How To Recover From A Shank In Golf

The other day during my match I shanked a ball. Yup, both Misha and I were surprised. Actually, I was shocked! I rarely hit the ball that poorly (maybe twice a year), but it does occur when I least expect it. Physically, I recovered on my next shot, but mentally I was a bit disturbed for until the next tee. My mistake opened the door for Misha to take a commanding lead in the match and he was there to bounce as I would have done if the shoe was on the other foot. Regardless of the match results, recovering from a shank can be difficult, but manageable and here is how.

First, if you are wondering: “A shank occurs when the club’s hosel makes contact with the ball instead of the face of the club. Some golfers believe that the clubface must be wide open for the shank shot to happen, but that is never the case.” (Keiser University) In my case, I hit the outside of the hosel and the ball went left about 20 yards. The funny thing is that I had the exact shot about an hour and a half a go with fantastic results. I used the same club, but alas the results were different.

My 8 iron is usually pretty solid. In this case the reason for my shank was I lifted my head way to soon wanting to watch the ball land on the green. Because of my foolish desire to see ‘a fantastic shot’ I ended up shanking the ball. I knew it right away and immediately knew how to fix this egregious error.

Walking to my ball, I muttered a few choice thoughts and then selected my 9 iron. Standing over the ball, I focused on hitting the ball by keeping my head still. I over accentuated this part of my swing to ensure that I kept my form throughout the entire swing. It worked perfectly and I struck the ball very well. I knew that my shank was a one off, but I was still a bit rattled. The physical aspect of the shank was over.

Mentally, I had to force myself to push the crazy shot out of my mind. I did this by telling myself that one shot does loose a match. I told myself this over and over until the badness was gone. Once I walked off the green, I was mentally back in the right frame of mind to play better golf. Unfortunately for me I could not stop the momentum Misha had built up. That is okay because he played better on that day. For me, it was another learning situation where if the shanks happen again (I hope not) I will be ready to right my ship immediately.

Here is Butch Harmon addressing how to fix shanks.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

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