I think this is too technical, I’ve seen scratch markers hit shanks,with a perfect pivot.

If your not aligned to the target,eg aiming right, then you trying to hit the ball towards the target you will swing across the plane which cause a shank.

Also ball position if you have the ball way to far back in your stance the club drops to far inside the incline plane line and you shank.

To cure a shank adress the ball forward to your stance, and work on your aiming point with your hands. pivot has some play but not the full reason. if this is true why do we shank chips

Welcome to the forum Machine:)

Many people shank chips because of a bad pivot which throws the hands off on a plane that may be too flat- failure to clear the path to the inside aft quadrant of the ball from too ‘far’ inside of a motion vs the intended flight line.

As you point out, if the entire aiming procedure is too closed then its possible to push the hosel at the ball unless there is a lot of rolling action to square the face back up into it.

The more the ball is back in the stance the more upright of a swing plane is required to rid the ‘too far inside flat plane’.

Great players who shank fall into the same category as the rest of us when the wheels have fallen off. Either pivot is stuffed on that shot or clubface control went out the window for an instant. A duffed shot is a duffed shot no matter the playing status of who hit it:)

Moving the ball forward in the stance will not help you chip better as now you have added loft when most chips need less air time and more run time. Moving it forward will provide for a flat footed wedge shot, a no wrist cock pitch.

I noticed: How come when I use a Lobe wedge 60-64 VS a Sand Iron 54-56 or a Gap Wedge 50 -52*, I have a distinct chance of Shanking the Lob ?

The Sand and Gap seems to be a much safer club (at least for me) to play a high shot.

Scared of the Lob….

I noticed: How come when I use a Lobe wedge 60-64 VS a Sand Iron 54-56 or a Gap Wedge 50 -52*, I have a distinct chance of Shanking the Lob ?

The Sand and Gap seems to be a much safer club (at least for me) to play a high shot.

Scared of the Lob….

If Tiger plays Lefty will he be that good ?
You sure Square is Good ? Don’t Think So !
Good Golf Combines Fun and the Outdoors…What else more can U ask for ?

I’ve got two mates who have bought lob wedges in the past year or so. Their inability to consistently hit them has scared me off them too. They hit one great shot in five but continually try and hit them, even when there’s little trouble to get over.

I’ve been shanking a few shorter irons lately, mainly (but not only) on sidehill lies. Often above my feet, but sometimes below. The feeling that helps me avoid them is “clearing my hips before impact”, but it leads to inconsistent contact. Having my first lesson for several years tomorrow with a view to improving it.

Talk about perfect timing… had an attack of the shanks on the range today.. Mind you I was mighty tired and not really all there so before I declare a state of emergency,, I’ll give it another go.

The lob wedge is without doubt one of the easyiest clubs in the bag to hit badly. I think part of this is that when you hit a bad shot with a lobby it usually goes across the green at a rate of knots or worse, flies up in the air & lands back where it started destroying ones confidence rapidly. If there is one thing you need to hit a lob wedge well it is confidence.Most of my game at the moment is fairly average,fortunately my wedge game is still strong.The best solution is practice hitting different shots with different wedges to find which club(s) suite you best.

It’s Amazing how just a difference of ~ 4* of loft (between the sand and Lob Irons) can mean the difference between a ‘life saving’ shot and a bloody disaster !!

One really has to to have a good technique and mindset to hit the wedges consistently. I have hesitated getting a lob wedge myself but just don’t feel a strong need for it. The problem with wedges is that if you try at all to help the ball into the air, you can really screw up with them. They are meant to be used with a steep angle of attack with hands out in front and the loft of the club doing all the work to get the ball up. If you are not taking a really good divot with your wedges you aren’t doing it right. I have found the turn of the body is really important with the wedges. When taking those half or less swings I was always lazy about getting the body turned with my chest or belly pointing to the target. This really helps in my opinion. Hitting wedges is not easy.

Thanks I agree,but if the ball is more foward this allows you to have the correct aiming point? also wouldn’t your low point be further forward? When you speak about pivot, how much pivot?how many degrees should you pivot be at impact? And how do you measure this? how much Tilt should your pivot have at impact?
If you move the ball forward and you obtain a flat left wrist and bent right wrist at impact shouldn’t the loft of the club be at the correct loft, and the ball launch at the correct trajectory? In reality the correct launch angle is half the loft of the club?
Also if you get a higher flight why wouldn’t you use a lower lofted club?in stead of compensating put the ball back in your stance?

