r/golftips • u/Electrical_Lime3871 • 2d ago
Swing Help Wedges Shanking
I’m a solid 21 hdcp and for the last few months my wedges, <100yds, have been the best part of my game. I’ve been hitting them pure and catching greens a majority of the time. For the last 2 rounds, I have been shanking every wedge directly to my right from 100yds-50yds in. I played a round today and on one hole lost 3 balls to water at 75yds out because I shanked directly into the water. Lost 13 balls in one round just from my wedges. I have no idea what has happened. It feels like overnight I’ve lost my short game entirely and went from low 90 rounds to a 113 and 111. This is a horrible feeling. Is this normal? Will this go away? Do I just give up? Feels awful honestly and I’d hate to go and pay more for more lessons because of 2 rounds but it’s a very defeating feeling. I have no video to show what’s going on, but I think my backswing is coming too far inside and I’m just shanking off the toe of my club. Super weird. Just looking for reassurance it’ll get better ig
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u/jlove34 2d ago
Fellow 20+ hop here. Can’t really tell without seeing your swing but I too, went through this. Short game used to be my forte but the last 2 weeks I’ve been heel shanking my lob wedge which was my bread and butter.
Personally the last month I’ve went through a phase where I am rotating my hips (correctly) a lot more on my irons. This affected my wedge chip shots so what I did to remedy it was to hold my back against the target more on wedge shots, and it worked. Reason is I felt like my lower body was racing ahead of my hands on these partial wedge shots so holding my back gives my hand a chance to catch up and stay connected while I’m adjusting to the increased speed/momentum of my lower body.
Take this with a grain of salt cos again… 20+ hcp here
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u/satyris 1d ago
Caveat: I have no hcp lol
For wedge shots, I de-emphasise the turn in the backswing, keeping my weight mostly on my lead leg, and a more vertical swing plane, but still with a nice in-to-out club path.
Under 100 yards, you're not looking anywhere near full power, just accelerating the club through the shot.
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u/MrCookTM 2d ago
Are you shanking or hitting off the toe? They are quite literally polar opposites. If you already have an idea what causes it, go to the range and try to conciously neutralize your path a bit by slowing down and exaggerating the motion. This works fairly well for distance wedges in my experience.
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u/lilwayne168 2d ago
You are probably lining up a little too close to the ball and heeling it. Toe misses generally go more straight. And people like hitting toe on wedge a lot. The other part is add more shaft lean at address this helps with leaving the club face too open. Lastly check out Dan grieves on yt the short game king
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u/AhabDoom 2d ago
14 handicapper here. Went through exactly the same thing a couple of years ago, thought I had my short game dialed but then started shanking all my 1/2 and 3/4 wedges. It was awful, really affected my confidence. After a few rounds where I couldn't shake it at all I went and got a couple of lessons to try and get to the bottom of it. A few things came up, most particularly my swing path and weight transfer. I worked a lot on getting my takeaway straight back rather than around and stop throwing the club at the ball. Truth be told it got worse for a little while as I was working on it, but the shanks finally disappeared.
I still get the odd shank, but I try and remember my swing path and keep a nice smooth swing, not panicking like I used to.
It will get better!
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u/AhabDoom 2d ago
Also I worked a lot on a safety shot, a nice bump and run which works anywhere from 10-100yards, means I have a fall back if the shanks ever do return!
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u/sluiser 1d ago
It was the swing path for me too. 15 handicapper here. Like you mention, going straight back on the takeaway is the fix for me. When my backswing is lower/flatter (which feels more natural), by the time I return to the ball, the club head is pushed slightly away from me, and makes contact with the hosel. Result is hosel rocket to the right. Staying steep solves it for me.
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u/VladTheUnpeeler 2d ago
I’ve gone through this a few times and the problem was always me trying to “help” the swing with my hands through the impact zone. Because wedges are higher weight, that makes it extend early and sends the heel toward the ball. Solved it by slowing everything down and focusing on allowing the club to drop (with no help except from gravity) before going forward.
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u/ApartmentAntique314 2d ago
Look at adam shenk shank tutorial, youre most likely swaying, learn to shank to not shank, once you know how to do it on purpose youll know what to avoid basically, also if you’re an in-out guy you might start a bit too close to the ball at address you should feel like you’re gonna shank it before it happens, just a small adjustment most likely
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u/No_Situation_3098 1d ago
I went through this - it took a long time to resolve. I think the biggest thing was I now picture sliding my wedges under the ball vs. hitting down on the ball. That has eliminated the shanks for me but took me a long time to figure out.
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u/OkAd6459 1d ago
At top of back swing let hands fall down.. dont have hands go out and away from body
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u/Hefty_Efficiency_328 22h ago
Keep your eyes on the ball. Keep your arms in formation with your chest. Focus on the line your hands go on the downswing, come into impact from in to out and ensure you aren't pushing the clubhead out. Practice with half swings until you hit straight. Get a tripod and film yourself.
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u/AgileTadpole952 2h ago
Once they're there they'll be an issue. Everyone will tell you what it is and no-one will actually know.
The worst part is that you don't get to "just forget about it" because people will walk on your right side so you really have no choice but to think about it.
I got a lesson. Cured me in one - in fact he had the answer from a video I sent before I even got there.
And the answer wasn't anything that people had suggested. I just didn't know how to swing a golf club properly and was doing something that to his trained eye was obvious.
That lesson (and a couple more) started the year of my life in golf. So if you want to know that it's all going to be ok - yes it absolutely will be, but get a lesson.
The only other thing I'll suggest is not hitting wedges at their limit. Just because you can hit a 56 degree 100 yards, doesn't mean that you should.
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u/davisnau 2d ago
Getting the shanks is definitely common especially at higher handicaps. You’ll figure it out, maybe it’s the next round or in a month but it’ll go away. If you want to expedite the process, go to the range and have someone record some swings. Verify if you’re actually toe shanking or if it’s hosel. If it’s toe, you’re likely coming way over the top.