SHANKS … THE CAUSES & THE FIXES

PGA teaching professional Christian Small shows how to get rid of the dreaded shank.

THE dreaded shank is not an affliction restricted to mid- or high-handicappers. Every golfer can hit a shank, but the cause of that shank does vary depending on your ability and swing path.

Better players generally swing the club on an inside-the-target-line path to the ball, whereas players with a higher handicap, more often than not, attack the ball with an outside-to-inside swing path. Both swing paths can result in a shank. The common thread between all players who hit a shank is they are starting their downswing from the top by doing one of three things – transferring their weight, turning their shoulders or driving their hips.

If, for example, your first thought to start the downswing is to drive your hips towards the target, then the club drops down way inside (pics 1 & 2), almost behind your body, and will cause a shank or, at best, a massive blocked shot.

A high handicapper is more likely to turn their shoulders or transfer their weight first to start the downswing. This causes the club to move way outside the ideal swing path, or outside the line (pics 3 & 4), and the hosel of the club inevitably leads into the ball … causing a shank.

Note how, with both swings, the hands have already passed the impact point (pics 1 & 3). That’s what a shank looks like.

The one thing any player prone to shanks needs to understand is that from the top of the backswing the right wrist and arm (for right-handers) need to unhinge a little earlier in the downswing to allow the shaft and clubface to come back to impact in the square position.

The good player, for example, who gets

One thing any player prone to shanks needs to understand is that from the top of the backswing the right wrist and arm need to unhinge a little earlier in

the downswing.

their bent right arm in close to their body on the downswing can sometimes get stuck. They need to flip the hands through impact, causing a hook, or, in some cases, they hit a shank or a block, depending on their hand movement at impact.

By unhinging the right wrist and arm sooner in the downswing, yet still swinging on an ideal inside path into the ball (pics 5, 6,7 & 8), there will be no loss of power and there will be no chance of a shank, hook or blocked shot.

For the higher handicapper, the fix is the same. They need to feel the right wrist and arm release the club more in the downswing to square the face up. At first, you might hit some strong pulled shots, but once you have gotten rid of the shank you can work on correcting your swing path to be more inside, rather than across, the target line.