Help with sh@nks on short pitches…

[LeftDaddy]

I used to have a really solid short game, but a full year ago I developed a bad case of chip shanks and short-pitch shot shanks. I’ve had it happen before but I “cured” it in about a month. 
 

This time, though, I’m a full year in to it and still struggling with it. I’ve made some fixes here and there that worked for a little bit, but if I for one second stop thinking mechanics (and try to just feel the shot), I’ll shank it for sure. I don’t want to jinx it but I think I’ve put the chip shanks into remission, and I can hit 50 practice pitches and only shank 2, but get me on the course having to hit a real shot and I’ll shank it for sure.
 

Any tips out there?  For reference, I have a very inside-out swing path tendency that I continue to work on curing. I also have a bit of an inside takeaway tendency, though again I’m hard at work fixing that. I’ve recently learned how to use the bounce for chipping and that is the best thing ever. But with the pitches I guess I get too “handsy” or “armsy” and the shanks come back. Would appreciate any help / thoughts!

[MelloYello]

An open face wedge shot using a cutting-action (swinging too far left) is a recipe for a shank. 

 

- Too much out-to-in? 

- Face to wide open? 

- Standing too close? 

- Leaning too much toward the target? 

 

It's a common mistake to make. You just have to guard against it by making sure you manage your setup / swing. 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by MelloYello

[LeftDaddy]

2 hours ago, MelloYello said:

An open face wedge shot using a cutting-action (swinging too far left) is a recipe for a shank. 

 

- Too much out-to-in? 

- Face to wide open? 

- Standing too close? 

- Leaning too much toward the target? 

 

It's a common mistake to make. You just have to guard against it by making sure you manage your setup / swing. 

 

 

Yep, though for me the issue is too much in-to-out action even on these shots. Last time I “fixed” this, I shut the face more and fixed my balance. I’ve tried both of those fixes this time and they don’t help at all. 
 

One thing that seems to be helpful at the moment is feeling like my shoulders/chest get wide open to the target at impact. The feel for me is to “throw” the club head forward with my hands back and with body rotation. When it works it yields these wonderfully soft and lofted pitch shots, and feels like my trail arm just kinda throws the ball to where I want it to go. 
 

Anyway, keep the thoughts coming…I’ll keep at it. 

[MelloYello]

3 minutes ago, LeftDaddy said:

Yep, though for me the issue is too much in-to-out action even on these shots. Last time I “fixed” this, I shut the face more and fixed my balance. I’ve tried both of those fixes this time and they don’t help at all. 
 

One thing that seems to be helpful at the moment is feeling like my shoulders/chest get wide open to the target at impact. The feel for me is to “throw” the club head forward with my hands back and with body rotation. When it works it yields these wonderfully soft and lofted pitch shots, and feels like my trail arm just kinda throws the ball to where I want it to go. 
 

Anyway, keep the thoughts coming…I’ll keep at it. 

 

I'd be wary of following just feel. Nobody quite knows what they're doing exactly. That takes a lot of high-tech measurement and camera work. You only know what it feels like you're doing. So again, I'd be wary of building a swing purely based on combining and comparing feels. 

 

The best thing for strike work is to throw two tees in the ground. Create a gate with the ball in the middle. Force yourself to move the club through that gate as you chip or swing. It works wonders for ball-striking on the range. It helps provide immediate feedback and it forces you to focus on the strike. It's easy to get lazy otherwise. 

 

 

[wagolfer7]

5 minutes ago, LeftDaddy said:

Yep, though for me the issue is too much in-to-out action even on these shots. Last time I “fixed” this, I shut the face more and fixed my balance. I’ve tried both of those fixes this time and they don’t help at all. 
 

One thing that seems to be helpful at the moment is feeling like my shoulders/chest get wide open to the target at impact. The feel for me is to “throw” the club head forward with my hands back and with body rotation. When it works it yields these wonderfully soft and lofted pitch shots, and feels like my trail arm just kinda throws the ball to where I want it to go. 
 

Anyway, keep the thoughts coming…I’ll keep at it. 

 

Check your alignment first.  Open stance with in-out tendencies = shank city. 

 

Either match your stance to your swing path.  So you don't shank it. 

 

Or look at getting a more neutral or even outside to in path with chipping.  If that's the case, then you do want a slightly open stance and make sure you swing along that path on the follow through. 

 

A lot of players like an inside takeaway chipping because there not as steep (easier to keep it lower to the ground).  You can accomplish the same thing without going inside, just keep the club head lower to the ground on takeaway.  If you have a bad lie or in deep rough and need to a steeper attack - simply put more pressure on your lead side at setup and do the same thing (still try to keep the clubhead low).   

 

Obviously video would help with any accurate assessment.  The above is just guessing on common issues I've seen.  

