Hitting the ball on the heel

[Patriots504]

I am hitting the ball on the heel of the club, which causes a shank or a fade. I need help fast, thanks.

[Mizunoman]

Re: Hitting the ball on the heel

1. Check that you arent 'casting' the club as you start back down. This is usually caused by failing to finish the backswing. This means you are coming down outside the line of your backswing which causes the clubface to attack the ball from the outside leading to pulls and slices.

2. Make sure that you arent falling back as you hit the ball, try and make a full hip turn and transfer your weight to the outside of the left foot.

3. Dont try and scoop the ball up, strike down on it positively, the best thing to do is to imagine the ball as a cube instead of a sphere. Your target is to hit the corner nearest your right foot imagine pushing the ball away to the right.

Best of luck.

D.

[Patriots504]

Re: Hitting the ball on the heel

Thank You, I think this is really going to help me

[modore]

Re: Hitting the ball on the heel

Make sure that you aren't "reverse pivoting" on your backswing. If your weight shifts to the front foot on the backswing, it can cause you to hit the ball on the heel.

[Gotham]

Re: Hitting the ball on the heel

The dreaded shanks. Unless you cure them, they can go into remission for a year or so and then resurface with a vengeance. I've gone to a number of teachers to learn how to permanently rid myself of the shanks. I even took lessons from a Golf Digest top 100 teaching pro and he wasn't able to do the job, and then I came across an article on pga.com by Jeff Obst that did the trick http://www.pga.com/improve/tips/swin..._obst02204.cfm. I recommend this article to anybody who has experienced the shanks (because I know how frustrating they are!). By thoroughly understanding the path of your hands through the impact zone you will start to have a good sense of controlling your club head. By using tape on the face when you practice and experimenting with the hands through the impact zone I'm confident you will start to gain a feel for the club head and where you are striking the ball on the face. Once you have this feel you will be able to avoid hitting the ball towards the heel, especially on the hosel!! I followed Jeff's recipe by ensuring my hands crossed over the right foot on the take-away and crossed over the right foot on the down swing (I also recommend you begin hinging your wrists as you take-away to prevent the dreaded flat, below plane, take-away). The hands then remain parallel to the target line during impact and cross over the left toe after impact. It will start to give you confidence that you actually are in control of your swing (and you don't have to be thinking of a millon swing thoughts). The shanks can be cured!!

[pgmetcalf]

Re: Hitting the ball on the heel

You might want to try leaving the hands in place at the top of the backswing whilst turning your legs and hips towards and left of the target line. Also think about trying to maintain the angle (distance) between your right shoulder and right wrist from the top of the backswing through to impact. There's no way you can keep this angle at impact but it should give you a better feel to the swing - you will probably feel your right shoulder turn way under naturally if you swing correctly but don't try and force it.

Paul