Golf Swing Mechanics – Curing the Shanks!

Faulty golf swing mechanics can produce some of the most undesirable shots in golf, including one of the most feared – shanking.

Golfers desperately want to avoid this horrific shot and try to strike the ball straight and true.

The remedy – identify the golf swing mechanics producing the faulty shot. Golf swing mechanics are the lasting cure to all that ails your swing!

In his book, “Golf Can Be an Easy Game”, author Joe Novak explains the faulty golf swing mechanics behind the shank.

Novak writes;

“This dreaded fault, when the ball literally squirts off the club at a 90° angle, petrifies many golfers. Shanking generally occurs on short approach shots of 90 yards or less. On such shots a player will very often determine there is no need for any body action, and this concept plus an extra tight grip with the left hand will cause shanking.

If the player decides they are not going to use their body in the shot, they will invariably force the club to the outside of the line of the shot on the backswing. Add a tight grip with the left hand and the club will automatically roll into an open face position. With this open face position and an outside of the line of flight movement of the club, there is an added tendency for the weight to sink heavily onto the left foot. This combination—(a) club in an open position, (b) club to the outside of the line of flight, (c) weight heavily sunk onto the left foot—is a sure way to shank. As the downswing starts, the club will naturally swing even more to the outside of the line of flight, forcing the player to pull the club sharply across the ball from the outside in. The player will then meet the ball with the heel of the club and away it squirts.

The shot just described—club face open, club to the outside of the line of flight, weight sunk onto the left foot —is nothing more or less than an extremely exaggerated slice shot technique. And that is what shanking is, an exaggerated slice action“.

Golf swing mechanics are both the reason and the remedy for the shanks!

Use Novak’s expert advice to help cure the shanks!

Check back soon for more tips and posts to help improve your golf swing mechanics!