OMG - the $h@nk$

[MarcKilgore]

Went to the indoor range for awhile last night and was crushing the ball - life is good. Grab my 8 iron to work on the short game a little bit... squirts off to the right.  What the heck?  Try it again - same thing.

 

Oh no.

 

There must be something wrong with the club! I pick it up and look at it like an idiot. Hmmm... mark on the hosel.  Must have been a fluke.

 

Grab the 4 iron... pure it - sigh of relief.

 

Pick up the 8 iron again.... oh no...  clang...

 

I put it back away with my heart pounding.

 

I know what causes it - heck, I remember learning HOW to hit a $h@nk, just so I could learn how to correct it if it ever happened.

 

What I can't figure out is, why did this just pop up out of the blue? The only thing I can think of is that I'd been working on a drill with the driver to get a more positive angle of attack and had slightly altered my swing. I probably lost focus, got sloppy, and had crept too close to the ball or had developed a slight outside-in move from that drill. 

 

The crazy thing is, my heart started pounding - it was like I had instantly forgot how to hit a golf ball. Has that every happened to any of you, where that panic sets in?  

 

Scary stuff!

 

 

I went back to the range to hit a few balls over lunch today - very nervous. Everything was back to normal. I have no idea what the heck happened yesterday, but that was the most scary, lonely moment with a golf club in my hand that I've ever experienced.

 

[hckymeyer]

[MarcKilgore]

LOL - I can totally identify with that moment in Tin Cup. 

[revkev]

What golfer can't?  I've actually seen Web Simpson hit a shank on a par 3 when he had the ball tee'd up.  It just happens.  Who knows why?

 

When it happens to me I find a safe club and try and hit shots with my feet together in a closed stance - that normally does the trick.

 

BTW this also speaks to a point that I made in another thread about trying to obtain a positive AoA - it's not as easy as everyone makes it out to be.

[whiskey golf]

If that ever happens I don't think too much about because it's just a fluke. I try to not let bad range sessions or warmups get to me before I play.

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

When a range I go to occasionally replaced their mats last year, they were plush and soft and had some give to them.  Same thing happened to me a couple of times when I was using the new mats.  When I noticed another guy with a pretty decent swing doing the same thing and looking most surprised, something occurred to me.  On the downswing, the give in the mat actually moved me down toward the ball a bit, resulting in the occasional sh__k.  Experimented a bit--that was it.  I could stop it by sitting on my heels a bit, but better yet, moved to one of the older mats and problem cured!  Probably a swing fault that I was leaning forward enough to have that effect, but that seemed to be the cause of the event.

 

New mats at your range???

[SeeRed]

What golfer can't?  I've actually seen Web Simpson hit a shank on a par 3 when he had the ball tee'd up.  It just happens.  Who knows why?

 

When it happens to me I find a safe club and try and hit shots with my feet together in a closed stance - that normally does the trick.

I'll second this fix. Oddly enough, I generally only run into this problem at ranges with mats, not on grass. Weird. It might happen a few times in rapid succession during warm ups, but the fix works and I try to forget about it.

[SeeRed]

"The crazy thing is, my heart started pounding - it was like I had instantly forgot how to hit a golf ball. Has that every happened to any of you, where that panic sets in?"

And to answer your question- Yes! And it wasn't nice.

[SMRT]

I think it is funny that everyone is treating "shank" as a bad word and not actually spelling it out. Usually what comes out of my mouth after a shank is what would need to be censored.

[HighFade]

I just got rid of them. Now I hate myself for reading this post.

[mr_divots]

Not just you. Last night, went down to the basement to chip a few balls onto the Big Moss.

Hadn't touched a club since my last round 12/1.

1st attempt? Yep.

2nd attempt? Yep.

I was brave enough to try a third time. Pathetic dribbler at least.

I put the wedge down and went back upstairs.

 

Funny what winter and a Laz-y-boy will do to a short game. lol!

Fortunately, the "affliction" left me when I tried again this morning. I have a feeling the rust will be thick those first couple times out. Eesh.

[JBones]

I really struggle with the shanks on my 50-100yd shots. Mine is caused by having an extreme inside out path. Like Rev, I've found that hitting those shots with my feet together cures it.

[revkev]

BTW the first shank that I saw at a US Open was a shank by Andy North. It was at shinnecock the first time there. Everyone thought the course wouldn't hold up. Guess what? It did.

[SeeRed]

I think it is funny that everyone is treating "shank" as a bad word and not actually spelling it out. Usually what comes out of my mouth after a shank is what would need to be censored.

You do realize, of course, that by uttering (or spelling) that dreaded word you are doomed. Tsk tsk tsk

[BIG STU]

OH my use of such a five letter word this early in the morning. I actually knew a guy and that was really his last name and he played golf

[The Artful Duffer]

$h@nk is still better than a whiff, at least that's what I tell myself before curling up in the fetal position in the cart and crying. Lol

[revkev]

$h@nk is still better than a whiff, at least that's what I tell myself before curling up in the fetal position in the cart and crying. Lol

Actually it's not.

[MarcKilgore]

I think it is funny that everyone is treating "shank" as a bad word and not actually spelling it out. Usually what comes out of my mouth after a shank is what would need to be censored.

Ok I was actually laughing out loud on that one.

[MarcKilgore]

OH my use of such a five letter word this early in the morning. I actually knew a guy and that was really his last name and he played golf

I'm sure that generated a plethora of comments that he could recite verbatim.

[SMRT]

So I said it too much and it happened! I was playing yesterday in a scramble and hitting my irons pretty well until a short little par 3 with water in between me and the hole and water in front of me as I took my stance. I start my swing, hit the ball and splash. Into the water directly in front of me. I just stared laughing and then I hear from one of the others, "I thought you might go in the water, but not that water."

 

Good Times! I will no longer use the S word in conversations.

[mnfats95]

I had a friend that doesn't play much anymore who would get this affliction every once in awhile. In fact the saddest (and funniest) event I've witnessed in all my golfing years involved him and 5 attempts to hit a 10 yard pitch shot onto a green.

 

He was 10 yards out directly in front of the green for the first attempt to get on in three on a par 5. If you think of the green as the face of a clock with 12 being the back of the green and 6 being the front, he went from 6, to 3, to 12, to 9, to 6 again, and finally managed to blade one up onto the green on his 5th try. He then made a 20 footer for a smooth 8.

 

Keep in mind he was about a 10 handicap at the time, and his short game was his problem obviously. Trying not to laugh as the profanity flowed from his mouth after each shot was a near impossible task, luckily it didn't happen again for the rest of the day as he might have thrown it in if it had.

 

Having never been afflicted with this problem I can't understand it, but I would probably be just as frustrated if it ever does happen.

[revkev]

Frankly I'm afraid to even look at this thread.

[SeeRed]

Frankly I'm afraid to even look at this thread.

Hahahahahaha...so was I.

[SeeRed]

So I said it too much and it happened! I was playing yesterday in a scramble and hitting my irons pretty well until a short little par 3 with water in between me and the hole and water in front of me as I took my stance. I start my swing, hit the ball and splash. Into the water directly in front of me. I just stared laughing and then I hear from one of the others, "I thought you might go in the water, but not that water."

 

Good Times! I will no longer use the S word in conversations.

Karma is a b****. You have paid your dues.