WHY YOU SHANK THE GOLF BALL (AND HOW TO FIX IT FOR GOOD)

One of the most common and frustrating faults in golf is the shank. The biggest reason golfers shank the ball is that the arms move away from the body on the backswing. When this happens, the hands are forced to push outward, and the clubhead gets working too far behind the body. From there, on the way down, this often leads to an over-the-top movement, which pushes the hands even further out towards the ball, resulting in contact off the heel of the club.

The key thing to understand is that a shank is almost always caused by a breakdown in the relationship between the arms and the body early in the swing. Once that connection is lost in the takeaway, it becomes extremely difficult to recover by the time you get back to impact. This is why so many players feel like the shank “comes out of nowhere,” when in reality, it has already been created in the first part of the swing.

The long-term fix for a shank is not a quick hand adjustment, but improving your takeaway. You need to focus on maintaining the same distance between your hands and your body right from the start of the swing up until the club reaches parallel to the ground. This is the most important checkpoint in building a consistent swing pattern.

When the club reaches parallel to the ground in the backswing, you want to see the clubhead and hands forming a straight line. This indicates that the structure of the swing is staying connected and the club is not being thrown behind the body. From here, the goal is to return the hands back through impact at the same distance they started from, maintaining that structure throughout the swing.

A very effective way to train this is by hitting a lot of half swings to parallel. Focus on controlling the takeaway, keeping everything connected, and checking that straight line position at the halfway point. Then rehearse returning the club back to impact while keeping the same spacing between your arms and body. This builds a repeatable pattern and removes the manipulation that causes shanks.

If you are struggling with the shank or need help fixing your golf swing, feel free to get in contact with David Waters Golf Coaching, located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.