shanking pitch shots

hello,
i have all of a sudden started shanking my pitch shots. i have no idea why it is happening. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well you beat me to this thread........I was going to start one on this as I shanked a few myself today......Somebody will answer this

its not anything to do with your name is it?

never considered that option

You must be British with that name, watch you dont go blind.

You are probably hitting out to in that makes you cut across the ball and shank with your wedges, due to their steeper swing path.

At the range place something just outside the ball, a block of wood, a head cover, another ball. Hit the ball so that you don't hit the other obstacle, this will encourage you to hit from the inside.

Here is some more information on the shanks, and why they happen. I shanked an approach wedge yesterday, which cost me a couple of shots on a hole that should have been a par at the very least. First shanked shot of any kind for me in almost 100 rounds of golf. They happen, then go back into hibernation. Trick is not to wake it up. GJS

Why Am I Shanking? | Instruction | Golf.com

A couple of months ago, I bought the Greg Norman Secret. Great swing aid. It not only taught me how to hold the wristcock longer, but fully rotate my shouldersas well. I too was at the range one day and hit a perfect bucket of short pitch shots when I started shanking ball after ball. Couldn't figure out why. I put the Secret back on. It fixed it right away. Someone told me last year that pitch shots only needed to be made by swinging the arms through and not the shoulders. Not true. Because of the shorter club, you have to turn through the shot quicker and continue rotating the shoulders just as you would do on a normal full swing, hence squaring up the club face. At the end of your finish, your hips should be facing the target, not still square like at address. By not turning through the shot, you are simply changing the swingpath, hence hitting the ball with the hosel, not the clubface.

Are you really talking about shanking, hitting the ball with the hosel, or blading the ball with the leading edge of the club? I have hit very, very few shanks on a pitch shots but have had a lot of blades and chunks.

It happens to me when my wrists and hands get floppy - I fan the club open on the way back and have nothing but the hosel to hit with on the way through. Since I've 'disengaged' my hands, they're not there to square the club again.

Ironically enough, blades and chunks are caused by the same problem in a chip shot - the ball too far forward or weight too far back. You end up having to use your hands to save the shot; too early and you blade, too late and you chunk.

On the pitch shot:

Try taking the club straight back and straight through and think of the arms as pieces of wood attached the the shoulders. Let the shoulders to the work. You won't shank or push it anymore.

Remember........ straight back and straight through....arms frozen in place

Chessbum...

I go through wee phases of shanking in my short game as well. Its something that will happen most of a round then disappear for months.

When it happens I try to go back to basics, on upswing trying to remember to bring club back straight and slow till the confidence comes back.

Again, the reason for the shank is becouse the hands an arms get out in front of the shoulders. This is a hesitation coused by doubt in what distance you are trying to achieve with the shot. Always fully rotate the shoulders.

I developed a shank last year on pitch shots. I talked to the course pro and his solution was to play the shot off the toe until I started hitting it off the toe and then move it back to the middle of the clubface. This works but is not a good fix. All it does is force you to keep doing what you are doing in order to hit the ball in the center of the clubface. I eventually got over shanking my pitches and was hitting solid shots again. Until a couple of days ago. Talk about frustrating, I shanked about 8 shot during my round on the weekend and had no idea why. I have read alot of articles about the shank and none of them really explained in a way I could understand what I was doing. Yesterday while at the driving range I was talking to a buddy of mine about my troubles and he asked to hit a few pitch shots. Immeadiately he told me my swing was different than he had seen it lately. He said it looked like I was throwing my right shoulder at the ball on the downswing. I thought about it for a bit and swung the the club not throwing the shoulder and then swung the club letting the shoulder rotate around. My buddy was dead on in the problem. I was taking the club back with my arms and then on the downswing I would rotate the shoulders. This put the clubhead way outside the target line and I would hit it with the hosel every time. An easy test to see if you are doing this is to stick a tee in the ground and swing with just your arms just inside it. Then take it back with just your arms and turn your shoulders from the beginning of the downswing. You will hit the tee.
Another thing I have discovered that helps promote the shank is standing with too open a stance. This promotes throwning the right shoulder.

So far this is what I have come up with. On a short pitch ( 5 to 10 yards ) you can take the club back with your arms but you must keep your shoulders parallel to the target line throughout the swing. Anything longer and you need to turn your shoulders and must not rotate your shoulders through and past the target line until after impact.

I hope this helps and would like to hear results, questions, or comments.

OK, so it's kind of weird to quote yourself, but it all relates.

I'm in the back yard working on firmer hands (I've taken passive hands past the point of usefulness), just focusing on the tension in my hands while I chip. I'm still shanking them, 2 out of every 3 shots. So I took my focus off my hands, and just made a couple of practice takeaways and bringing the club back to the ball. I was lining up with the ball in the middle of the face and on the return there the hosel was - middle of the ball! So, I setup again without moving my feet, and close my eyes and start feeling for what's going on in this short takeaway/bring back. I'm feeling pressure in my arms and by my chest on the takeaway, none on the way back. Aha! I'm crowding myself! But how to not crowd then? I setup again (feet still in the same spot) with very little tension in my arms, and notice the the clubhead now sets up with the ball at the hosel. I now move my feet back until the ball is in the middle of the clubface. Takeaway, return - ball still in the middle. Perfect! I then proceed to forget about firmer hands and promptly throw my hands at the ball, blading the shot. But, the blade was right in the middle!

Just a simple cause for a horrible shot.

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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.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!