Shanking Half Wedges

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Shanking Half Wedges  

  By: Patrick C on Dec. 31, 2024, 11:24 a.m.

Hi,

I am struggling on and off with shanking partial swing shots. I hit my full swings off the heel but I don’t really shank them. But I’ll shank half wedges all of the time.

I have worked on this issue for a long time and today I saw something that I think is a clue about my issue.

Below are two video clips, the first is a shank and then the second is a swing with mostly left hand only. The right hand is open and just along for the ride. And shots in this manner are a lot better. I never shank these.

It seems like with partial shots, I am mostly powering the club with my right wrist and kicking the club out to the ball. So, any thoughts and comments and suggestions on this will be much appreciated. 🙏

Patrick Cox

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Re: Shanking Half Wedges  

  By: Tyler F on Jan. 1, 2025, 8:45 a.m.

Hi Patrick,

I think it's important to relate your feelings and focus to the outcome. So I'd start by looking at the major pieces related to heel contact. Are you moving down and in to the ball, or are your hands getting much further out than where they started. To me, it looks like the center of your body is moving more into the golf ball on the two handed swing and away from the golf ball on the one handed swing. It doesn't look like your arm spacing change dramatically in the two shots, but it looks like your pivot does. I'd focus there.
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/breaking-down-heel-contact/
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/shank-gate/
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/low-point-yoga-block/

Happy Golfing,
Tyler

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Re: Shanking Half Wedges  

  By: Patrick C on Jan. 1, 2025, 9:01 a.m.

Thanks Tyler. Related to moving down and into the ball, I recently watched your video on ulnar deviation down vs down the plane and I think I am releasing down the plane. This comparison shows more ulnar deviation with the open hand drill (so more down) I think I am releasing the club out away from me instead of down towards the ball. (Yellow lines are setup). But I’ll review all of the heel contact issues and focus on them. Thanks for your help.

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Re: Shanking Half Wedges  

  By: Tyler F on Jan. 6, 2025, 8:19 a.m.

Hi Patrick,

That might be true, but typically ulnar deviation creates more heel contact and helps fix golfers who excessively hit it on the toe. So, your wrist motion is more toe biased. And your body motion is more heel biased. You might end up adding more ulnar deviation to help balance your body not going down into the ball as much. It's fine if the thing you monitor is not a direct through. For example, if thinking about the wrists working more down the plane helps you not move down into the ball helps you maintain your height better. That's great, and I'd add that in my notes as a thought to go back to.

Happy golfing,
Tyler

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Re: Shanking Half Wedges  

  By: Patrick C on Oct. 14, 2025, 3:48 p.m.

Hi Tyler,
I have been working on my heel contact all summer and I have made a lot of progress. I definitely have the tendency to move into the ball as you pointed out and I have been trying to do less of that. I also tend to release my right wrist extension too soon and throw the club at the ball. With half wedges I am doing a much better job of that. It is mainly full swings where I still throw the club at the ball. The momentum of the club seems to through the club early. Actually if I feel less "wrist set" on the backswing, I tend to do better with that feeling.

I wanted to ask you about your comment that more ulnar tends to create more heel contact. I am confused but that. In my mind, more ulnar gets the toe of the club closer to the ground than the heel and more radial keeps the toe up and the heel closer to the ground. So it seems like more late radial will contribute to heel contact, not more ulnar. What am I missing?

Thanks!

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