A shank in golf happens when the ball flies out sideways off the hosel of the club, usually straight out to the right for a right-handed golfer. Yes, you can stop the shanks! Fixing this frustrating problem involves looking closely at your grip, stance, swing path, and contact point.
The shank is one of the most dreaded shots in golf. It happens suddenly and sends the ball screaming sideways, often into trouble. It feels awful to hit. Many golfers wonder, why do I shank the golf ball? Often, the root cause is a breakdown in the connection between your hands and the clubface, or a swing path that moves too far away from the body. Let’s dig into how to make this awful shot a rare visitor in your game.
Deciphering the Shank: What Causes This Mishap?
To fix the shank, we must first pinpoint why it happens. A shank occurs when the ball strikes the hosel (the part where the shaft meets the clubhead). This contact sends the ball on a low, weak trajectory nearly perpendicular to the target line.
The main culprit is often an outside-in swing path combined with an open clubface at impact. However, the physical mechanics leading to this often stem from issues much earlier in the swing.
Common Physical Triggers for Shanking
Several physical faults can set the stage for a shank. Think of these as the dominoes that fall right before the ball hits the hosel.
- Poor Hand Action: If your hands flip too early or your lead wrist breaks down (caves in), the clubface can get violently open, pushing the hosel toward the ball at impact.
- Standing Too Close to the Ball: If you are too close to the ball at address, you run out of room during the downswing. Your arms have nowhere to go but out and away from your body. This forces the clubhead out, leading to an outside path and a hosel strike.
- Casting or Early Release: This is when you throw the clubhead from the top of the swing. It causes the hands to get ahead of the clubhead too soon, often leading to a steep angle of attack and the club moving away from the body.
Swing Path Issues Leading to Hosel Strikes
While the physical setup is vital, the motion of the club is the immediate cause. To achieve solid contact, you need an inside-out golf swing drill mentality, or at least a path that moves toward the target, not away from it.
When the club travels too far outside the target line during the downswing, it forces the golfer to adjust. Often, the body pulls away from the ball to make room. This pulling action moves the hands and the clubhead away from the chest, ensuring the hosel strikes the ball instead of the sweet spot. If you struggle with a consistent golf slice correction, you might find that shanking is an extreme version of that slice motion.
Grip Adjustments to Prevent Shanking
Your grip is the crucial link between you and the club. A flawed grip can mandate a poor swing. For many golfers trying to achieve a golf slice correction, a weak grip is the silent enemy that causes shanks.
Strengthening Your Grip
A weak grip (where the left hand, for right-handers, is turned too far to the right, showing few knuckles) makes it hard to square the face. When the face is weak, you might subconsciously try to save the shot by aggressively rolling your hands over. This often leads to mishits off the heel or, worse, the hosel.
How to check your grip for shank prevention:
- Look at your left hand (for righties). You should see two or three knuckles when you look down at address.
- The V’s Check: The “V” shape made by your thumb and index finger on both hands should point roughly toward your right shoulder.
A slightly stronger grip can help keep the face flatter through impact. This change often helps stop slicing golf ball behavior, which is frequently linked to the shank.
The Importance of the Lead Hand
The lead hand controls the clubface angle. If your lead wrist bows backward (cups) too much during the backswing or transition, it sets up a scenario where the club must travel outside the body on the downswing. Experiment with feeling a flatter or slightly bowed lead wrist to promote a more neutral impact position.
Stance and Posture: Creating Space to Swing
If you have no room to swing, the club has to go somewhere—and often that “somewhere” is out and away from your body, leading to a shank. This relates directly to standing too close to the ball.
