Help!! Swing anomaly that popped up

Question
Friday I was at the driving range and was going along fine (as a matter of fact, I was actually smashing 4 irons pretty consistent).  All of a sudden I developed this swing anomaly that was so bad that I could not even get a pitching wedge airborne (and when I did hit it, it would go 45 degrees right).  About an hour or so later, I was able to go to the local park and start hitting my 9 iron straight.  Later on in the evening,I went to another park and hit some pitching wedge shots, starting with a partial swing and progressed to hitting full.

I went and hit 20 balls before playing yesterday and everything seemed OK.  I played 18 holes yesterday and shot 94 (which is my normal score; I was hitting the ball ok, although my short game wasn't the greatest).

I went over to the park today to practice my chipping with my gap wedge and after about 45 minutes or so, I progressed on to doing half and full shots.  The anomaly popped up again where I was trying to hit full shots and they would go 45 degrees right.  I tried some drills, starting with swinging a club with the feet together (and was able to hit it straight).  I started doing chip shots and half swings and managed to hit it straight.  Then when I would try to take a full swing and the anomaly would come back again.  

I went home and grabbed my pitching wedge after a short rest.  I started with short swings and actually was hitting normal shots after about 10 minutes.  I went to the other end of the field and it came back again and basically where I am at now is that I can do chip shots but if I try to do any more than a half swing, the ball will go 45 degrees right.

Could it be muscle fatigue in the left arm? Or could I be fighting the fact that the ground is very hard?  

I never had this severe of a problem in all the years of playing golf.  Even though I may have had problems with driving, my irons have been very consistent.

Answer
Lou:  The ball squirting off to the right at 45 degrees is a shank.  The ball that squirts off the club at a right angle is hit on the neck or hosel of the club.  The hosel is round and the ball is round, so there is no way for it to go straight.  Check the marks on your club, look at the hosel?  If this is true, it's usually related to balance.  What I mean is this.  When you make real small swings, like the ones with your feet together, or little chip shots, there is not much weight transfer.  Once you start making a bigger swing, say above the waist, your weight transfer becomes more active.  The problem is usually this:  as you make your forward swing towards the ball, your weight is moving towards and into your left toe instead of your left heel.  Once the weight transfers to the toe, you have moved out and around the ball just enough to hit it on the hosel.  Then people tend to think the face is open and they think that is the reason the ball is going right, so then they start trying to use their hands to quickly close the face through impact.  This also gets the clubhead to move out and around the ball catching it on the hosel and sending it squirting to the right.  So check your weight distribution on the forward swing into the finish.  Make sure when you are finished, your weight is on the outside of the left foot, towards your left heel, and you can see some spikes under your big toe.  Also, quiet your hand action, like you do when chipping, and you'll control the clubface better through impact.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member