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Those dreaded "S****s"?

limpalong

Mental Ward Escapee
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Oct 18, 2006
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Most everyone who has played this game for any length of time had suffered through a bout of the s****s. Every once in a while I've had them sneak into my bag. Usually, it happens with the wedges. I've got to where I can normally fix it after the first one hits.
Today, the front 9 saw the irons working well. I striped a couple of long to mid irons that I hardly felt leave the clubface. Had a short... 15 minute... wait between the front and back nines. Hit a long drive off #10. A fairway wood took me to 8-iron range. And, CLUNK! S****ed the 8 Tea Party right. Got up and down for a par thanks to a great wedge shot.
#11 saw the longest drive of the group left me center of the fairway. Should have been a smooth 6 to the pin. CLUNK! Dead right. And those clunkers sting!!!! Wedge caught a tree branch. Double bogey!
#12 again drilled a long drive. 9 iron should have covered the pin. CLUNK! Yep! Hard right turn.

That's the way the irons worked for the remainder of the round. Both par 3's on the back saw good solid contact. Anything from the fairway was a s***k. Simply could not get it worked out.

The wedges for chips never had an issue, thank goodness. Made some stellar saves with the 52 and 58 degree wedges. If it was a 5 iron down to a 9 iron.... look out right!

What have most of you found to be a good on-course cure for the dreaded s****s??
 

TheTrueReview

"Playing it straight"
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Jan 8, 2009
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There are a number of reasons for shanking. Many mistakenly believe there’s only one.

Potential cause 1
Standing too close to the ball is the one that’s one usually diagnosed and many times misdiagnosed.

Potential cause 2
Not having a solid base that you rotate around (on the downswing) can cause a shank. That’s because you can fall forward towards the ball. People that end up on their toes mid shot don’t have a stable base and are susceptible to falling forward in the downswing and shanking.

Potential cause 3
Next, is the situation where you don’t rotate with the body enough and let the arms take over. To put it another way, if your body is rotating properly on the downswing a square club face will be presented at impact. But if you don’t rotate sufficiently and let arms take over, the hosel is being presented, not the square face.

Yes, I’ve been through random shanks at times hence why I’ve done work with my golf coach on my causes. If I do shank, it's caused by one or both of the reasons in the 2nd and 3rd categories above.
 
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limpalong

limpalong

Mental Ward Escapee
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Oct 18, 2006
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I forgot!
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The first thing the "know-it-all" at our course said was the cause is standing too close to the ball. I've heard that before and know it's not necessarily the cause. Watched a Ledbetter video. Our course "know-it-all" is a much better golf teacher than Ledbetter... just ask him.
Ledbetter said people often stood too far away from the ball. Leaning too far forward your weight is on the front of your feet. As you swing through the ball your entire body move forward because you are off balance... not enough to notice but enough to shank.
I changed nothing today as to distance from the ball. What I did do was make sure my weight was on my heels before each and every shot. Never once did I come close to shanking a ball. Even though I had not been shanking driver, fairway, or hybrids those seemed as if I was hitting cleaner and better by making sure that weight was back.
One of the guys that plays with us regularly is a 4 to 5 capper. He hits his driver well. It soars through the air and he gets great distance. Today, we were in the same group. My drives aren't as "pretty" because I don't get the high trajectory he does. I outdrove him twice today and was right there with him the rest of the day. He kept shaking his head. He's never seen me put the ball where I was putting it today.
 
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limpalong

limpalong

Mental Ward Escapee
Supporting Member
Oct 18, 2006
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13,653
I forgot!
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United States United States
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Making sure the weight was back on my heels sure worked for me. Thank you, David Ledbetter! I stuck irons all around the pins today. Now, if I could only putt!!
 

warbirdlover

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Jul 9, 2005
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I had a couple lessons a few years ago from a super good pro who ran a driving range. He held a club grip next to my head and had me swing. I was moving my head all over the place. He said if you're moving your head like that how can you get the club back where you set it up before the shot? He was right. It's helped me rotate better and hit the ball cleaner. I watch the pros on tv and most don't move their head until impact. Some can move their head and get it back to where they set up but that's because the pros hit so many balls.
 

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