By Dennise Hutton
Sponsored by Bridgestone Golf Products

It is the word every golfer knows, but few are prepared to mention. It can strike fear into the hearts and minds of the single handicapper, just as easily as it can with the occasional weekend social hack.

It is that "s" word that is never uttered in anything but the most reverent tones, just in case the blasphemer is struck down with the dreaded disease.

The "shank" results from the ball hitting the shaft or, to be more precise, the socket in the heel of the club where the shaft joins the head. As a result, the ball goes straight to the right of the intended target, into whatever trouble might await.

There are a number of reason golfers start to shank, and to provide a long-term cure the principle causes need to be first understood.

1. WRONG A bad shoulder coil and a narrow arc causes the body to fall forward on the downswing.		2. CORRECT The body is balanced, with the left shoulder coiled above the right knee.

Almost certainly, a golfer shanks because too much weight is on the toes through impact. The golfer falls into the shot, causing the ball to be hit closer to the heel of the clubhead than to the toe.

The short-term fix is to feel more weight on the heels of the feet throughout the swing. By keeping the weight back, it allows the clubhead to travel along the preferred line of the swing and not to fall into the ball.

While keeping the weight back is the quick and simple cure out on the course, we should be aware that there is undoubtedly one or two fundamental things which go wrong with the swing, causing the problem of the shank.

When the shoulders do not coil correctly, the swing becomes too narrow and steep. Check your shoulder coil. Does your left shoulder rotate above your right knee at the top of the backswing? If not, you are not coiling your shoulders correctly. As a result, you are probably swinging on a very narrow arc and falling into your shots on the downswing.

Compare Figures 1 and 2. In figure 1 my shoulder has barely coiled past my left knee. On the downswing my weight will be falling forward toward the ball; anything could happen and a shank is a real possibility.

In Figure 2, my left shoulder is over and above my right knee. You can see my weight is evenly balanced between the heels and toes of my feet. From this position a shank will never occur.

3. WRONG This address shows too much stooping, with the weight on the toes.		4. CORRECT The weight is evenly balanced between the toes and heels of the feet.

The other thing to check, if stuck down with a bout of the shanks, is the body angle at address. In Figure 3 I am stooping too much into the ball during the swing. My weight is obviously on my toes and, again, I will be falling into the ball through impact.

Figure 4 shows the correct position at the top of the backswing. Again I stress that the weight is equally distributed; I am balanced and I have maintained my body angle.

Remember, if you are out on the course and you start to shank, get your weight back onto the heels of your feet. When you finish your round get someone, preferably your local pro, to check your shoulder coil and address position. These will be the long-term solutions to the problems associated with the dreaded "s" word.

Good golfing.