A shank in the golf ball is one of the most feared and also one of the most common bad shots in golf. Hitting the golf ball right into the neck part of the golf club here or heel strike, but then if you hit the hosel of the golf club first, the curve part, it results in a shot that shoots straight out sideways almost 90 degree to the right of the golfer, sometimes low across the floor and accompanied by a funny sort of double clicking noise. Now if you’re prone to hitting the shanks, there will be a technical reason for this, it will be that your swing path is coming over the top, your hands are escaping away from your body and your hands move out too far. So you set up here, you hit the golf ball here. So if from the front end angle you set up here, you hit the golf ball here. It might be that you’re too close. It might be that you’re off balance. And if you’re prone to the shanks, one of the things that you could look at is actually using golf clubs that don’t have such a big hosel, such a prominent hosel position.

Now generally fairway woods and hybrid clubs, have a hosel that’s positioned a little bit farther up and out of the way with a flatter and slightly bigger face. So if you’re prone to hitting the shank shot particularly with your long irons, I would encourage you to actually remove the long irons out of your bag, put fair way woods and hybrid clubs in your bag instead. And then if you do get a bit forwards in the downs swinging your hands do go out towards the ball pushing the hosel into the ball, at least the fair way wood without the hosel won’t cause such a bad shot. So try and improve your technique to reduce the shanks, but if you still struggle, have a look at taking out the long irons and replacing them with a good quality hybrid club.