The Shanks: Part 2

Well, that's it - I'm cured. The shanks are gone. And it's all thanks to Instagram Reels, Bryson DeChambeau and a helpful young employee working at Golf Town in Edmonton last year.

Declaring myself cured might be a little premature, but let me explain that opening paragraph...

The other night before bed I was scrolling through Instagram. I came across a reel with Bryson DeChambeau talking about the correct takeaway - showing a shallow takeaway with the clubface wide-open versus one where the clubface lined up with your spine angle at the halfway point. And just like that, a lightbulb went off. I remembered struggling with the shanks early last season and trying out some new Srixon irons (high up on my list if I ever get a new set) at Golf Town. Of course, every couple of shots were right off the hosel. A worker at the store saw me hosel a shot and mentioned that I was coming back pretty shallow in my takeaway. That reminded me of a lesson I had years ago about lining up the clubface with my spine angle on the takeaway and it just clicked. After that, I was making more consistent contact with the club face - the flat part, not the hosel - and everything felt much better.

So, after the realization that I might be doing the same thing now, I could not wait to go to the range and try to figure it out. The following day I made my way out to the driving range but it was unexpectedly closed. So, they snuck me out onto the back nine and let me out by myself. Now, after my last round of 96, this was terrifying. A couple of chips on the green for practice was all the warmup I had and now I was staring down the 10th fairway with my 4-iron in my hand, 20 feet away from the pro-shop window where the guy who just beat me in match-play earlier that week was undoubtedly watching me tee off. I checked my takeaway a couple of times, sucked it up, stepped up to the tee and hit one 235 yards right down the pipe. Good start.

I ended up shooting a respectable 41 without a single hosel rocket.

Again, a good nine-hole round is probably premature to call myself "cured" but it sure felt great not to struggle my way through a round for once. Regardless of how the year goes from here, it feels better knowing that if these shanks start popping up again I might have a fix to pull myself back out.

There is a ton of info on the internet telling you how to fix your swing. Trying to remember or search for what works for you and what doesn't can be overwhelming. Sometimes something you learned about years ago that became such a reflexive thing for you might just disappear and you're stuck looking for answers. Answers that you might already have. It might feel like you woke up one day and forgot how to golf - I'm sure every golfer has had that experience. But, being able to evaluate yourself and correct a mistake is a massively important skill for a golfer to have.

The guys on the Sweet Spot podcast often talk about having a few "fixes" ready to break out on the course. Things like "When I'm hitting the ball off the hosel, I need to focus on my clubface in my takeaway" and "What do I need to do when I'm hitting the ball thin?" are things we should all have ready to go.

Being able to evaluate yourself and find that fix when you need it sounds preferable to spiralling out of control and falling into a round 16 strokes over your handicap, doesn't it? I've added that fix for hitting it off the hosel to my notes app on my phone so I always have it handy when I need it and hopefully, I'll be better at checking it more frequently.

So for now, I am pausing my brief series on the shanks. Hopefully, we don't have to revisit it again any time soon...