Fix Shanks 22 Jun 2026 10 min read

The Backswing Move That Improves Iron Ball Striking

If your irons keep producing shanks, heavy strikes, or a weak ball that leaks to the right, it is tempting to chase the club with another swing-path thought. Swing more left. Roll the hands. Stand farther away. Aim differently.

Sometimes the better answer is earlier in the motion.

In this lesson, Andy Proudman helped Ian find that his strike problem was not just a club delivery issue. His lower body was swaying in the backswing, his head was moving down and forward, and by the time he reached impact he had to recover just to find the middle of the face. When the backswing pivot improved, his strike and direction improved without him needing to force the club left.

Quick Answer

For better iron ball striking, check whether your lower body sways and your head moves down and forward during the backswing. Set your posture from the hips, keep strong legs, and turn into your trail hip instead of sliding away from the target. The move may feel taller or exaggerated at first, so use feedback to confirm whether your feel matches what is really happening.

Why Swinging Left Wasn’t Solving The Iron Problem

Ian’s main thought with his irons was to swing left. That made sense to him because the ball was often going right, and he had also seen the shank appear when the strike was poor.

The problem was that the thought did not address why the strike was moving toward the heel. If your body moves closer to the ball during the backswing, you may still deliver the club on a reasonable path, but the whole delivery can be shifted into the wrong place.

That is why a golfer can feel as if the hands are the problem when the real issue is posture and pivot. The club is reacting to where the body has gone, which is also why a two-way miss can feel so hard to manage.

The Sway And Posture Pattern That Leads To Shanks

The key pattern was simple: the lower body moved laterally in the backswing, and the head moved down and forward. From down the line, that meant Ian was moving closer to the ball.

Once that happens, the downswing becomes a recovery. The player has to move back out of the way, lift, or reroute the club enough to find strike. Sometimes that recovery works and the shot is playable. Sometimes it is not far enough, and the heel or hosel gets involved.

The front-on view also explained why taking a divot was difficult. If the body hangs back or sits behind the ball, the club is less likely to hit the ground in front of the ball. For an iron, that makes clean contact harder to repeat, especially if you are trying to learn when you should take a divot.

This does not mean every shank comes from this exact pattern. It means that if you struggle with heel strikes, fat shots, and a weak right miss, body movement in the backswing is worth checking before you keep changing the club.

Set Your Posture Before You Change The Swing

Andy started by changing Ian’s address posture. The feeling was to stand tall first, hinge forward from the hips, then soften the knees into strong legs.

That small setup change matters because an overly rounded or upright starting position can make it easier to move down and forward in the backswing. A better hip hinge gives the body more room to turn while keeping the spine angle more stable. If this is a pattern you recognise, it is worth revisiting how to maintain your posture in the backswing before adding more club thoughts.

One useful feel is that the belt buckle points a little more down at address. You should not feel collapsed or stuck on your toes, but you should feel athletic enough that someone could not easily push you backward.

This setup is not cosmetic. It is there to make the correct backswing move easier.

Turn Into Your Trail Hip Instead Of Swaying

The main backswing move was to turn into the trail hip rather than slide into the trail side.

A simple rehearsal is to place a club across your shoulders, set your posture, and make a slow backswing turn. As you turn, feel pressure build into the inside of the trail leg and trail glute. Your hips should rotate. They should not drift away from the target as the first move.

Ian felt the move across his back and into his trail leg. That was a good sign because he was starting to coil instead of sway. It is the same broad principle behind building a consistent pivot motion: the body turns in balance instead of sliding into a position it has to rescue later.

The goal is not to freeze the body. There can still be pressure shift and athletic movement. The difference is that the pressure shift happens with rotation, not a lateral slide that drags the head down and forward.

Use Feedback To Match Feel With Real

The hardest part of this change is that the correct move may feel wrong.

For Ian, the useful feel was to stay taller. Andy also used a left-shoulder-higher feel and even asked for an exaggerated standing-up sensation in the backswing. That was not because every golfer should stand up out of posture. It was because Ian’s normal pattern was down and forward, so he needed a strong opposite feel to find the middle.

This is where feedback matters. Without it, a golfer can spend a full practice session feeling as if they are making a change while the movement barely changes at all.

Use video, a mirror, launch monitor feedback, strike spray, or Swing Coach feedback to check the move. The question is not, Did that feel different? The question is, Did the head, posture, and pivot actually move closer to the pattern I want?

Practise The Move Before Chasing Ball Flight

Do not rush straight into full shots and judge the first attempt by the ball flight.

Start with rehearsals. Build the posture, turn into the trail hip, and feel the head stay in a steadier window. Then make slow swings without caring too much about where the first few balls go.

That practice sequence matters because the body will want to return to the familiar pattern as soon as a ball is in front of you. Ian could make the better move in rehearsal before he could fully own it with the ball. That is normal.

If the move feels extreme, reduce the speed and shorten the swing. You are trying to teach the body a new route, not win a ball-flight contest on the first five balls.

What Changed When The Pivot Improved

As Ian improved the backswing pivot, the strike pattern became more playable. He was no longer relying on a forced swing-left thought to stop the ball going right. The movement gave him a better chance to deliver the club from a more centered place, which is the same end goal as building more repeatable ball-then-turf contact.

The ball flight also started to draw more naturally because he was not fighting the same body movement. That is an important distinction. The improved shot shape was a result of better pivot and posture, not a separate manipulation of the hands.

For a golfer who fears the shank or the big right miss, that is the real win: a swing thought that organizes the body instead of simply reacting to the previous bad shot.

A Simple Practice Plan For Better Iron Ball Striking

Use this sequence the next time you practise.

1. Set your posture by hinging from the hips and softening the knees into strong legs.
2. Make three slow shoulder-club turns and feel pressure load into the trail hip.
3. Check that your head is not moving down and forward toward the ball.
4. Make a few practice swings with the feeling that the lead shoulder stays slightly higher.
5. Hit short iron shots at reduced speed and monitor strike location.
6. Only increase speed when the movement and contact stay stable.

The key is to separate movement practice from performance practice. First learn the shape. Then test it with the ball. If you want the broader iron pattern to hold up, pair this pivot work with the fundamentals that create consistent iron play.

FAQs

Why do I shank irons when I try to swing left?

Swinging left can help some golfers with direction, but it will not solve every strike issue. If your body moves closer to the ball in the backswing, the club can still arrive too far out toward the heel. In that case, the backswing pivot and posture need attention.

How does backswing posture affect iron contact?

Posture affects where your body and club are in space. If your head moves down and forward and your lower body sways, you may have to recover on the downswing. That makes centered contact harder to repeat.

Should I feel taller in the backswing?

Only if your normal pattern is to move down and forward. For Ian, feel taller helped him move closer to neutral. For another golfer, that same feel may not be right. Use feedback before making it your main thought.

What if I cannot turn into my trail hip?

Check your setup first. A better hip hinge and stronger legs can make the turn easier. If the movement still feels blocked or painful, get qualified coaching or physical guidance rather than forcing range repetitions.

How should I practise this without getting too technical?

Keep the thought simple: posture, turn, feedback. Set the posture, turn into the trail hip, then use video or feedback to check whether the movement changed. Avoid adding extra thoughts until the basic move is clearer.

Build A Backswing That Finds The Middle More Often

If your iron strike keeps disappearing, do not only chase the club. Check whether your backswing is moving your body into a position that makes clean contact harder.

A better hip hinge, a stronger trail-side turn, and reliable feedback can give you a much clearer route to the middle of the face.