Shanks/Yips, Just Can't Put The Clubface On The Ball!!

El Caballo

I'm trying to get back into golf at the minute and I'm having some serious and frustrating swing problems. A bit of background, was a decent enough junior and was playing off 11 when I was 15 but gave up the game for a while before picking it back up again 6 years later, irons were always the strongest part of my game and I had a slight draw but when I started playing again, They were all over the shop, I could still a few good shots every round but a fairly big duck hook had crept into my game and I was duffing a lot of iron shots as well with huge divots so eventually packed it in out of frustration at barely being able to break 100 and never feeling comfortable over the ball.

Decided lately to pick it up again another 5 years on and my game is gone to the dogs even more, I can't hit an iron to save my life, not even a single good one. My go to shot now is a duffed shank, when I don't hit the ground 6 inches behind the ball, I'll clatter it off the hosel. Every iron shot is like a flop shot and I'm lucky if I can get a 5 iron to fly 120. I've got this weird feeling on every downswing that the club is going to fly out of my hands and my swing has changed significantly, used to a slight around the house plane but is now much more vertical and I'm leaving the face wide open coming into to contact.

Anyone got any thoughts that could help?

matt-dublin

Practice putting 5-7 footers with your eyes closed. Keep your eyes closed until you feel the ball has stopped rolling and then guess where the ball finished. Open your eyes.

This will help you focus on your stroke and contact rather than worrying about anything else.

e.r

Regarding the hosel rockets, what helped me was.
Address the bottom of a wall/shed, with the club barely touching . Now make slow swings and if your club hits the wall, that means you hit the socket.

Use this to train your body arms etc so you don't hit the wall and this will get rid of them hopefully.

When your on the course you can replicate this at the wheel off your trolley. Making your practice swing

CMOTDibbler

El Caballo wrote: »

Decided lately to pick it up again another 5 years on and my game is gone to the dogs even more, I can't hit an iron to save my life, not even a single good one. My go to shot now is a duffed shank, when I don't hit the ground 6 inches behind the ball, I'll clatter it off the hosel. Every iron shot is like a flop shot and I'm lucky if I can get a 5 iron to fly 120. I've got this weird feeling on every downswing that the club is going to fly out of my hands and my swing has changed significantly, used to a slight around the house plane but is now much more vertical and I'm leaving the face wide open coming into to contact.

Anyone got any thoughts that could help?

Try and slow everything down and truncate your backswing. Concentrate on connecting with the ball rather than hitting it out of the park.

ronnie3585

Sounds like a lesson or two would be beneficial. If you played off 11 once upon a time you probably still have some semblance of a decent swing but you're just misfiring for some reason. A decent pro would be helpful.

Ronney

El Caballo wrote: »

My go to shot now is a duffed shank.

Ha Ha, great line.

Off 11 at 15 is a pretty handy standard. I'd say a lesson could uncover something simple like your grip being all over the place or the likes.

CMOTDibbler

A lesson would definitely help, but clearly your swing is falling apart. That's not unusual after a long break; the muscle memory is gone and it's a case of some parts remembered and others just not in sync. So you swing into the ball, but your hands are out of sync and the ball gets hit with an open face or shank. Hence slowing it all down so that your body can adapt and get all the parts working together.

I'm in the same boat, so I feel your pain. Out on the course is worst because you can find yourself with a 'must make' shot and trying to hit it too hard and it all collapses.

PARlance

El Caballo wrote: »

Anyone got any thoughts that could help?

It's sunny outside, promised fine for the weekend. You no longer have to get someone to buy your alcohol for you and you may have a better chance of some action too.

PARlance

^^^
Obviously said in jest but at 15 you had other things on your mind rather than swing thoughts.

So, grab a few lessons and try to stop thinking / fearing things.

Milkers

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055541970

obv

mike12

Our body change a lot between 15 and 26. A lot of the time u are not as supple and have added a lot of muscle so u are not going To be able to swing the same way.
Go for at least one lesson.

nemoisback66

Hi, I had the same issue as you are explaining hitting it out of the hosel. No matter how hard I tried I'd hit it out of the hosel 9/10 times and the one lucky shot was just inside that.
I went and got a few lessons and the instructor said there was nothing wrong with my swing/setup it was just my swing thoughts.

His advice was to put a headcover down with just enough room so I could swing through without hitting it. I also got myself some face tape so I could see where i was hitting the ball on the club face. Basically I would do my normal swing and hit the headcover and not even make a mark on the tape so I knew I was hitting the hosel. He then said "I want you to try and miss the ball completely" a few practice swings later and I was hitting the ball of the middle of the clubface. This seemed totally alien to me to try and miss the ball but it worked wonders for me and it was all in my head. Give it a go and see how you get on.

Best of luck

El Caballo

Thanks lads,

Went to the range to try and work on it this morning, practice swings felt good but was doing the same thing over and over again when it came to hitting the ball. Sucked it up and went up to the pro to take a peek. Contrary to what I thought, he said my backswing was really flat and I'm getting stuck on my downswing. His tip was to take the club back outside and steeper and exaggerate it. Felt really weird swinging but improved the contact a lot and I managed to hit a few decent balls, still had the occasional shank but I felt stronger through contact and was actually getting close to hitting the ball instead of digging a hole on the tee box.

A long way to go to hit it like I used to but at least the ball was flying straight and getting a bit of carry sometimes. Will probably get a few lessons as suggested as well just to sure it up. Cheers!:)

diomed

Good that the pro is putting you right.
What is in your head and what is happening are often different.
The first time I saw my beautiful flowing swing on film I didn't recognise the wild axe-swinging lunges.

valoren

Speaking of axes.

Whenever I need a refresher for how to swing I look at this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CMDxmRJXMc

No swing thoughts (lunges, OTT moves).

You just make sure you chop the wood with solid contact, your rhythm and mechanics fall into place automatically. :cool:

CMOTDibbler

valoren wrote: »

Speaking of axes.

Whenever I need a refresher for how to swing I look at this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CMDxmRJXMc

No swing thoughts (lunges, OTT moves).

You just make sure you chop the wood with solid contact, your rhythm and mechanics fall into place automatically. :cool:

His right leg looks awfully close to that log! :eek: