Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro

We are going to discuss here what a shank is and the problems that, that will cause, a problem that’s occurring in your swing and how to correct it for you. A shank is probably one of the most demoralizing shots to hit when you are playing golf, because it just really doesn’t get any height in it, it flies very low to the ground and it flies really aggressively to the right. And people can feel that the shank, I mean shank is a disease, it isn’t at all, it’s just one golf shot that you don’t want to hit and once you understand what's causing it, it’s quite simple to fix it. So let's have a look at, what is actually causing you to hit a shank and the problem that you have got with your swing. And it’s also the ability to takeaway, so that’s that first movement away from the ball up to about waist height, so it’s this area here that’s leading to the problem of hitting that shank, that low shot that flies quite valiantly to the right.

What we are going to do here is I am just going to put an alignment pole in, just to help you get a good understanding of what's happening. Now when you hit a shank, if I am set up, when you hit a shank, a shank takeaway will be here, underneath this pole. You have got a very flat takeaway, the club head is moving around you too soon and too low an angle. And what that’s doing is, you are going to come back at the ball, from such an acute angle this way, with the clubface really pointing to the right, but the ball is just going to fly very low, it won’t get a lot height on it and it will really go to the right. So it’s quite simple to fix that, once you understand what's actually causing the club to come back to the ball in that manner. So a good tip for you would be, if you’ve got an alignment pole and a setup as we have done here, we want to see that the alignment pole is either coming out of the ground or out of the range basket, a really similar angle to have you set the shaft of the club at the addressed position. Okay, keep the club heads with the bottom of the pole is in line with the club head, and then actually swing back, take the club straight back to a longer target line towards the bottom of the pole. And then work on hinging your wrists to the club head comes up just above the pole.

So if you set that up, so that the pole is only two to three feet away from you, you will able to get a really good feel for how to move the club correctly and keep it over the pole, rather than if I just move a little bit further away, your more preferred movement of going under the pole and having that flatter take around. Another good way to work on that, if you don’t have an alignment pole, that would be – when you are at the range or when you are at home, just go to where there is an area with a wall, and if you stand with your back to the wall, just work on moving the club away to waist height without hitting the wall. Work on keeping the club head, this side of the wall in front of the wall, so that the shaft point is parallel, down the wall, but forwards of it. If you shank, you will want to hit the wall, you will want to bring the club head very quickly into that wall. So just practice taking the club head away, keeping it more on the target line and keeping it more out in front of where you are happy with it.

It will feel strange to start with, but if it feels strange, it means it’s different and if you are making a difference to the takeaway, you are going to get a different shot and you will end it saying that you have killed the shank and you are hitting a much straighter golf shot.