shanking pitch shots

[jambalaya]

Re: shanking pitch shots

I am a chunk and a thin man on pitch shots myself.

[bahamaman]

Re: shanking pitch shots

A good way to see if you are turning your shoulders on both the backswing , then the downswing in this. Set up with a mirror, I use my big screen TV turned off, to the your right. Take the club halfway back. Look to see if you can see both your shoulders as if you were trying to shake someones hand with your left hand. The right elbow should be tucked in forming an "L" shape. Now turn around so the mirror is on the left of you. The complete opposite should apply. Shake hands with the right hand, left elbow tucked in, both shoulders in plain view. Do this while maintaining a good spine angle.

[buteman]

Re: shanking pitch shots

Okay this is definately not the answer, but,,,,,,,,,,,,I hit four of those shanked pitch shots on the first six holes one morning. In a nutshell confidence is non existant and you feel like you have a mouth full of cotton balls, at least it does for me anyway.
I searched for an answer on this forum and yes, there certainly was sound advice offered from forum members. I found a quiet corner of our practice range and dumped a couple of buckets of balls. Using my P.W. my 52 and 56 wedges and playing shots of 20-60 yards I shanked most of them.
During my round that morning I was spared the horror of having to execute a short pitch shot until I played our par 5 eighth hole ( I was one over at the time ). I hit a solid drive followed up with my #1 hybrid to 45 yards, playing to a front pin guarded by a pot bunker I chose my 56 wedge and stone cold shanked it into the pond to the right of the green. I took my drop and repeated the same shot, bye-bye two new Pro-V's, ouch ! I had no answer to this at all.
At absolute last resort after my round I quietly slipped into the pro. shop and dropped $ 125.00 on a f2 wedge,,,,,,,,,completely shankproof, there is no hosel to hit. It's the ugliest club I have ever laid hands on but deadly effective, now with the knowledge that I can hit a short pitch from any distance confidence returns and it has a ripple effect on your whole game.
Of course this is not the answer nor is it a cure, but the shanked pitch shots were destroying the reason for me being on the golf course. Good luck.

[LowPost42]

Re: shanking pitch shots

I cant ever remember shaking a chip shot. This is how I do them:

Feet almost together and open to target, ball off back big toe. Weight over lead foot with knees and hips pointing slightly towards target. Neutral to weak grip and hands well ahead of ball so the clubface is delofted creating a low flight, wrists turned down so the toe of the club face is lower than the heel, make the shot with a rocking of the shoulders much like a putt and a little rotation. Keep the back of your left hand pointing to target as long as possible.

Played last night, gave this method a try for the short runners. Bladed them (I could feel myself decelerating, though).

FWIW, making sure I wasn't crowding myself resulted in some fantastic short shots yesterday - including a nice 30 yard pitch that trickled and left me 2 feet for par!

[Happysurfer]

Re: shanking pitch shots

I too have recently suffered with the shanks but only on pitching when not taking a full swing. As soon as i take a full swing there is no problem whatsoever.

I had never shanked a pitch shot in my 10 years of playing golf until about 12 months ago. Then one day it started out of nowehere and has been a constant threat for the last 12 months and can now completely destroy a round and ones confidence.

I have tried evertying mentioned here inlcuding distacne from the ball, swing path, wrist tension, shoulder turn etc etc. Each of them worked for a limted period of time but there was still always a sense of releif when i pitched without shanking the ball, which makes attacking a pin almost the second priority !! Also i used to be able to pitch from a variety of ball positions and using different swing paths without causing the shanks, so i felt it had to be visual somehow.

A couple of months ago i discovered one bizarre fix that works for me 100% of the time and i can now pitch without the fear of the shanks. However wait for it as strangely enough it requires closing your right eye !! (if you are a right handed player). as soon as my right eye is shut i always connect crisply and in fact pitch better than ever.

I think subconsciously the right eye for pitch shankers is watchhing the club a bit as the club is no taken back beyond eye level. Consequently with this eye shut the left eye focuses entirely on the ball giving rise to crisp contact and the club takeaway is now out of sight.

I know it sounds very strange but give it a go and see how it feels. Incidentally if i just close my left eye then i can still shank, which again tells me it is the right eye club watching somewhow and not focusing entirely on the ball.