Checking Your Ball Position and Setup
The correct setup gives your arms the space they need to drop into the slot.
| Fault | Effect on Swing | Correction Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Too Close to the Ball | Arms jam, forcing the club outside on the downswing. | Move away from the ball until the shaft leans slightly toward the target. |
| Ball Too Far Forward (with an Iron) | Encourages an uphill swing plane, often leading to casting. | Position the ball more central for short irons, slightly forward for long irons. |
| Standing Too Upright | Limits hip turn, forcing arms to compensate outward. | Flex knees more and hinge properly from the hips. |
When you are setting up, imagine a string pulling your chest slightly away from the ball at address. This pre-sets the necessary space. Proper posture is key to fixing a slice in golf and preventing the shank.
The Downswing: Mastering the Drop
The transition from the backswing to the downswing is where most shanks are born. You need the club to drop down and in towards the ball, not slide out and away. This is crucial for achieving an inside-out golf swing path for no slice.
Feeling the Drop, Not the Throw
Many amateurs try to hit the ball hard by initiating the downswing with their arms and shoulders—this is called “casting” or an early release. This action pushes the hands away from the body.
Instead, focus on starting the downswing with your lower body. The hips should start turning toward the target before the upper body starts moving aggressively down. This sequence allows the arms to drop naturally on a slot inside the target line.
Drills to Feel the Correct Drop:
- The Step Drill: Take your normal swing, but when starting down, step slightly with your lead foot toward the target. Focus on the weight shifting first. This prevents the upper body from firing too soon.
- The Pump Drill: From the top of your backswing, pause. Then, let your arms “pump” down slightly, moving the clubhead behind you (more towards your trail hip) before swinging through. This exaggerates the feeling of dropping the club into the slot rather than throwing it out.
If you can master this internal feeling, you’ll be well on your way to effective golf ball flight path correction.
Contact and Impact: Hitting the Sweet Spot Consistently
Even with a good swing path, poor impact mechanics can still lead to a shank. This often involves how the hands interact with the ground and the ball.
Avoiding the Fat and Thin Connection
Shanks often happen when golfers panic about hitting the ball fat (hitting the ground first) or thin (hitting the top half). In an attempt to “lift” the ball, they often pull their body away from the shot.
- To stop hitting it fat and thin: Focus on maintaining spine angle through impact. Imagine your chest staying centered over the ball, rather than rising up to scoop it. The low point of the swing arc should be on or just after the ball.
When the body pulls away to avoid hitting it fat, the arms extend outward. This extension forces the clubhead path to move away from the body, setting up that hosel strike.
The Importance of Extension
True extension means the arms are reaching toward the target after impact, not at impact. If you are reaching or throwing at impact to square the face, you are using too much speed too early. This fast hand action often results in the clubhead running into the hands, causing a shank.
Focus on letting the club unwind naturally as you rotate your body through the shot.
Mid-Swing Drills for Shank Eradication
Drills provide immediate feedback. Use these simple routines to rewire your swing mechanics and address the specific issues that cause shanking. These are excellent for any amateur golfer slice fix routine.
Drill 1: The Gate Drill for Path Control
This drill helps you feel the correct in-to-out path.
- Place one headcover or alignment stick just outside the ball, slightly ahead of it. This is the outside barrier.
- Place a second headcover or alignment stick slightly inside the ball, further ahead. This is the inside barrier.
- Your goal is to swing the club smoothly between these two “gates” and ensure the clubface makes contact squarely. If you swing too far outside, you hit the outside stick. If you over-correct and come too far inside, you hit the inside stick.
This drill teaches a shallow delivery, which is the antidote to the outside swing path that causes shanks.
Drill 2: The Towel Under the Trail Armpit
This is a classic drill for maintaining connection.
- Place a small hand towel or even a glove under your trail armpit (right armpit for a right-hander).
- Make half swings, focusing on keeping the towel pinned there throughout the backswing and into the downswing.
- If you “throw” your arms out or cast, the towel will fall out immediately. This forces you to keep your arms connected to your torso rotation. Connection prevents the arms from straying too far away from the body, which is a primary cause of shanking.
Drill 3: Impact Bag Practice
If you have access to an impact bag (a specialized heavy bag), use it to train proper impact dynamics.