[riddyl]

I've been exactly where you are. One thing that helped me quite quickly was to get a small piece of PVC pipe and put it just outside the ball. As long as the club doesn't hit the pipe you can't shank it. I found this helpful to get the feel of something resembling the correct path, and building confidence. 

 

As ever, though, you're best off getting a lesson as there are a myriad of reasons why you might be shanking. 12 months ago I was hitting a shank pitch shot every 4th or 5th ball. Now I gain strokes vs a scratch hcp around the green (I'm around a 6). It can be overcome :). 

[MonteScheinblum]

One big thing I see that causes this is over acceleration.  

[LeftDaddy]

I went to the short game practice area at my club today, and hit at least 100 balls. I shanked probably 80 of them. I was so frustrated. I tried everything I could think of. One thing I could tell was that I was too handsy. I tried to keep the hands back and rotate my body, and that helped but I still didn’t get rid of the handsiness. I then did this move where I locked my arms onto my body and just rotated around my body back and through. I hit 50 chips that way and didn’t shank a single one. I then tried to pitch that way and shanked 5 in a row. 
 

I gave up and went and hit some full shots, and noticed that my top hand grip had weakened a lot (it is the weirdest tendency that I can’t seem to fix permanently…it rotates weaker by 45 degrees over a period of time).  Anyway, I strengthened the grip and started hitting my full shots straight as an arrow. 
 

I then went back to the practice area with the stronger grip, and hit probably 50 chips and pitches…didn’t shank a single one. 
 

Anyway, we will see how long it lasts, but thanks again for all of the thoughts. I’ve seen an instructor, and the main issue is that I get under the plane going back and through. I have to consciously try to steepen the shaft on the way back which helps everything. 

[Haroputt]

Couple of changes that help when I get the short game shank is depending on the type of shot. one.  It’s a longer chip and I try to force the swing will cause a shank for me 

I will address off the toe. This will consciously make me aware that I am will be leading with the toe rather than heel

Two. If I get too steep but still want to lead with the heel for example deep bunker. then I squat and bring my hands lower.  I can swing more square and less out to in. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Haroputt

[8milespast]

 Standing closer to the ball makes an in-to-out path almost impossible 

[Hawkeye77]

16 hours ago, LeftDaddy said:

Yep, though for me the issue is too much in-to-out action even on these shots. Last time I “fixed” this, I shut the face more and fixed my balance. I’ve tried both of those fixes this time and they don’t help at all. 
 

One thing that seems to be helpful at the moment is feeling like my shoulders/chest get wide open to the target at impact. The feel for me is to “throw” the club head forward with my hands back and with body rotation. When it works it yields these wonderfully soft and lofted pitch shots, and feels like my trail arm just kinda throws the ball to where I want it to go. 
 

Anyway, keep the thoughts coming…I’ll keep at it. 

Wide open at impact and you think you are rotating through? I think you are throwing the club face wide open which is where it wants to go? Also, I don’t know if you are but you are almost describing a timed flip vs. a toss, but maybe you swing is perfect on video and this is all just your feel. And that could be. 
 

No instructor but for me - I complete a little turn without too much hips, just enough, and have to make sure my right shoulder keeps moving through impact and release - when I’m hitting a few right this is where I go. A little into the left side and my feet are a little open at address, but I need the feel of getting my right shoulder over my left foot coming through the ball. But that’s my feel. I do confirm with video when things are off. 
 

YMMV

Edited March 17, 2022 by Hawkeye77

[dblinden]

Now that you have 73 different tips from people who have never seen you, you basically have two options. Either try all of them simultaneously or all of them sequentially to see what works best. Probably a lot less time to try them all at once. 

 

Really just a comment about seeking and obtaining blind advice.

[LeftDaddy]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Wide open at impact and you think you are rotating through? I think you are throwing the club face wide open which is where it wants to go? Also, I don’t know if you are but you are almost describing a timed flip vs. a toss, but maybe you swing is perfect on video and this is all just your feel. And that could be. 
 

No instructor but for me - I complete a little turn without too much hips, just enough, and have to make sure my right shoulder keeps moving through impact and release - when I’m hitting a few right this is where I go. A little into the left side and my feet are a little open at address, but I need the feel of getting my right shoulder over my left foot coming through the ball. But that’s my feel. I do confirm with video when things are off. 
 

YMMV

Thanks. My lead hand grip gets really weak over time. My face isn’t necessarily that wide open due to other compensations that start to creep in, but apparently I’ve had a super weak lead hand for years, and apparently this is harder to fix than just strengthening my grip. I strengthen it, and it works great for a while, and then all of a sudden one day I start to lose my shots a little left (lefty), or my miss starts to become a two-way miss. It only really happens with driver and sometimes 3w. This is all confirmed with my instructor and on video.
 

I check and recheck my grip pretty much constantly, but somehow it reverts to what feels “right”. Sometimes I’ll grip it what feels like dead shut, I’ll stand over the ball to hit, and then I’ll subconsciously start adjusting it back. I only notice after the swing when I’m like “why did I feel like the face was open?”  I’ll check and there it is again…weak lead hand grip. 
 