Hi Jambayla,
Your right about wedges aren’t easy to hit.The reason for this is there is less room for error with club head control. opening and closing your club face at impact.Or could be due to incorrect lie angle of clubs.Get your lie angles checked to ensure this isn’t causing the problem. If your lie angles are correct then, you need to work on club head control and educated hands. You need a body turn but a very small amount of body turn with wedges and pitch shots.Over turning causes bad club head control

Chipping pivots are simple. Its am arms only stroke with ‘the hands leading the pivot’. If the pivot leads then the hands get thrown away and shank city awaits. I actually showed this is one of our readers last night. Lots of light bulbs started flashing in his mind.

Have you ever shanked a putt? Highly unlikely. Chipping should be in the same category. Pitching with the ball mid stance or forward means you need a bit more coordination but not much.

If you muff a LW, I would look at your impact motions. Majority of golfers who hit them like stink bombs are flipping at the ball to try to hit the ball up rather than letting the loft do the job.

think guru got a good point there.
still in general terms the higher the loft the easier the shank.
I have seldom or never shank a 5, 6 , 7 or 8 Iron.

The 60 degree LW is an addictive club – when it gets practised.

I am detoxing having recently put mine into retirement as I now have 14 other clubs I want to hit and they only go to 56 degrees. I know I will be more consistent without the LW option but nowhere near as impressive chipping over bunkers (when I got it right!). My big problem with the addiction was I used the LW far more than I should have and added several more putts to the round. I now practise the same chips with the 48,52 & 56 models and am getting better rolls to the pin.

I shank when I get lazy or nervous. I can cure both ailments.

What is it that makes the LW so hard to hit? I find it is my most reliable club from 80m and in. I guess everyones golf game is different and therefore people have different weaknesses, but its a very very handy club!

I had the noose out and everything, just when i’d lost all hope I stumbled over this thread.
Over the last few days since that really nice shot I hit, I have not been able to hit a ball without getting atleast some purchase on the hosel.
I was at my wits end contemplating a break to unlearn the shank or maybe to fork out for a lesson or something then I read this thread. I read curing the shanks part 2 and about 80% flew at 40,000 feet over my head, what I did find important is “why” people shank the ball? up until this point the fact it was struck in the hosel was about the limit of my understanding.
Well it’s obvious now, your hands and hips really do cause alot of trouble being in the same place at the same time. After reading and getting a basic understanding I knew then what i was looking for when i viewed the tape of my swing, sure enough I was living in Shanksville.
I corrected posture, ball position, shoulder alignment and most importantly I made sure i completed a full hip rotation in the back swing, rather than a slide.
I hit 100 balls with a six and eight iron and didn’t shank one. It is so satisfying when you can fix problems for yourself, it makes the learning sink in that little bit deeper; if someone had shown me what to do I would be shanking again in three months. I have learnt an important lesson today, best of all I know what to do if they decide to come back.
Have decided to play comp tomorrow as i have lost the fear of embarassment, we’ll see how i go.

Chris81: Once again the most important part “getting the concept of something to be able to do something knowing why and what and how” made its way through into your noodle.

Once the concept is accepted, the doing becomes easier as you know you can hang your hat on an idea that will not ever change. You may shank a ball still but you will not be scared by it any more as you know how to cure it. At worst you can get a pro’s help with “how do I drill to avoid X motion”

Thanks for sharing that little experience.

Hi Jambayla,
Your right about wedges aren’t easy to hit.The reason for this is there is less room for error with club head control. opening and closing your club face at impact.Or could be due to incorrect lie angle of clubs.Get your lie angles checked to ensure this isn’t causing the problem. If your lie angles are correct then, you need to work on club head control and educated hands. You need a body turn but a very small amount of body turn with wedges and pitch shots.Over turning causes bad club head control

Little or no turn with a chip or very short pitch but generally with a pitch I think a full body turn forward, not back, is essential. At least the way I pitch.