- Hit the bag gently, focusing purely on squaring the face at the moment of impact.
- Notice where you strike the bag. You want to feel the center of the clubface making solid contact. If you feel the hosel striking the bag, analyze your hands at that moment—they are likely flipping or too far ahead.
Addressing Specific Equipment Issues
Sometimes, the equipment is fighting against you. A poorly fitted club can make it much harder to achieve solid contact.
Lie Angle and Club Length
If your clubs are too upright (the toe points too much to the sky at address), it can encourage the heel to lift during the swing, leading to the hosel striking the ground first or leading to an open face. Conversely, if the lie angle is too flat, the toe digs, forcing the hands to roll over to compensate, which can also lead to mishits.
- Testing Lie Angle: Have a fitter check your lie angle. Incorrect lie angle is a common, overlooked reason for persistent mishits. A proper lie angle helps ensure that the sole of the club sits flat on the ground, promoting a square strike.
Shaft Flex
If your shaft is too stiff, it can slow down your hands relative to the head, leading to an open face at impact. If it’s too flexible, it can cause the clubhead to lag excessively, forcing you to aggressively flip your hands to square up, increasing the risk of a shank.
Mental Game: Staying Calm Through Impact
The shank often generates fear. Once you shank one, you anticipate it on the next shot. This fear causes tension, and tension kills smooth motion.
Trust the Process
If you have worked on your setup and practiced the inside-out feeling, you must trust that motion when you step to the ball.
- Commit to the Target: Pick a specific spot on the ground just in front of the ball where you want the club to pass. Focus only on hitting that spot smoothly.
- Tempo is Key: A jerky, fast transition guarantees tension. Slow your backswing down slightly. A smooth tempo naturally promotes better sequencing and keeps the club on plane. A smooth swing is a prerequisite for an inside-out golf swing drill success.
Summary Checklist for Shank Avoidance
Use this quick reference guide before every shot when you are working on this correction.
| Area | Key Action to Prevent Shanks | Focus Point |
|---|---|---|
| Grip | Ensure a neutral to slightly strong grip. Check knuckles. | Secure connection between hands and clubface. |
| Setup | Create adequate space between your body and the ball. | Avoid standing too close; let arms hang naturally. |
| Transition | Start the downswing with the lower body turn. | Feel the club drop down and in (slot), not slide out. |
| Impact | Maintain posture and avoid rising up or swaying away. | Allow arms to extend towards the target after contact. |
| Drills | Practice regular towel drills or gate drills. | Build muscle memory for the correct path. |
Stopping the shank is not about one magical fix. It requires coordinating your grip, posture, and swing path into a single, connected movement. By focusing on creating space at address and ensuring the club drops into the slot during transition, you move toward a reliable, sweet-spot strike every time. This consistent contact will dramatically improve your golf slice correction efforts overall.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Can a bad golf grip cause me to shank the ball?
A: Yes, a grip that is too weak often forces the golfer to manipulate the clubface excessively through impact, which can result in a hosel strike (shank). Strengthening the grip slightly can help stabilize the face.
Q: Is shanking more common with a specific club?
A: Shanks are very common with shorter irons (wedges and 9-irons) because the shorter shaft makes it easier to pull the hands away from the body during the downswing, especially if the golfer is trying too hard to lift the ball.
Q: If I fix my slice, will the shanks go away?
A: Often, yes. Shanking is frequently an extreme manifestation of an outside-in swing path. If you successfully implement an inside-out golf swing drill and correct your path (which fixes the slice), the major mechanical cause of the shank is removed.
Q: How can I stop hitting it fat and thin while trying to stop shanking?
A: The tendency to pull away from the ball to avoid hitting it fat often causes the shank. To fix both, focus intently on keeping your chest centered over the ball through impact. Imagine turning through the shot rather than standing up out of it. This maintains your spine angle and keeps the club on a more consistent path.