The slice shot with the driver is a common shot among amateur golfers. A slice is any shot that curves hard to the right in the air (for a right-handed player). Golfers often find themselves in the woods after hitting a slice. Show A slice shot is caused by a poor grip and setup, an outside-to-in downswing path and an open clubface. An outside-to-in path occurs when the golfer reaches too far on the downside, bringing the club down to the right of the ball (outside), relative to the target line. This forces him to pull the clubhead closer (inside) to strike the ball on the tee. An open clubface means the clubface points to the right of the target at impact. To eliminate the slice you need the proper grip and setup, an inside-to-out downswing path and a square clubface. After making these corrections you can enjoy a slice-free golf game. Step 1
Position the ball off the front foot. Grip the club with the left hand first (again, for a right-handed golfer). Position the grip mainly in the fingers of your left hand. With the club grounded, you should be able to see at least two knuckles of your left hand as you look down at the club. Golfers with a big slice should strive to see three knuckles of the left hand. The "V" formed by your left index finger and thumb should point toward your right shoulder. Set your right-hand grip to compliment the left. The "V" formed by your right index finger and thumb should also point to your right shoulder. Step 2Position the ball off the inside of your front foot, about even with your heel, to promote an upward strike of the golf ball. Striking the ball on the upswing will help promote a straighter flight and greater distance. Most slices with the driver result from a downward angle of attack, which produces weak distance and a slicing spin. Set up to the ball with your head a few inches behind the ball to help promote an upward strike. With your head behind the ball and your right hand grip below the left, you'll have a natural tilt in your shoulders at address. The proper shoulder tilt at address will promote a good shoulder turn on the backswing. Step 3
Rotate the clubhead's toe over the heel after impact. Swing the club back until you see your left shoulder under your chin. Your shoulder turn and backswing are complete once you get the left shoulder under your chin. With the proper shoulder turn you can swing the club down on an inside-to-out path. Step 4Swing the club down on an inside-to-out path. Square the clubface by rotating the toe (outside edge) of the club over the heel (inside edge) as you swing through impact. This eliminates an open clubface at impact, which contributes to a slice. Rotating the toe of the club over the heel will straighten out your ball flight or produce a slight right to left flight.
The slice has forever been the most plaguing miss for amateur golfers. To me I feel there are several reasons for this. Logically when we see our ball slicing to the right (for the right-handed golfer) it feels like swinging the opposite direction should fix the miss. Unfortunately, it makes it worse and the downward cycle can proliferate from there. Secondly most slicers have a poor transition and shift starting down. Without a good shift that uses the lower body first the only way to hit the ball first instead of the ground is to come over the top. An aggressive move from the top of the swing with the arms or upper body might feel powerful, but I can promise you by the time the club hits the ball it is not. In this article we will cover the following topics in the hopes of understanding how to fix a slice in golf. What is a Slice in Golf?A slice is a ball that curves away from the players dominant hand. So for a right handed golfer a ball that curves right. The key word here is “curves”. A ball that simply goes straight right is a push, and is caused for different reasons. A slice is a poor shot for several reasons. It causes a huge loss in distance and generally misses right of the target. A fade on the other hand is a controlled ball flight in which the ball starts left of the target and fades back to and finishes at the intended target. There is little to no distance lost with a fade. Some of the best players in history have hit a fade as their primary ball flight (Hogan, Nicklaus, Trevino). The amount of curve on a golf shot increases with club length and less loft. Since the driver has the longest shaft and lowest loft, it generally will slice the most and get you in the most trouble. Therefore, learning how to fix a slice can put you in play more often off the tee and greatly reduce your score.
What Causes a SliceThe three major causes of a slice are as follows:
How to Stop Slicing a Driver or IronsThe key in how to fix a slice is to understand that the clubface must be square (or slightly closed) to the direction of the swing path for the ball to not slice. If the clubface is open to the path the ball will always slice unless hit out on the toe. There are a lot of ways to change both the path and the face. It is important to find which ones are right for you!Adjust Your GripA poor grip may be the number one cause of why golfers slice. Your grip is your only connection to the club. As Ben Hogan said, “Good golf starts with a good grip”. If you hold the club in the palm of the lead hand along with your trail hand placed on top of the shaft you will not be able to square the face and you will hit shots that are weak and to the right. As a result of this common grip problem most players will start coming over the top in an effort to square the club-face. My advice is to ensure the top or lead hand is holding the club as much in the fingers as possible. This will make it easier to be tension free, acquire the correct wrist angles and square the club properly to avoid an open face. In addition the bottom or trail hand needs to be more under than on top of the shaft. When the trail hand is placed too far on top the face will almost always open on the backswing. A good grip is the simplest golf slice fix.
Position the Ball ProperlyAnother simple golf slice correction is ball position. Ball position plays a critical role in how a player comes down into impact. It affects not only the club path but also the club face and the low point of the swing (where you hit the ground). This is not a one size fits all answer but in general players who slice the ball tend to have an overly forward ball position. The more forward the ball is the harder it is to come from the inside and the more difficult it is to hit the ball first. The generally accepted ball position is near the front heel for drivers and back near the middle for your short irons. As you move from the driver down through the set the ball generally moves back in the stance. Monitor Your StanceTaking the proper stance plays a big role in eliminating a slice. From the front view I encourage golfers to error on the side of being too narrow versus too wide. A wide stance can make weight shift difficult and consistent ball striking less likely. When viewing the stance from behind I generally see two faults. First is the golfer who is sick of hitting it right will keep aiming more and more left. This makes it impossible for them to square the club-face because if they did the shot would go dead left where they are aiming. Some slicers aim too far right which forces them to come over the top and hit a pull back towards their target. The problem is this stance creates a poor transition and downswing and makes changing their swing almost impossible.
Square the ClubFaceHere are three golf slice fixes that will help make sure the face is not open to your path at impact:
Inside To Square Swing PathHere are three golf slice fixes that will help make sure your club path is not outside-to-in:
Fixing a Slice with Swing AlignSwing Align can help you stop slicing in so many ways from set-up all the way to the finish.
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