Is there anything worse than a case of the shanks?
You’ve lined up your shot, got your yardage down, and selected the perfect club. A couple of practice swings later, and you’re standing over the ball with visions of sticking one on the green. You bring the club back, swing, and the ball fires off to the right. Awful.
But if you listen to what Butch Harmon has to say, then you may never have to experience that again. He is one of the most respected golf coaches in the game. Harmon worked with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson during his esteemed career. In fact, Mickelson credits Harmon for four of his major wins.
He’s also given out plenty of advice to amateurs, and this simple drill of his could stop you from ever shanking the ball again.
Butch Harmon explains why golfers shank the ball
But first, to stop the shank, you must first understand why you shank. Then you can go about making the necessary changes to prevent it from happening again.
Harmon explained that golfers often misunderstand why shanks happen. Speaking to Golf Digest in 2014, he said, “What is a shank? It’s pretty simple.
“A shank is when the ball hits the hosel of the club, and it shoots off to the right. Most people think they come in with an open club face. That’s not what happens.
“The club closes as it comes in, the ball hits the hosel of the club here, and it shoots off to the right, and doesn’t feel very good. Let me explain why this happens.
“This club face comes in closed, and the toe of the club hits the ground. You get a long skinny divot like that as the club exits.
“The reason it’s so hard to get rid of is everybody thinks they do it with the open club face, and they say I’m going to get that right hand in there this time and it gets worse and worse.”
After he explained what makes golfers shank, Harmon then gave amateurs a drill to fix it.
Butch Harmon’s drill to stop shanking the ball
Harmon’s drill is simple. All you need is a club, a ball and a head cover to stop you from shanking the ball.
He explained: “If you’re on the practice range and you’re having trouble hitting shanks, simple drill to help you get out of it. All you have to do is take your head cover off your driver, and put it right next to the ball, just so the toe of the club is almost touching the head cover.
“The first couple shots you hit, you’re going to see that you come over the top and you hit the head cover with the toe of the club. To help you, one other thing, address the club a little bit on the toe, make your swing, and have the feeling you’re hitting the inside of the ball swinging out.
“If you get the shanks, remember most of the time you do it with a closed club face, use the head cover drill, you won’t shank again.”
Harmon stresses the importance of the short game for amateur golfers to improve their scores. It’s pivotal to limit mistakes within 100 yards.
Hopefully, this drill will eliminate the completely wasted shots that can ruin your entire round.
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