Stop Shanking The Golf Ball (With A Simple Water Bottle Drill) And Improve Your Ball Striking

Shanking the golf ball is one of the most emotionally draining and fury-inducing experiences on the golf course, but it happens to all amateur golfers at one time or another.

Struggling with a persistent shank isn't something you should tolerate, however, as Top 50 Coach Ged Walters has a simple drill that can eradicate this annoying issue from your game.

Ged Walters has over two decades of experience as a top PGA professional, coaching amateurs and professionals to shoot lower scores and now he can help you cut your handicap in 2026 with something most golfers have in their bag - a water bottle.

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In this article, Ged explains the cause of a shank (knowledge is the key to mastery) and how to carry out the simple drill that has helped so many amateurs to improve their ball striking confidence...

What Is A Shank In Golf?

A shank occurs when the golf ball hits the part of the clubface where the shaft meets the head. This is called the ‘hosel’ of the club. As the loft increases, a larger gap protrudes forward alongside the leading edge.

This can cause a very unpredictable ball flight, with some shots pinging off at a 45 degree angle and others, while not necessarily significantly off line, don’t travel very far at all.

This is a common problem for high-handicap and beginner golfers, but this can be avoided by understanding a few simple aspects that occur before the strike.

Why Am I Shanking The Golf Ball?

In the image above you can see that the head of the club is behind the hands and it almost looks like the butt of the grip is going to hit me on the leg as I swing the club through.

The hands are too close to the body and the club is being delivered too much from the inside, which means the path is ultimately too much from in-to-out.

That presents the hosel towards the golf ball and can lead to a shank.

It’s a common misconception that a shank only occurs when the path moves from out to in, as this evidence highlights the opposite can also be troublesome.

Fix Your Shank: Water Bottle Drill

To fix an out-to-in path, which can lead to a shank, often amateurs go too far the other way and produce the same fault with an in-to-out path.

This is one of the best golf drills for those who suffer with a re-occurring shank - and it' super simple. I have used with hundreds of golfers over the years and it always produces positive results.

Set up a water bottle next to your golf ball, on the right hand side, then set up as you normally would to hit a shot.

The task is simple, don’t hit the water bottle.

By having an external task, your brain is distracted from the path issues and instead focuses on delivering the club correctly on the inside of the water bottle.

The body is moving in a much better fashion at this impact position (image above).

The weight is moving forward and there is an appropriate amount of rotation. The hands are more on the correct path, not moving too much in-to-out or out-to-in.

When trying this drill some amateurs tend to over-do it and hit off the toe, so get a few reps.

Practicing with a plan such as this helps you to avoid one of the seven things you should never do at the driving range, allowing you to make use of the instant visual feedback provided by the water bottle and say goodbye to that horrid shank for good.