This is a very touchy subject for golfers. Some would argue that there is no definite cure for shanks. I don't particularly agree with that. One friend of mine had a long battle with the shanks and he compared them to all of a sudden not knowing how to ride a bike. Imagine you ride your bike to school every day and one day you wake up and get on your bike to go to school, but you keep falling off your bike for no reason. That is how the shanks feel for most avid golfers. So the cure is simple: Just hit the darn ball!

Seriously, shanks are caused by leading in to the ball with the hosel of the club as opposed to the actual club face. It is not caused by swinging outside to in or inside to out. Shanks can be hit from all swing planes. It is not as simple as the clubface being too open. It is more of an inability to release the club.

I am lucky to have never had a battle with the shanks, but the few times I have had them always seemed to come after a long practice session in the bunker. I would go from hitting a couple hundred shots in the practice bunker over to the driving range and find myself shanking a couple of irons. I would just make sure to swing away and release the club as hard as I could and the shanks stopped.

What seemed to have happened to me was all the hitting in the bunker and splashing sand dulled my sense of release and my sense for the clubhead, resulting in a lack of release when I went to the range. So, if you find yourself shanking the ball, I first recommend taking a couple of days off if you can. If you can't do that, simply rid your mind of any swing thoughts and just hit the darn ball. If you must have one swing thought, think of rolling your hands over through impact.

Good Luck!

Learn more about this author, Jeremy Peters.
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