[FASTLARRY]

SHANK, how to cure a Golf shank.

At some point in time it's happened to all of us...you have the perfect lie, perfect view, perfect wind, and everything is right for a fantastic shot at the center of the green. You survey the green, drop some grass to get just the right feel for the wind, set up in your stance, give it one last look, and then...you shank the ball! All that work for nothing. The ball goes off on a right angle right into the woods never to be seen again.

Or you can begin having what I call the semi shanks on your short game, or on short pitches where you leave the club face really open and the ball squirts off to the right.
You relax, it was a fluke and maybe it does not happen again, so shake it off. There is not a golfer alive that has not hit a few shanks. If he says he never did, he just lied to you.

But if it happens on the next shot, or on the next hole, dude, you are now in what I call double fooked dom. There is nothing that can so totally screw up a golfers head than the dreaded shanks. He would rather have a bad dose of the clap than them. And the bad news is they can be like a cancer and grow. The shank is like Murphy's Law, just waiting for the prime time, at the ultimate worst time to jump out and screw you blind. And, you mentally know it's there and you are actually waiting for it, expecting it. This can advance into a full head case where you begin talking in unknown tongues and buying every worthless gadget on the market.

To avoid this total mental contamination and debilitating crippling of your game you need to act fast.
Quit at the turn and go get the teaching pro and take a lesson to square your basics up and to find the cause of the problem. Get off the course. Do not let this problem get any worse. The shank is very embarrassing and you know everyone is laughing their ass off at you. Also, they don't want to play with you now also thinking it will spread and they might catch this dreaded disease. Keep shanking and you will become a virtual leaper with Aids Ebola TB carrier nobody will go near. If I get hooked up with a real disaster case, who is shanking, or fluffing shots, never stand in front of them, always be behind them. I turn my head when he plays and just do not watch him.

Yes, I think a bad swing is catching, just like a good one is. Monkey see, Monkey do. Everyone loved to play with Sam Sneed because they began to copy his smooth swing and perfect rhythm. I also played better the next day just by following him around. If you play with a bunch of real hackers with lousy swings, yes they will soon contaminate your swing. Just stop watching their swings. Close your eyes when they address the ball, when you heard wack, open your eyes.

You need to be on the range and not on the course lopping the heads off all those fine little furry gophers and killing snakes in the grass. Just stay on the range for a couple of days and play yourself out of it. Go to the farthest tee on the right side to hit. Then return to the course and using meditation to try and erase the memory of the shanks from your mind as if they never happened.

You will remember in the movie Tin Cup, on the driving range just before the start of the US Open; he gets the shanks and is firing balls at right 90 degree angles into the golfers. This is what can happen to you, when you try too hard, or tighten up your grip and lose the light feel of the club.

There used to be a saying that a shank is almost a perfect shot. In Tin Cup he is playing with the old Vip irons Nicklaus used in the 60's. I used Hagen Black and Wilson red dots. The poor player hits most of his shots out on the toe. The good player in the middle, but on those old irons, the true sweet spot was inside right of center and that meant the top player was always flirting with a shank because that was where he was trying to hit, closer to the hosel. Today’s irons are designed so you can miss now right of center and still have a good shot. There is no longer any need to hit inside or right of center. Therefore there are fewer shanks today by better players.

Simply put, a shank is when you hit the ball with the hosel of your club instead of the actual clubface. So, you are hitting the ball too close to the heel of the club, rather than the center of the clubface. Most likely your shot will fly off as a line drive directly away from your body.

Knowing what causes a shank is only part of the battle, coming up with an effective strategy to eliminate this is the difficult part. This article will focus on three main areas to help eliminate shank shots: clubface position at setup, weight distribution, and aim.

Clubface Position at Setup
The goal of any golf swing is to bring your club back to the exact position it started in when you make contact with the ball. So, it makes sense to ensure your club setup is correct. The first place to look is where the ball is compared to the clubface. Where is the ball aligned? More towards the heel or toe of the clubface? If you find yourself hitting a lot of shanks, perhaps you should align the ball more towards the toe of the club, to counter-balance any aberrations in your swing causing the clubface to come through farther away from your body when you started your swing.

Weight Distribution
I'm not talking about back-and-forth weight distribution, but "side-to-side". When you set up your stance, are you leaning back on your heels, or is there more pressure on your toes? If you feel yourself leaning back in your stance, away from the ball, then naturally you will try to counter-balance this and shift your weight towards your toes. This will most likely result in your clubface coming through farther away from your body on your downswing with more of a chance that the hosel will make contact with the ball and result in a shank.

Aim
The aim I'm referring to here is not where you want the ball to land, but rather what you are aiming at when swinging. Typically golfers focus on the center of the ball. If you are doing this, and you keep hitting shanks, then perhaps it is best to aim at the inside of the ball, or an imaginary ball that is just inside of the real ball. Try it! Put a ball on the ground and set up your shot as you normally would. Now put a second ball on the ground so that it is touching the first ball, but is closer to your body. Without moving your feet, set up to hit the second ball. Now, without moving the club, get rid of the second ball and take your normal swing, only try to hit the first ball.

Shanks are annoying and usually pop up at the most inopportune times. If you find you are hitting shanks too often, try one of the above techniques to ensure you are hitting the ball squarely on the clubface.

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