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I'm lost...reoccurring shanks

Qwkz51

Qwkz51

El Conquistador
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Jan 5, 2018
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Location
Kentucky
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It seems like about every year when I finally start making good contact and scoring well I soon start struggling. During this time, I have this hitch in my swing where when I swing with my irons/wedges, I hit the toe of the club and physically spin the iron in my hands. I'm currently going through this. How do I get out of it? I'm so frustrated...😔
 
No idea without watching you swing, but we don’t say that “S” word here sir. Just the thought sends some folks into night sweats.

I will add you to the little fellas prayer list though. Good luck!
 
At least it’s the toe and not the hosel...
 
Ah hell, I guess I’ll try to help. If you’re feeling the hitch in your swing, I would take slow motion swings (10-20% speed) until I figured out what I was doing wrong. If you can have someone film you so much the better, or swing in front of a mirror.
 
JDax said:
At least it’s the toe and not the hosel...
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Toe-stand closer to ball

Hosel-stand further from ball.

Haha. If only that easy.
 
1/2 and 3/4 swings FTW!
 
I sometimes go through that as well. I find that if I'm hitting the toe, I am standing up just a tiny amount at impact. I have to focus on staying down at impact and rotating through instead of extending at impact.
 
if you're hitting the extreme toe, i don't think that's a shank. for me when i'm living on the toe, it's because i'm not getting off my trail side. my instructor has given me the thought of pushing off and up my right (trail foot) to initiate the downswing.
 
I'm guessing it's the toe. All I know is when I make contact the club turns 90* toward my trailing foot, and the ball never gets off the ground and hard pushes right.
 
Thank goodness it’s a toe hit. That is okay. The S word is contagious.

I use to run into toe issues. I was falling on my heels. I fixed it by taking 1/2 and 3/4 swings and thinking like my foot arches are super glued to the ground.
 
Hosel rockets, traditional s-words, can do the same to the club depending on how hosel-y they are, just fyi. Unless you are hitting off the outside part of the toe, I doubt you’re hitting that. Most of my bad toe shots get in the air but either duck on me, or end up weak and just right. I suspect the worse contact ones are weak and just right. The ones splitting the difference duck hook.
 
I had a weird issues sometime back like this. I simply took a different club than I was having the problem with and went back to about a 1/2 swing or maybe a 1/4 swing and simply swung through hitting the ball a number of times and then focus came back in and I was ok, but I will state it discouraged me and was hard to get back on track. At least I know it was some weirdness with my swing path, looking in the wrong place, or some odd thing like that. Hope you get straight quickly.
 
I have the same problem sometimes as the OP. I hit shanks with an open club face off the toe end of the club face.

The cause is I turn my right wrist/hand open, which opens the club face. I suspect I turn my right wrist/hand open because I am swinging the club out from too far inside my regular swing path.

Happens most of the time with my wedges, and as fatigue is settling in. .

My fix when practicing is to hit a few shots with 1/2, then 3/4 swings with an exaggerated straight back, straight forward stroke. If that doesn't cure the problem I call it a day, and let the shanks win that round. The problem is always gone the next time I play or practice.

Now when playing, if I hit a shank, I take my medicine and move on to the next shot. I don't worry about hitting just one. If I hit another shank, i take a less lofted, longer club and hit a mini punch shots. I do this when playing because I don't have time (strokes) for the practice fix I listed above.
 
Hey @JB , can we get the 5-6 letter “S” word put on the banned words list? I know they can be added as I inadvertently had one added once, lol.

Thanks. Golfers don’t need to see that word. Were mostly all head cases anyways, don’t need it even popping up.
 
Smiter said:
Hey @JB , can we get the 5-6 letter “S” word put on the banned words list? I know they can be added as I inadvertently had one added once, lol.

Thanks. Golfers don’t need to see that word. Were mostly all head cases anyways, don’t need it even popping up.
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Genuinely I would have no idea how to do that.
I’m just the good looks of the operation.
 
Hahaha! I knew it.

Well, better to be the figurehead behind the figurehead than to not sniff that rarefied air.
 
If it’s definitely toe contact it could be your hands either being active at the start of the swing and pulling the club to the inside or even trying to shut the face so much that the toe reaches the ball first.

Though it could be as simple as falling back on your heals. I had a couple legit S’s this past Saturday with my lob wedge while warming up before a round because I was leaning out on my toes. Luckily I figured it out and didn’t have a single one show up on the course. I have no idea why I was leaning out on my toes like that and didn’t even feel/notice it when it was happening.
 
Had this problem earlier this year and when it gets in your head, it's a b*tch. If I have a shot that is giving me the shank yips, I will adjust my left hand grip more clockwise and that seems to keep it under control. I also make sure I don't sway over my back leg
 
TrueMotionMatt said:
Shanks, Shanks, Shanks, Shanks...it's not the mention of the word that's a problem 😂 Hahahaaha. Let's see your little Toe Shank...can you post a video? Then we can give you some real feedback as opposed to guessing 😉 🙏
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I unfortunately didn't get a down the line shot of it in action. I did get a face on view, not sure if that will help? I took a lesson Friday with a local guy that I've worked with before. He took a different approach than we've tried before and he wants me to focus on shortening my takeaway. I was going parallel or a little past and as he proved there's just no reason. I was getting the same distance by stopping a full 90* less. He wants me to get away from John Daly and focus on more Tony Finau His selling point was if you're hitting a 7i 210-215yds, which is further than most, why are you swinging like you're trying to hit it 230 and only having success 1/5 times :unsure: so I backed off and was still hitting it to the distance I'm used to seeing for each club and more consistently. Now just to wrap my mind around doing that every time. :oops::oops:
 
Focus on path to the ball... I got foam balls for the yard or field and hit about 60 shots not hard but started with slow mo to full swings to change the thought process
 
Gman79 said:
Focus on path to the ball... I got foam balls for the yard or field and hit about 60 shots not hard but started with slow mo to full swings to change the thought process
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Yes! We talked about limiting excessive movement in the swing. Just have to get the club back to the ball square. I'll be hitting a bunch of foam/wiffles over the next couple of weeks.
 
YouTube n hitting balls... I swear golf is a game of perseverance and work ethic. These types of things are put in the game to see how you will deal with them... All part of the "joy"
 
Toe hit is not a shank. The cure is to be very deliberate in tracing your club head along the target line during the backswing. Get to the point where you’re club head is literally dragging on the ground straight back for 2-3 feet before you start lifting.
 
Qwkz51 said:
It seems like about every year when I finally start making good contact and scoring well I soon start struggling. During this time, I have this hitch in my swing where when I swing with my irons/wedges, I hit the toe of the club and physically spin the iron in my hands. I'm currently going through this. How do I get out of it? I'm so frustrated...😔
Click to expand...
Are you fatigued? I see X100's in the signature. Late season fatigue is real. Have any backups with a little softer shaft to swing a little slower?
Lotta compensations can happen with a shaft that is too stiff. Even if it is just temporary.
 
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