6 Golf Shank Drills to Stop Hitting the Hosel for Good
If you thought a slice or a fat shot was frustrating, try hitting a shank.
A shank is one of the worst mishits because the result of the shank is so unpredictable. The shank happens when the club’s hosel (where the shaft meets the clubhead) makes contact with the ball.
Shanks don’t usually stick around for long, but the problem is that as soon as you hit one shank, you’ll be worried about the next one.
One of the best ways to work on stopping the shank shot is to practice clubface control and body positioning throughout the swing.
These anti-shank drills will help you feel in control and overcome your fear of hitting the golf ball with the hosel first.
Contents
The Key to Fixing Shanks Starts with Your Wrists!
Shanks often come from poor clubface control—and your wrists play a major role. Click here for the best drills to improve your wrist mechanics and eliminate hosel strikes for good.
6 Golf Shank Drills That Actually Work
Motorcycle Drill
The Motorcycle Drill is the most common wrist control drill in the game of golf. The Motorcycle Drill helps you find the correct wrist flexion (amount of bowing) in the downswing.
When the clubface is wide open at impact, it’s more common to shank the ball, but with the motorcycle drill, you’ll work on moving towards a square or slightly closed clubface in the early part of the downswing.
The Motorcycle Drill can be worked on in real-time using the HackMotion app.
Motorcycle Drill – Master Wrist Flexion in the Downswing
Focus on continuously adding flexion until the club reaches parallel, then smoothly complete your swing.
HackMotion Motorcycle Drill – Step by Step:
- Set Up: Address the ball in your standard position with HackMotion on to monitor your wrist angles.
- Add Flexion: On the downswing, “rev” your lead wrist into more flexion (like revving a motorcycle throttle in reverse). Aim to reach your intended amount of flexion by the time the club is parallel to the ground (P6).
- Maintain to Impact: Hold that flexion through impact, allowing the clubface to square or close slightly.
- Gradual Speed Increase: Start slowly, hitting soft shots as you groove the movement. Gradually increase speed while watching your lead wrist remain in the ideal flexion zone on HackMotion.
- Practice Reps: Alternate between full swings with a ball and practice swings without contact to ingrain the wrist action.
Anti-Casting Drill
Casting is the unhinging or throwing of the wrists too early in the golf swing. This action causes the clubhead to swing out and away from the body, which can lead to hosel contact.
The anti-casting drill teaches you to hold your wrist angles longer on the downswing to set up for a powerful strike.
It also greatly reduces your chances of hitting hosel first. The Anti-Casting drill can also be found in the HackMotion app, so you can work on it in real-time.
Fix Your Casting with HackMotion
Train to fix casting by generating power with your core and lower body.
HackMotion Casting Drill – Step by Step:
- Slow Rehearsals: From a normal backswing, begin the downswing by shifting weight toward your lead foot and rotating your hips. Keep your arms relaxed.
- Maintain Trail Wrist Bend: Use HackMotion to ensure your trail wrist stays extended (bent) as you move down. Don’t let it “straighten” too soon.
- Let the Arms Drop: Feel the arms drop naturally from the top; avoid throwing the club from the top with your hands.
- Progressive Speed: Increase speed gradually, keeping the bend in your trail wrist until later in the downswing.
- HackMotion Check: If your trail wrist extension graph shows it straightening before the club reaches parallel to the ground, you’re likely casting.
Combined Top Drill
The Combined Top Drill trains you to reach a proper wrist position at the top of your backswing. If you are struggling at impact, chances are the problem happened sooner in the golf swing.
This drill works on finding that perfect top position while taking a full-speed backswing. This drill bridges the gap between slow practice swings and real, full-speed swings.
Combined Top Drill in HackMotion
Train your top position by mastering optimal wrist angles. Challenge yourself to reach the ideal wrist position during a full-speed backswing.
HackMotion Combined Top Drill – Step by Step
- Full-Speed Backswing: Address the ball as you normally would, wearing HackMotion to track your wrist angles. Make a quick backswing, just as you would in a real shot.
- Pause & Check: Once you reach the top, briefly pause or slow down to check if your lead wrist is in the HackMotion “green zone.”
- Transition: From that checked position, flow into your downswing. The key is blending correct top-of-swing wrist angles into your normal sequence.
- Short Pauses: If you find it difficult to hit the correct top position at high speed, rehearse by doing a mini-pause. Then, gradually shorten this pause until you’re swinging freely while still hitting the top position.
Trail Leg “Bank & Roll” Drill
Getting the lower body to turn and move on the downswing is important.
However, sometimes, a shank can happen when the lower body lunges towards the ball. You’ll have very little space for your arms, and the club strikes the ball on the hosel.
The Bank and Roll drill helps you focus on keeping your trail leg from kicking inward too soon.
- Video Timestamp: 3:07
Trail Leg “Bank & Roll” Drill – Step by Step
- Set Up: Address the ball in a balanced position.
- Top of Swing: Make your normal backswing.
- Bank the Trail Knee: As you start down, feel your trail knee moving in toward your lead knee instead of driving forward toward the ball. Imagine you’re “banking” the inside of your trail foot against the ground before rolling it.
- Maintain Space: This bank-and-roll motion keeps your hips back and retains the original space between you and the ball, minimizing the chance of hitting off the hosel.
- Alignment Stick Feedback: For an added challenge, place an alignment stick just outside your trail knee. If you knock into it during the downswing, you push forward too much.
Two-Ball “Inside Ball” Drill
Sometimes narrowing the area where you plan to strike the ball can help prevent that outward reach where the hosel can make contact first.
The Two Ball inside Drill helps you practice with two golf balls in play but the goal is to just make contact with one.
Better players who want to improve point of contact and ball striking can use this drill to find the center of the clubface.
- Video Timestamp: 1:30
Two-Ball “Inside Ball” Drill – Step by Step
- Position Two Balls: Place them about one clubhead-width apart.
- Address the Outside Ball: Stand as if you’re going to hit the ball that’s farther away.
- Hit the Inside Ball: During your swing, let your arms pull in slightly so you strike the inner ball instead. This encourages a more centered strike on the face.
- Feel the Difference: After a few reps, address a single ball again but maintain the feeling of “pulling your hands in.”
Arm Structure “Smart Ball” Drill
The arms and the body have to work together to hit great golf shots. Many times, golfers who shank have issues with their arms working independently of their bodies.
Putting a small inflatable ball between your forearms will keep the forearms and elbows in sync and make it easier to match the upper and lower body in your golf swing.
- Video Timestamp: 6:20
Arm Structure “Smart Ball” Drill – Step by Step
- Set Up: Place a small inflatable ball between your forearms.
- Slow Swings: Begin with half swings, ensuring the inflatable stays in place throughout the backswing and downswing.
- Focus on Connection: Keep your elbows gently squeezing together, promoting a more unified rotation instead of an arms-only swing.
- Gradual Build-Up: Progress from slow half-swings to three-quarter and then full swings, checking that the ball never drops mid-swing.
- HackMotion Check: Connected arms often lead to more consistent wrist angles. Track whether your lead wrist maintains flexion or extension more steadily when using the Smart Ball.
Final thoughts
Eliminating the shank is often about maintaining proper wrist angles, preserving your swing’s natural spacing, and syncing up your arms with your body.
Practice these drills with the use of your HackMotion so you are able to strike the golf ball with more confidence.
As soon as you feel like you are in control of the clubhead it gets easier to hit the shots you want when the pressure is on.
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