How To Cure a Shank in Golf?

When you stand too close to the golf ball, you tend to elevate your spine in the downswing and end up hitting the ball open-faced. If you are too far from the ball, you will lean toward the ball during the impact and move the hosel in the path of the ball.

The video below shows up different scenarios of setup before the golf swing. Take the correct posture according to the video. Land the clubhead square behind the ball. Now lean the club backward until it leans against your thigh. If the butt end of the club lands 1” above the knees, you are at the perfect distance. If you are too close, the butt end will rest farther up on your thigh.

In an effort to hit the ball straight, most golfers try an in-to-out path. But midway through it they realize that their swing path is too curved and try to compensate. In doing so, they inadvertently follow the out-to-in path. When you have an out-to-in swing path, the golf ball is hurtled to an arc to the right( for a left-handed golfer). This adds to the rotation of the closed face. The result? The ball is perfectly positioned for the Shank highway.

​The cure is to change the swing path to be more square. Here, you need to place an item like a smash bag or a club head cover right outside the target line. Now if you swing out-to-in with a closed clubface, you will hit the smash bag/headcover. You will instinctively try to hit a square arc to avoid the hurdle.

Golfers tend to close the clubface when they reach the top of the swing and then open it to make it square as it reaches the impact. But if they misjudge and open the clubface too much, the hosel will hit the ball and bang! Shank city!

The cure is to focus on your right palm( for right-handed golfers). When you take the downswing the right palm should be facing the turf rather than the sky. This automatically makes the clubface square. So practice the golf swing deliberately without a golf ball. Turn the palms every time in the downswing so that it faces down.

For a good swing, it’s important to maintain the spine angle throughout the swing. If you notice Rickie Fowler taking a swing, you will notice that his head stays on the same level all through the swing. His spine maintains the same angle throughout the swing.

Bill Schmedes details a very useful drill without any props for maintaining the spine angle and avoiding shank. This early extension drill prevents early rotation of hips in the downswing. This involves raising the left heel from the ground during the setup position. It remains raised through the backswing. You can plant the feet back on the ground during the downswing. This will help maintain the initial spine angle.

A hooked shot is caused by too strong a grip on the club. Whereas a shank can be caused by a very weak grip which causes the club to rotate in your claw. If it rotates hosel out, the ball may make contact with it and end in a shank.

In a weak grip, you can see 3-4 knuckles of the right hand and no knuckles of the left hand. Work on a neutral grip where you can see 1-2 knuckles each of the left and right hands. Your wrist doesn’t feel twisted either.

Do you take golf advice by heart and shift all the weight on your toes upon impact? It is difficult to game as it is without you dancing on your toes. Putting too much weight on the toes makes you lean forward and connect the hosel to the ball. And there’s a shank for you.

Here’s a small drill to prevent the weight transfer to the toes:

Curl the toes of the right leg(for right-handed golfers) at the setup. This helps channel the weight sideways through the body rather than forwards on your toes. Take the entire golf swing with the toes curled up until the right foot pivots on the toes.