Dealing with Those Awful Wedge Shanks
Man, I was getting so frustrated out there. Every time I pulled out a wedge, especially around the greens, there was that little voice in the back of my head worrying about the shank. And sure enough, more often than I want to admit, snap, off it goes sideways. It’s the worst feeling in golf, seriously.
So, I decided I had to sort this out. Went down to the range with a bucket of balls, just my wedges. Started hitting them, and yep, there it was again. Shank. Then a decent one. Then another shank. Drove me nuts. I tried all the usual stuff people tell you. Keep your head down, swing easy, check your path. Nothing was clicking. The more I thought about it, the worse it seemed to get.
I was getting ready to just pack it in for the day, totally fed up. Then I remembered reading something somewhere, or maybe someone mentioned it once, I don’t know. It sounded kinda backward, but the idea was simple: stand closer to the ball.
My first thought was, “That’s crazy, I’ll feel totally jammed up.” But hey, what I was doing wasn’t working, so what did I have to lose? I decided to give it a shot.
Trying Something Different
Okay, so I grabbed my sand wedge. I deliberately set up way closer than felt normal. Like, uncomfortably close. My hands felt like they were almost right on top of the ball. It felt super weird, cramped even.
Took a few practice swings like that. Felt awkward. But I thought, “Just swing.” So I went for it. Took the club back, and on the way down, something funny happened. Because I was so close, my body naturally had to kinda shift back a tiny bit, out of the way, to let my arms swing through. It wasn’t something I consciously did, it just… happened.
- Set up really close.
- Felt awkward, jammed.
- Swung the club.
- Body automatically made space.
And you know what? Solid contact! Right out of the middle of the face. Ball went straight, nice little flight. No hint of the hosel.
I thought, “Okay, maybe that was a fluke.” So I did it again. Same thing: set up uncomfortably close, swung, and thwack – another pure strike. Hit about ten more like that. Every single one was solid. No shanks. Not one.
It seems like standing so close forced my weight to shift back just enough on the downswing, keeping my hands from shooting out towards the ball, which is apparently what causes those hosel rockets. By standing further away before, my body must have been trying to reach for it, pushing the club outwards.
So yeah, standing closer. Sounds simple, maybe even dumb, but it worked for me today. Finally got rid of those shanks, at least for now. Felt good to hit wedges solid again. Just gotta remember that feeling next time I’m out there.
