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SHANKS
Probably the most destructive shot and certainly the most emotive
thing that can happen to a player in golf.
The shank is so feared that professionals don't even like to say the word
and some have even been known to refuse tuition to those suffering from the affliction in case it
could be passed on!
Let's take all the emotion and panic out of the subject and conduct a scientific review:-
Identify
Isolate
Analyse
Identify
The first problem with a shank is in actual identification, as far as I am concerned there are
three broad areas that this shot fits into:-
a) Reverse heel: This is where the ball is contacted with the back of the clubhead hosel
resulting in the ball travelling almost straight left (in some cases in between the
players legs) without too much power. This shot is not really a shank at all, but as so many players
refer to it as such it is included in this section.
b) Open shank: This is where good contact is made with the ball but the direction is
widely to the right. A 7 iron for example would travel 50 yards to the right and as much as
120 yards forward.
c) Closed shank: This is the "Real McCoy" the ball is propelled at speed almost at right angles
to the player with hardly any forward travel,
and is destructive to a mind numbing degree.
Isolate
There are only two areas of the swing to be worked on:-
Clubhead path.
Clubface position.
Analyse
a) Reverse heel is simply a miss alignment of the downswing plane. Train the downswing to
return the clubhead along the target path i.e line B rather than line A which is evident in the case of reverse
heel using a drill like the
one illustrated below 
The player sets up three lines of parallel tee pegs.
Line A) represents the outside path.
Line B) represents the target path.
Line C) represents the inside path.
The player sets up the line of pegs as illustrated, starting with a gap of about
9" from line A to C. When the player can make a normal speed swing and hit
the last 3 pegs in line B without contacting either A or C then the gap can be narrowed.
The above drill is always useful to the player who finds difficulty in locating the clubhead
"sweetspot". Persistent use of the drill will help in all three shank types.
Once the drill has been employed use a gradual build up of shots starting with a 60 yard
wedge shot and finishing with full 6 or 5 iron shots. Place masking tape onto the clubface
and examine after each shot. These two fixes should greatly reduce "Reverse Heel" cases.
b) Open
shank is caused by both a mis alignment of the downswing plane and also an open
clubface during impact:-
Use the drill as outlined above to re-align the downswing plane and thereafter consider
drills useful in open clubface cases found in slicing and including:-
Slow motion swinging.
The drill illustrated on the left is an excellent way to learn
how to release the clubhead in the square position.
Pull the club down in slow motion to the impact point 2 times in
a row. Each time concentrating on returning the clubhead square. On the
third swing, use the same action but swing at normal speed and allow the
club to follow through.
Repeated use of this drill will improve the player's appreciation
of release. Start by hitting short shots whilst keeping the sensation of
the drill in mind. Gradually increase the distance and length of club
until results are satisfactory.
Strengthen the grip and
loosen the pressure
Golf coaches refer to the left hand knuckle position in terms of weak or strong.
A strong grip is one where at least three knuckles can be seen by the player
during the address position. Standard grip is around two knuckles and a weak
grip would be one knuckle.
As with the reverse heel shank, once the above fixes have been employed use a gradual build up of
shots starting with a 60 yard
wedge shot and finishing with full 6 or 5 iron shots. Place masking tape onto the clubface
and examine after each shot until the problem is greatly reduced.
c) Closed shank is caused by swinging out to in and having the clubface extremely closed.
This as mentioned above is probably the most distructive of all shots because it flies so
powerfully and so dramitically off line. The problem quickly becomes phsychological and
whilst usually showing up on short shots around the green, can soon infect mid and long
irons as well.
Because this shot is so difficult to overcome and has a deep phsychological seating
the remedies need to be grouped into two distinct areas:-
Pressure situations
Non
pressure situations
During pressure situations i.e. anyplace where the player is nervous about shanking the shot then
whenever possible that shot should not be taken on.
Good course strategy should prevail:-
For shorter shots, use a chipmaster, or a jigger,take the factory tour to see these
clubs
or a putter (known as the Texas wedge) if a bunker prevents these shots then the player must
seriously consider playing sideways and then using a chipmaster or a putter.
Remember, a
shot lost in this fashion could be a whole lot better than a series of shanks around the green!
If mid iron shots are problematic then consider a #9 or #11 or #13 or #15 wood
again take the factory
tour to view these clubs.
These clubs are
relatively easy to play and can easily replace the need for irons.
While prudent strategical choices are made during pressure situations, put the following
fixes into operation away from the course.
Always start off with the tee peg drill above to re-align the downswing path
Use the drill as outlined above to re-align the downswing plane and thereafter consider
drills useful in closed clubface cases found in Hooking and including:-
Slow motion swinging.
The drill illustrated on the left is an excellent way to learn
how to release the clubhead in the square position.
Pull the club down in slow motion to the impact point 2 times in
a row. Each time concentrating on returning the clubhead square. On the
third swing, use the same action but swing at normal speed and allow the
club to follow through.
Repeated use of this drill will improve the player's appreciation
of release. Start by hitting short shots whilst keeping the sensation of
the drill in mind. Gradually increase the distance and length of club
until results are satisfactory.
Weaken the grip and tighten the pressure
Golf coaches refer to the left hand knuckle position in terms of weak or strong.
A strong grip is one where at least three knuckles can be seen by the player
during the address position. Standard grip is around two knuckles and a weak
grip would be one knuckle.
As with the other two shank types, once the above fixes have been employed use a gradual build up of
shots starting with a 60 yard
wedge shot and finishing with full 6 or 5 iron shots. Place masking tape onto the clubface
and examine after each shot until the problem is greatly reduced.
When the player is confident that non pressure situations have been mastered (to a fair degree)
then it is time to introduce normal shot-making decisions in pressure situations.
Remember, the shank is a deeply psychological phenomena and needs to be approached as such.
Do not exert extra pressure by high expectations (the shank arrives from nowhere and can take a long time to erase)
but look upon the cure as a long time thing which has ups as well as downs along the learning curve.
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