So in summary i beleive that shanking on pitch shots is purely due to not keeping your eye on the ball properly as in theory you should be able to pitch from a whole variety of ball positions, swing paths, inclines etc wihtout having to focus on something to stop you shanking it. That just doesnt make sense when you are hardly moving the club.

Anyway will be interested to hear your thoughts as i have never read this one anywhere funily enough !

[Spiffo]

Re: shanking pitch shots

I too have recently suffered with the shanks but only on pitching when not taking a full swing. As soon as i take a full swing there is no problem whatsoever.

I had never shanked a pitch shot in my 10 years of playing golf until about 12 months ago. Then one day it started out of nowehere and has been a constant threat for the last 12 months and can now completely destroy a round and ones confidence.

I have tried evertying mentioned here inlcuding distacne from the ball, swing path, wrist tension, shoulder turn etc etc. Each of them worked for a limted period of time but there was still always a sense of releif when i pitched without shanking the ball, which makes attacking a pin almost the second priority !! Also i used to be able to pitch from a variety of ball positions and using different swing paths without causing the shanks, so i felt it had to be visual somehow.

A couple of months ago i discovered one bizarre fix that works for me 100% of the time and i can now pitch without the fear of the shanks. However wait for it as strangely enough it requires closing your right eye !! (if you are a right handed player). as soon as my right eye is shut i always connect crisply and in fact pitch better than ever.

I think subconsciously the right eye for pitch shankers is watchhing the club a bit as the club is no taken back beyond eye level. Consequently with this eye shut the left eye focuses entirely on the ball giving rise to crisp contact and the club takeaway is now out of sight.

I know it sounds very strange but give it a go and see how it feels. Incidentally if i just close my left eye then i can still shank, which again tells me it is the right eye club watching somewhow and not focusing entirely on the ball.

So in summary i beleive that shanking on pitch shots is purely due to not keeping your eye on the ball properly as in theory you should be able to pitch from a whole variety of ball positions, swing paths, inclines etc wihtout having to focus on something to stop you shanking it. That just doesnt make sense when you are hardly moving the club.

Anyway will be interested to hear your thoughts as i have never read this one anywhere funily enough !

lol, Im not doubting this works for you. But if it gets to the point where I have to close one of my eyes as a fix for something, then I am giving up!

However sometimes I think closing both eyes might do me some favours!

[Happysurfer]

Re: shanking pitch shots

I know !!

I have a feeling it is all related to the dominant eye stuff. I am a right hander with a left dominant eye. Consequently when hitting standard irons and woods, the ball is furhter forward and my domiant eye is over the ball. However on pitches, with the ball further back the weaker right eye comes into play - hence the benefit of shutting this eye and taking it out of the equation.

I would hazard a guess that most shankers of the ptich shot are also left eye dominant. I can hit 100 pitches with the right eye shut and not shank one. The second i open it, i could shank one in 3 even in the range with no pressure !

Not saying its a long term solution but i think it may help with thinking this one through rationally to curb the dreaded shanks. Maybe also a need to keep left eye behind the ball even on pitching etc.

[arcartist]

Re: shanking pitch shots

I cant ever remember shaking a chip shot. This is how I do them:

Feet almost together and open to target, ball off back big toe. Weight over lead foot with knees and hips pointing slightly towards target. Neutral to weak grip and hands well ahead of ball so the clubface is delofted creating a low flight, wrists turned down so the toe of the club face is lower than the heel, make the shot with a rocking of the shoulders much like a putt and a little rotation. Keep the back of your left hand pointing to target as long as possible.

That's exactly the way I was taught. I was given a small rod about 4 feet long to hold in my grip parallel to the shaft so that it stuck about 2 feet past the grip end. Rocked it like a putt to about a 90 degree angle in the back and chipped down and through to about a 90 at the end. The trick was to not let the rod touch you body at all. This made you finish with your arms way out in front of you. As far as you could reach. Ball would drop dead on target every time. This doesn't mean you can't mess it up though but there is no slice in it. Most of my mistakes come from looking away from the ball to early. It's like Lee Travino said...don't look up. You ain't gonna like what you see. Ha!

[arcartist]

Re: shanking pitch shots

side note: You arms and club shaft should form a lower case y with your hands slightly in front of the ball when you line it up. Feet very close and way open to the target.