How to Stop Shanking
The shank is probably the most hilarious shot in golf — unless you’re the one making it! If you don’t want to be in any more of your golf buddy’s funny video clips of embarrassing golf shots, then it’s time to stop shanking.
A shank occurs when the ball is hit with the neck of the club or the hosel, the part of the club where the club head joins the shaft. A shank ends up with the ball screaming or dribbling off to the right (or to the left, for left handed golfers) and really going nowhere.
Even pros hit an occasional shank. Even Tiger Woods has shanked one off the tee in tournament play. A shank is so bad it isn’t even a real golf shot. But the bad news is that it counts as a shot. Every shank is a wasted shot that adds to your scores, and kills your game and your confidence. But even if you’re a regular shankapotomus, you can stop shanking.
There are two major causes of shanking:
1) A problem with the set up
2) A problem with the swing
The Set Up
One of the most common causes of shanking is standing too close to the ball. If you’re standing even ½-inch too close, the sweet spot of the club head is too far ahead of the ball and the heel or hosel of the club is in line with it. In other words, with your normal swing, the hosel of the club hits the ball because that’s what’s in line with it. Backing up just a little bit will put the sweet spot of the club head in line with the ball and make you stop shanking.
Your forearms should be extended, with the left arm being straight (for right-handed golfers). (See our tips for left handed golfers.) If your elbows are bent, you’re probably standing too close to the ball.
If your elbows are bent, slowly move your feet back until your arms are straight. Make sure you remember to keep your weight off your toes because that leads to another shanking problem.
The Swing
One of the problems with the swing that leads to shanking is weight shifting too far forward on the toes. This shifts your body — and arms, in particular — beyond the ball and has the same effect as if the arms move too far ahead. The hosel ends up coming into contact with the ball instead of the center of the club head.
A similar cause of shanking is that the arms move too far forward in the swing. As a result, the sweet spot of the club is too far past the ball at impact and the hosel of the club impacts the ball instead. This is the same problem as setting up incorrectly to begin with. Practice maintaining your normal swing plane. If you can’t keep your arms in line with the ball during the swing, then you should stand a little bit back from the ball at set up. Even if the line looks too far inside the ball at set up, when your arms move forward during the swing, it should put your swing plane in line with the ball at impact. Really. Try it!
Another cause for the notorious shank is improper weight distribution. It’s critical that your weight shifts from your back leg to your front leg (the one closest to the hole) before you start your downswing.
The next cause of shanking the ball is an incorrect swing plane, even though your set up is correct. An inside-to-outside or outside-to-inside swing plane that leads with the hosel will result in a shank. Practice a good, straight swing plane that keeps the sweet spot of the club head in line with the ball throughout the swing.
To stop shanking the ball, go through each of these steps and try to determine which one is the cause of your problem. Once you know the cause you can begin to solve it, and solving a shank problem is time well spent!
With concentration and practice, you can learn how to stop shanking and drop your scores significantly. Never be called a shankapotomus again!