Shanks from nowhere

That happened to me one day after coming home from a decent day on the golf course. I have a hitting mat and net in my basement and always like to practice a bit after I get home. I was freaking out about it because I had no idea where it came from. I was shanking everything! I discovered it was a balance issue for me. Without knowing it, I had lost my balance and was swinging with my weight more on the toes rather than the balls of my feet. All I had to do was focus on my stance and balance and my swing path was corrected and never shanked the ball again. The fix is not always that simple, but for me it was staying properly balanced on my feet. My swing has to be grounded properly to maintain my swing (plane) path.

I had this problem in 2008 that popped up after making an adjustment that straightened out my woods (I was hooking). I thought it was muscle fatigue because it would pop up after 45 min of practice or without warning in the middle of a round (with the short irons). It was a multitude of things. 1. Too big of a backswing (throws off the balance) - I went to a compact backswing. Stack N Tilt or the Don Trahan "in da mitt and tru da tree" (a very upright straight back and straight through, also known as Peak Performance Golf; Don Trahan is DJ's dad). These have minimal weight shift off the front foot on the backswing - the back foot gets stuck on the ground and all sorts of ugly things happen. 2. Check your stance - too close to the ball = shank. Extend arms a little bit but not so much you are leaning forward too much (that = hook). 3. BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE. Swinging too fast or getting into a "cranking mode (too much body motion) causes one to get off balance. Don't rush your tempo. 4. Finish - the proper finish is the weight being on the forward part of the front foot. A flat front foot causes an apparent shank (severe blocked shot).

Sometimes you get better clubhead speed with a more compact backswing. If you take the big 90 degree backswing, you actually DECELERATE and lose clubhead speed. I've been hitting a 3/4 backswing with ALL my clubs since 2009. Makes for an easier weight shift to the front foot on the downswing. Also makes it easier to shape shots. Yep -eye on the ball all the way through. Smooth tempo - the reason people slice, block or duck hook is they try to swing too hard and the arms take over. Julius Boros wrote a book called "Swing Easy, Hit Hard"; Paul Wilson of Revolution Golf re-iterates it on his videos. There is also another beautiful tip - if you are doing your backswing with the proper torque at the top, it is very difficult to talk.

I get the shanks on all iron shots, other than short chips around the green. When I’m fatigued. It’s 100% definitely when I’m fatigued. How can I combat this or complete a round when thus occurs. (Other than not okay more than twice a week)?

Of course, seek professional help but for now, make sure you are not standing up too early in the downswing. Mine happen if i lose my spine angle which sends my hips forward instead of around (turning). That sends the club outside the original path and the result is the dreaded "hostel rocket". Good luck and hopefully no more shanks or COVID for us in the future.

Echoing that you should seek out a PGA Pro if this is a consistent issue, they can diagnose and fix that pretty easily but here are some things that have worked for me in past:

One cause could be from the club face drifting over plane.

If this is the case, then on the downswing make sure you get the feel of the handle coming down ahead of club face to keep the club face from drifting over plane. Drill- put a tee or head cover outside the ball to force your swing to come more inside to avoid hitting it on the heel. This is probably the most common drill to work on that issue.

Other things to think about:
- keep weight on the heels or middle of feet, if your weight is on your toes you could be drifting the club forward causing heel strikes.
- address the ball farther away, align ball on the toe of the club(this might be easiest thing to do if it creeps up on you during a round).

Dale is correct again; professional help is the best way to go. If you want a quick fix to get you through the round, try adressing the ball off the toe of the club, instead of in the middle.It will force you to swing a little inside, so the hosel shouldn't come into play.

It's a band-aid approach, but it works for me when the sh_ _ _s pop up up out of nowhere.

Happened to me yesterday twice. Seems when I close my stance and do not allow my body to completely clear, this nemesis jumps all over me. I simply go to my instructor and he gets me straightened out in a few minutes.
He tells me my problem is an alignment issue. Not everyone has the same problem that invites Mr Shank.

Lessons are your best bet. I have some saved lessons/voiceovers from my coach saved on trackman (Screencasts) that focus on impact/squaring the club face/ tips for take away and downswing, etc. For me when I get tired and sloppy with my shots, I exaggerate forward shaft lean and a really shallow swing plane as a simple fix.

I had the same problem many years ago.
Decided to have a lesson with my local pro who got me to address the ball with the hosel instead of the face. By doing this it encouraged me to swing more from the inside to make proper contact with the ball. Fixed the problem straight away. I have shanked since but I just go back to the set up and it’s sorted.

Secondly, do not use that word on here, it can be contagious and you could start a pandemic...ha..ha..ha....with respect.....hakuna matata

I have nothing to add except a funny personal story. I never struggled too badly with the shanks. Yes, every not so often on the range, I'd shank 2-3 in a row, shake it off, reset - all is OK.

About 2 months ago, my 2 boys and I went to a nice course we had never played before, they had great practice facilities. We all hit some balls then go to the chipping area for some practice. They had a defined line where you can chip to about 12 different pin locations. It was wet out and I was a bit on a downslope. One other guy was on the other side of the green. I started hitting shanks. My kids saw ball after ball go direct left (I am lefty) in front of them as they were chipping.

3 or 4 times is funny, but after a dozen in a row - I started to feel hot inside. Now I feel the stranger peering my way. I start saying to myself "what are you doing, shake it off". I go collect some balls. Now my kids are like 'are you trying to do that'?

I change my club - shank - shank - shank. Redo my grip...shank - shank - shank - shank. Change my position...shank - shank - shank. Aggghhhhhh. I swear I hit 45 shanks out of 50 balls. I was mentally spent, went to the putting area to cool off.

As our tee time was nearing, I chipped about 5 more balls from the rough - a bit better.

Now I have to go play a round on a nice course that is about at my comfortable distance limit.

The first few chips were very timid, but the shanks did not show up again for the entire round. I ended up shooting an 86 - respectable given the prior events.

Had not had a shank after that episode.

It is like the demons from hell reach up out of the earth at random intervals and have their way with you for some time, then retreat.