 The Lateral Shot
by Deb Vangello, LPGA Teaching Professional
Just hearing the “S” word (okay, you made me say it SHANK! Yikes!) can be enough to elevate someone’s blood pressure, especially if you have ever gone through a spell of these shots. This lateral shot occurs when the ball is struck on the hosel (where the clubhead attaches to the shaft). It produces a shot where the ball shoots off at nearly a right angle (but sometimes goes sharply left, too, depending upon where the ball contacts the club) to the target. This shot is both demoralizing and frustrating, but in no case is it a result of a psychological problem as many people assume. There is a simple, technical explanation: the basic problem is that at the moment of impact, the player’s hands, and therefore the clubhead, are further away from the body than they were at address. In most cases, this lateral shot results from one of these mistakes:
1. Weight Forward on Your Toes
If the majority of your weight moves onto your toes on the downswing, your body will pitch forward slightly, causing the clubhead to move forward as well. You make contact with the hosel of the club and the lateral shot results.
CORRECTION:
Work into a good, solid, address position. Ideally, your weight will be centered over each foot (arch to ball of foot) and you will have good balance. Many students feel as if they are “back on their heels” when they get set up in balance because they have been so far forward on their toes.
2. Rolling Clubface Open on Backswing
When you roll the clubface open excessively during the takeaway, the club tends to get “laid off” or on too flat a plane on the backswing. This produces a flat swing which leads to an outward movement of the right shoulder at the start of the downswing. The club is thrown forward with contact on the hosel.
CORRECTION:
Instead of “rolling” the clubface open, hinge away as if the clubface was still facing the ball instead of the sky. This will feel “closed” but is actually square to the points on a compass, a circular path. Next, with a solid shoulder/chest turn, allow your right elbow to come slightly away from your body to the classic tray position. The club will now be on a higher plane and your downswing will improve.
3. Standing Too Close to the Ball
When you stand too close to the ball at address, your arms don’t have room to swing freely on the back and forward swings. Consequently, the clubhead has little chance of making solid contact. Due to crowding the ball, you are more likely to make contact with the hosel. You will then be inclined to stand too far from the ball, but this actually flattens the swing path, increasing the chance of hitting another hosel shot.
CORRECTION:
Work into a good, solid address position. Get balanced over your feet and tilt from the hips so your arms hang and there is daylight between your body and the end of the club.
4. Shoulder and Head Movement Ahead of Ball on Downswing
When you have too much lateral movement on the forward swing, your body moves ahead of the ball and leaves the hands, arms, and clubhead trailing behind. The clubhead approaches the ball too much from the inside and the clubface is open. These factors lead you to strike the ball with the hosel. During the backswing, if your shoulders don’t rotate enough in relation to the movement of your arms, you shoulder rotation is insufficient during the downswing and moves ahead of your arms. The result is that the club remains open far too long.
CORRECTION:
Once again, achieve the ideal address position already mentioned. This will allow you to make a proper pivot and turn with minimal head movement. Thus, on the downswing, you will shift and turn into impact, but will be well behind the ball due to a solid coil on the backswing. Additionally, be sure that your arm swing doesn’t get so much longer than your shoulder/chest turn; you can shorten your arm swing or increase the rotation of the shoulders to get this relationship in sync.
I hope this helps you if you are hitting some of these dreaded lateral shots. Regain your confidence by figuring out your likely “fault.” This way, you can self-correct if it happens on the golf course. If all else fails, try to conscientiously hit every shot on the toe of the club until you stop shanking. This has worked for me. Good luck and think positively! |
