Golf Shank Fix - Best Move To Practice!

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach John Jacobs has some tips to help you stop shanking and hit more greens in regulation.

golf shank fix
(Image credit: Tom Miles)

In this golf shank fix video and article, Golf Monthly Top 25 coach John Jacobs offers a great move to practice that should help improve your swing path

Golf Shank Fix - Best Move To Practice!

Almost all golfers at some point have felt the frustration of wasting a perfect drive by then shanking an iron shot into the trees or the water.

There are a few different golf shank causes but perhaps the most common is the steep, out-to-in swing path (which is also one of the main reasons why you pull iron shots). This places the hosel of the club in dangerously close proximity to the ball. The best golf shank fix, I’ve found is this drill: place two balls next to each other (or you can use tees for the right hand ball if you'd prefer), address the furthest one from you, but hit the one nearest to you.

The ball (or tee) on the outside acts as a very helpful visual barrier to avoid. It should force you to change your swing path. Of course, it will strange at first so make some slow swings with your wedge to start with. This will give you the feel you need for the shot. Then once you are happy that you are training a better path, take the right hand ball away and hit some shots (starting with the club outside the line of the ball).

swing path drill

Another golf shank fix option is to place a tee peg in this position to stop your from coming over the top

This golf shank fix will give you a great feel for how to stop cutting across the ball and it will retrain the way you deliver the club through impact; you should start to develop a much more neutral swing path that allows you to strike the ball from the correct part of the face.

RELATED: Golf Shank Drills - Four Top Tips To Try!

The shanks can be the most frustrating fault in the game, but with this drill and some dedicated time, you should be able to eradicate them.

Another golf shank fix to try

Try putting three tees approximately one-eighth-inch to a quarter-inch beyond the toe of your club. Then, when swinging, be sure to miss these tees. Avoiding the tees will prevent you from extending so much that you hit the ball with the hosel.

Thomas Patrick Clarke
Sports Digital Editor


Tom Clarke joined Golf Monthly as a sub editor in 2009 being promoted to content editor in 2012 and then senior content editor in 2014, before becoming Sports Digital Editor for the Sport Vertical within Future in 2022. Tom currently looks after all the digital products that Golf Monthly produce including Strategy and Content Planning for the website and social media - Tom also assists the Cycling, Football, Rugby and Marine titles at Future. Tom plays off 16 and lists Augusta National (name drop), Old Head and Le Touessrok as the favourite courses he has played. Tom is an avid viewer of all golf content with a particularly in depth knowledge of the pro tour.