DIY GOLF
Fix Your Shanks Now! Here’s your self-help drill and on-course correction BY DAVID LEADBETTER
ONE DAY YOU ARE warming up on the driving range or get- ting ready to hit an iron shot
from the middle of the fairway and – bam! – you clank one off the hosel and the ball goes sideways. If you do it once, you might shake it off and go on like it never happened. But what do you do when it happens again and again and again? The first step is admitting you have a problem – you’ve got the shanks. A shank is the result of the hands and, in turn, the clubhead being further from the body than they were at address. It’s typically caused by your weight shift- ing too much into the toes as you swing down. It could also be caused by standing too close to the ball at address, but that weight shift is the typical cause and a real issue. To fix the shanks, first take a few deep breaths. This is a fault with two easy rem- edies. On the range, place two balls down side-by-side and address the one closer to your feet (large photo, left). Your goal is to hit shots without hitting the outside ball. That should help keep you from drifting into your toes. Obviously, you can’t put two balls down on the course, so if you’re shank- ing mid-round, address your shots with your toes off the ground (left). This sets weight more in your heels and makes it impossible to shift towards the ball in the downswing. The thing to remember is that the shanks are usually temporary, so you should be able to fix them quickly. – WITH RON KASPRISKE
GET OFF YOUR TOES A weight shift towards the ball causes most hosel-rockets.
DAVID LEADBETTER is one of Golf Digest’s Legends of Golf Instruction.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY J D CUBAN
38 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MAY 2025
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