Monday, August 16, 2004

SwingVision - Clarke Shank

I have enjoyed countless servings of bangers, haggis and pints O'Guinness at my favorite Irish pub, Lucky Baldwin's. Sadly, I have now decided never to venture there again.

Why? Well, it's not the food or the service. They have some of the best Irish food and drink outside of Dublin and everyone knows that the Irish are some of the nicest people around. No, it's a much more serious concern: the Shanks.

I have begun to suspect that my long bout with this dreadful affliction is a result of my exposure to anything Irish. My hypothesis was confirmed last weekend during the 3rd round of the 2004 PGA Championships at Whistling Straits. Darren Clarke, the top Irish golfer, cold ed his iron on the par-3 17th hole. Not only is it shocking that a professional could hit such a horrendous shot, it continues a remarkable trend:Is it just a coinidence that this guy also part-owns a racing horse named "Shank On Fourteen?" No, it is quite clear that this man is the Lord of the Shanks.

Interestingly, CBS happened to capture Clarke's latest debacle on super-slo-mo "". Check out the ugliest shot in golf:



Key screen shots:

3 comments:

PerfectZero said...

what a shankaholic.

the haggis cant be too good for the swing anyway.

Erik J. Barzeski said...

Tom, he wasn't shutting the clubface to avoid it. The clubface was twisting because of the shank.

socketome said...

Two points:
1. Haggis is a Scottish not Irish dish ( although there is a great affinity between Scotland and Ireland as they are only a few miles apart across the water)
2. I am 65 and have shanked the ball since I started playing at age 12. At one stage when I was playing of 9 handicap age 21 I thought of getting a whole set of woods made just to avoid hitting an iron. Now at age 65 I have found out why I have been shanking.

Despite the fact I know what causes me to do it and what to now do to prevent shanking I still occassionaly hit one because my concentration lapses and I go back to my natural shanking type swing. Two days ago I hit a perfect drive on a narrow par four to within wedge distance of the green , one shot later I was trying to extract myself from the trees after another high 90 degree shank.

Until I discovered the problem recently that would have been the trigger from a whole round of shanks ( I can easily shank all irons in a round) but now with the mental system on red alert and the defence in place I never hit another one and had a very good round.

Clarkey needs to contact me for advice, I will trade with him.

Dave