Anyway, that should be a relatively easy problem to fix. And I just checked some video and noticed that I’ve slowly started to creep back to my hip slide. Ugh. I had it under control for a few weeks and it is coming back again. The fix, for me, is to feel like I’m smothering the ball with my shoulders wide open and the club is well outside the target line and way over the top. When you’ve been as inside-out as I have been for so many years, what feels like massively over the top is just slightly in-to-out lol. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by LeftDaddy

[LeftDaddy]

5 minutes ago, dblinden said:

Now that you have 73 different tips from people who have never seen you, you basically have two options. Either try all of them simultaneously or all of them sequentially to see what works best. Probably a lot less time to try them all at once. 

 

Really just a comment about seeking and obtaining blind advice.

Lol. Good point, though I’m good at filtering things before I try something. I also know the golf swing reasonably well, and know my swing too.  These pitch shanks are just so frustrating, and I just thought someone somewhere might have experience working through a similar issue and solving it. 
 

I can see what is happening on video…the fix is sometimes a lot harder though. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by LeftDaddy

[Hawkeye77]

Monte’s Use The Bounce 2.0 is so good for the foundation of motion for pitching. 

[texas_tom]

My sh%^$#s always occur from using a quick whip motion, all hands and flicking at the ball. If I treat it like a low kinda flat takeaway and continue all the way through the impact with some release and even a little turn.. it all works. I just have to treat it like a little bity swing. I only mess up if I try and hand punch it or snap it or something different. 

[LeftDaddy]

7 hours ago, 68onFriday said:

 

Might need to have someone with experienced eyes take a look.  I don't know anyone with a 'really solid short game' that would take more than a ball or two to get back on the rails, certainly not a month, or even linger for a year. 

Yeah I guess my definitions might be a little off. At one time I had a “reliable” short game, especially chipping. I don’t anymore, for sure. 

[Hackinator]

I had a case of the chip shanks a while back, and it was so frustrating because I was making such a short stroke.

 

I believe the main cause for me , was i was dragging the handle thru the shot using all arms and a static body.

I was being very armsy.

 

I started chipping with a 100% body controlled motion where the body turn carries the arms back and the body turn carries the arms thru.

This works really great for me..  This would be purely for chip shots.  But the entire swing is powered by the body not the arms.

 

My wrists are *NOT* setting during this entire motion.

 

Maybe this helps.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Hackinator

[LeftDaddy]

Thanks for all of the thoughts, everyone. I “fixed” it today. I have a tendency to get too over my toes. I got my weight further back and shanks immediately disappeared. I could hit any type of short pitch I wanted.  I could hit flops off of tight lies with no problem, etc. What is so annoying is that this is what caused the chip shanks for me 5 or 6 years ago. I thought I had checked my weight distribution, but apparently not lol. 

[chadly643]

Glad to hear you get to the bottom it!

 

One more thought to explore that might be more future proof is to approach it from a skill standpoint rather than a technique standpoint. Adam Young talks about this often:

 

There is certainly a technical component to heel shots. Fix the technique and you may fix the error. The challenge is figuring out how to fix the technique. This is a complicated ball of yarn to unravel. Another option is to work on the skill of moving the strike location on the face and allowing your body to self organize the movements necessary. Spray the face of your wedge with some foot spray and practice trying to make contact along different parts of the face. You will naturally learn the movements necessary to move the strike location. This way if it comes up again in the future you don’t have to again figure out the technical error and then resolve it, you just use your learned skills to move the strike out closer to the toe. 

[LeftDaddy]

11 hours ago, chadly643 said:

Glad to hear you get to the bottom it!

 

One more thought to explore that might be more future proof is to approach it from a skill standpoint rather than a technique standpoint. Adam Young talks about this often:

 

There is certainly a technical component to heel shots. Fix the technique and you may fix the error. The challenge is figuring out how to fix the technique. This is a complicated ball of yarn to unravel. Another option is to work on the skill of moving the strike location on the face and allowing your body to self organize the movements necessary. Spray the face of your wedge with some foot spray and practice trying to make contact along different parts of the face. You will naturally learn the movements necessary to move the strike location. This way if it comes up again in the future you don’t have to again figure out the technical error and then resolve it, you just use your learned skills to move the strike out closer to the toe. 

Good suggestion. I’ve read Adam’s book. It makes sense conceptually, and I went down a practice path with this particular idea a couple of years ago. I guess I didn’t do it right, because it never yielded much fruit. I even hit about 50 putts a day varying my strike location in the hope that I would then be able to dial in center strikes. But it never worked. And then I changed my putting technique and all of a sudden, sweet spot city. 
 

Anyway, it’s worth a try given how much of a struggle this has been. Thanks for reminding me of it!