Fix your Push, Pull or Shank with only a Range Bucket

Many swing faults are caused by an incorrect club path into the ball. Whether you pull it (over-the-top), push / block it (in to out) or shank it (either or), your swing path is to blame. There are many drills on this site that can help you fix any of these faults, but today I …

Many swing faults are caused by an incorrect club path into the ball. Whether you pull it (over-the-top), push / block it (in to out) or shank it (either or), your swing path is to blame. There are many drills on this site that can help you fix any of these faults, but today I want to go over some drills you can perform to cure these faults with something as simple as a range bucket.

 

Pushrange buket push drill fixpushing range bucket drill

You can get a push in a variety of ways, but usually it happens in one of two ways – either your lower body moves towards the target coming into impact and you getting ahead of it or your swing path attacks the ball too much from the inside. If you are getting ahead of it, stabilizing your lower body is as simple as clenching a range bucket between your knees as shown in the image to the right. Attacking too much from the inside? Stick a range bucket just inside your target line – ensure your backswing and downswing don’t make contact with it… and you can be sure your swing path is more along the correct path.

 

 

Shank

shank shanking drill tips

The “S” word that nobody likes to talk about is a nasty miss-hit. It happens a variety of ways, but most common is an improper weight shift towards the ball into impact. A simple drill to help get your swing back on path, and improve your contact, is to place a range bucket just outside beyond the toe’s reach of the club if you were to hit the sweet spot. You can place two buckets as well as shown in the image if you want to give yourself less room for error… if you make contact with the buckets, it’s likely you shanked it in the process.

 

Pull

A pull is caused by an out to in swing path, which is most commonly known as an over-the-top swing. You see this in a variety of forms from the severe pull slice with beginners to the more subtle with swings like Phil Mickelson. We can use a range bucket to help cure this fault in two ways, one is as simple as placing the bucket just inside your target line on the follow-through – you’ll need to avoid it on the follow-through, discouraging an out to in swing path. The other is to make yourself a make-shift “Inside Approach” as shown in the image to the right, have the grip end of the “training aid” hanging over the ball… if you can swing and only make contact with the ball your swing path will be moving into a better position.

4 thoughts on “Fix your Push, Pull or Shank with only a Range Bucket”

  1. I have to disagree about your pull lesson, with respect.

    A pull is not a simple outside to in swing. For example, I have an incredible pull-hook with my woods and hybrid. No matter what launch monitor I am on, from low quality Golf Galaxy simulator, to top of the the line Callaway Performance Centers, all agree that my path to the ball falls at just about 1 to 1.8 degrees inside. Despite this, my face angle at impact is incredibly closed, and I tend to get around my body with my longer clubs – hence why this is a problem with my woods and hybrid. For the moment, I can only presume that the problem lies within either my wrist or my follow through, or a combination. I don’t honestly know, it’s something that has come up since I really began adding distance and mph to my SS. This time last year, I was struggling to keep my driver consistently in the 80-85mph range, as of right now, I am swinging anywhere from 105-110. For now, I must work with it.

    Reply
  2. I have to disagree about your pull lesson, with respect.

    A pull is not a simple outside to in swing. For example, I have an incredible pull-hook with my woods and hybrid. No matter what launch monitor I am on, from low quality Golf Galaxy simulator, to top of the the line Callaway Performance Centers, all agree that my path to the ball falls at just about 1 to 1.8 degrees inside. Despite this, my face angle at impact is incredibly closed, and I tend to get around my body with my longer clubs – hence why this is a problem with my woods and hybrid. For the moment, I can only presume that the problem lies within either my wrist or my follow through, or a combination. I don’t honestly know, it’s something that has come up since I really began adding distance and mph to my SS. This time last year, I was struggling to keep my driver consistently in the 80-85mph range, as of right now, I am swinging anywhere from 105-110. For now, I must work with it.

    Reply
  3. Hi John, thanks for the comment. You’re right, if you clubface is incredibly closed, you can hit what looks like a “pull”, with a solid swing path. On this site, I have to speak in generalities, for the most part, most people who pull the ball do indeed have an out to in swing… but occasionaly this is not the case.

    Is this a snap hook you’re suffering from? I’d go back to the basics with your grip to start, ensure it’s in the proper position. From there, get a video camera and check its position at the top of the swing. If the clubface faces the sky at the top, you’ll know you’re closing the face on the backswing… if it’s square there, your downswing must be to blame.

    Your increase in distance is likely due to the lag you’re now producing… the downside to the faster clubspeed is your wrists have to compensate to keep up. It looks like your timing is a little off.

    Hope that helps!

    Reply
  4. Hi John, thanks for the comment. You’re right, if you clubface is incredibly closed, you can hit what looks like a “pull”, with a solid swing path. On this site, I have to speak in generalities, for the most part, most people who pull the ball do indeed have an out to in swing… but occasionaly this is not the case.

    Is this a snap hook you’re suffering from? I’d go back to the basics with your grip to start, ensure it’s in the proper position. From there, get a video camera and check its position at the top of the swing. If the clubface faces the sky at the top, you’ll know you’re closing the face on the backswing… if it’s square there, your downswing must be to blame.

    Your increase in distance is likely due to the lag you’re now producing… the downside to the faster clubspeed is your wrists have to compensate to keep up. It looks like your timing is a little off.

    Hope that helps!

    Reply

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