literally can not touch an iron. I tried keeping more weight on balls of my feet and keeping my back knee flexed. I think it's time to see a professional and have them work it out because I can't even get around the course. And were going on a full months now of nothing but shanks. I've never dealt with anything like this before. Going to find an instructor and set up a lesson this week.


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Go buy ya a Herbie. You can NOT shank it and the good thing is it helps you get past that fear, so you can fix the actual problem.

http://oneputtwedge.com/
 
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Good luck! Seeking lessons is a great solution.
Sully said:
Thanks for all the comments and help guys. Freddie I tried what you mentioned at he range and at the course today but still not looking good. I don't get it, anything 100 yards and in was perfect. Divot after the ball, controlling the flight and distance. But as soon as I move beyond a 100 yds bam the shanks appear. Hybrids are ok, but I literally can not touch an iron. I tried keeping more weight on balls of my feet and keeping my back knee flexed. I think it's time to see a professional and have them work it out because I can't even get around the course. And were going on a full months now of nothing but shanks. I've never dealt with anything like this before. Going to find an instructor and set up a lesson this week.


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Click to expand...
 
This exact thing happened to me last year, kept hitting the hossel and shanking shots like crazy. KILLLLLLLED my confidence and it got into my head like crazy, I truly thought I would never fix it. I really focused on the club face positioning in my swing and figured out my stance. I began a ritual of slow short practice swings after my set up to get the visual in my head of the club square and in the right position with the ball right there. It took a long time but it finally happened and I hit a good shot and it felt like the world was off my shoulders. I know EXACTLY how you feel and it WILL go away.
 
Let me tell you a story about the shanks. I got them the summer of '96, the entire summer. I could hit anything PW-LW. I lost more money gambling on the course then I care to recall. I played through them. They left as fast as they came. Sometimes they appear and just hang out. It's difficult to make someone do what you describe. Sometimes you have to let go and just swing the club.
 
Thanks guys I appreciate it. It really is killing me haha and the confidence is just gone. I cant even enjoy THP because all I can think about is hosel rockets.

I scheduled a lesson for Thursday so we shall see. Although I do have to say I had a somewhat decent day at the range today. Freddie I was really concentrating on my balance adress like you said and distance from the ball. And my only other swing was hit it off the TOE!! haha I can't tell you how many times I said to myself "hit it off the toe, hit it off the toe". It seemed to help. Went from 90% shanks to maybe 30% lol


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I am having this same issue with my wedges right now. Just my wedges. Everything else is great.

But, I am trying to practice dialing in my yardages and I shank 90% of the balls hit at the range. Honestly, wtf. I have never seen this crop up and stay like this before. Especially on the 7:30 swing....straight right. I don't get it!!!!
 
It really does destroy you mentally, and I know exactly how you feel. I had to really work on my swing, I even changed my backswing a little to get me back into hitting shots with my club head square. After I started hitting pretty solid again I almost just naturally went back to my regular swing and I was right back on track to playing normal. What I found for me personally was the driving range only made it worse. At the range you are engulfed in thoughts about your swing and whacking a bucket of balls. I had a big charity tournament I do every year and it is a team scramble, of course I didn't want to bring the shanks to the tournament so I went to the range. I shanked so much it killed my confidence and I was terrified I would play awful. The next day I went to the tournament, did a friendly range session with everyone...still shanking and not hitting a single good shot. As soon as the tournament started and I was on the course my shanks went immediately away. First hole we played was a par 3 and I hit it closer than anyone on my team and from there on I played just fine.
 
The dreaded sh@#k$ Ahhhh...hang in there man. It literally makes you not want to swing through the ball at times and just makes them worse. I get the occasional shank on short wedges(30-60yds) from a decel swing...

I go to a half maybe 5/8 backswing and follow through with a hard downward strike at the range to help feel good contact. Just being a natural golfer I try shortening the swing and finding out where I get outta whack.


Good Luck to You...
 
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