Slice vs. shaft stiffness does it matter?

**YamahaJay** · May 26, 2009

I consistantly slice so bad I have to aim 45deg left of the target to land straight,once in a while it goes nice and straight.My question is would a stiffer shaft slice less? I have a reg flex driver that is generic (Intech) and it is a bit more flexable than my friends regular shaft Callaway driver(graphite also). I am 6 ft tall 235lbs and take a full backswing.I have never been measured for speed but I swing as hard as I can and am landing about 250 yards on my best drives(250 is the first contact with the ground,not including any bounce or roll). Do I need a stiff shaft or a quality driver? or is it a swing problem? I tried for about 2 months to take less of a swing and to slow the swing but that makes my consistancy awful and my drives corkscrew off left and don't make the womens tees that way. The only way i'm consistant is to mash the ball but I'd like to hit straight shots and not have to aim left so far.I'm almost facing the fairway straight to allow the slice to land correct. Any suggestions?

**Smw** · May 26, 2009

I swing as hard as I can

There is likely your problem.

**DaveLeeNC** · May 26, 2009

For most golfers a stiffer shaft will tend to make you slice even more. Again for most golfers the shaft is tending to bend forward at impact (closing the face), and this is increased as you go down in flex. I once built a hybrid for a lady with a VERY slow swingspeed. It was basically as flexible as I could make it (and she like it).

I took it to the range and never the saw the first ball I hit - or the second ball. I saw the 3rd one - it was about 60 yards left of my target.

dave

ps. There is a wild card in this analysis. You may well swing differently with a stiffer shaft and this might well totally overwhelm any of the factors listed.

**YamahaJay** · May 26, 2009

There is likely your problem.

I have slowed it down and it still slices just as bad, it just starts the right hand turn sooner than a faster swing. Turning the club face in helped but didn't cure it,and its turned in a lot.

**YamahaJay** · May 26, 2009

For most golfers a stiffer shaft will tend to make you slice even more. Again for most golfers the shaft is tending to bend forward at impact (closing the face), and this is increased as you go down in flex. I once built a hybrid for a lady with a VERY slow swingspeed. It was basically as flexible as I could make it (and she like it).

Good to know, now I won't go out and buy an expensive stiff driver and slice worse.

**shortstop20** · May 27, 2009

I have slowed it down and it still slices just as bad, it just starts the right hand turn sooner than a faster swing. Turning the club face in helped but didn't cure it,and its turned in a lot.

Even if you have the club turned in at address, all that matters is the position that the club is in at impact.

You likely have a cupped left wrist at impact instead of a flat or bowed left wrist which is ideal. What trajectory do your shots with the driver have? High?

**ZaPPPa** · May 27, 2009

If you slice that badly, no equipment is going to help you. It would be a waste buying an expensive driver while you are going through swing changes. I think most people are better off buying a cheapo driver to start with and switch to a fitted one once they have the basic swing mechanics down.

Don't worry about distance for now. If you make a dramatic swing change you're bound to hit a whole bunch of balls all over the place (shank, top, fat,slice, hook) while you adjust. Hang in there and if you're doing the right thing, it will straighten out eventually and distance will come naturally once you start making solid contact.

**YamahaJay** · May 27, 2009

Even if you have the club turned in at address, all that matters is the position that the club is in at impact.

Yes, High...if one is low it usually goes straight.They aren't pop-up shouts but they are decently high.

**shortstop20** · May 27, 2009

Higher than most other people's drives, or just normal high?

What I'm getting at is if you hit the ball higher than most other people that is further evidence that you have a cupped left wrist at impact, which opens the face and adds loft(which makes the ball go high and slice to the right).

**YamahaJay** · May 27, 2009

Higher than most other people's drives, or just normal high?

Id say higher than most. What do you mean by "cupped wrist" I was just out swinging the club and my wrist is not straight at impact,its bent forward at impact.

**shortstop20** · May 27, 2009

Hold your arm straight out in front of you with your palm facing down. Now bend your hand back towards you so you can see your fingernails(and the top of your hand). Now you have a cupped wrist.

In retrospect, if you hold your arm out in front of you again with the wrist flat, and then bend your wrist so you can see your palm, that is a bowed wrist.

The ideal position of the wrist in the golf swing is with the wrist flat or slightly bowed.

EDIT:

This picture shows how the wrist should look at impact.

**YamahaJay** · May 27, 2009

Good info, my hand position is incorrect and I will give it a shot at the range and hope for the best. My wrist is actually bent completly forward at impact,so its about the opposite as the picture shows. Could that cause a slice?

**c4m** · May 27, 2009

I'd blame the slice on the swing before shaft stiffness

**glbrum** · May 27, 2009

I'd blame the slice on the swing before shaft stiffness

I agree here. I just switched to a regular flex graphite shaft driver from a stiff steel shaft driver. The slice came immediately, but I could feel my swing was coming over the top [which caused the slice]. Once I got my swing on the correct plane, I was hitting the same as with the old steel shaft [ie: straight or a slight draw].

DMaxwell · May 27, 2009

I think the shaft matter a ton if you are swinging correctly. I went from a regular flex to an xflex about a month ago after hitting on a track man and a range with a regular then an X. I had a pretty wicked slice prior to the switch (and problems with the ball soaring) but the high speed video showed nothing in my swing that should have caused it (besides my club being bent so far that I am suprised it wasnt broken lol). My grip was perfect, my body, arms, and hands were all in proper position and I was still slicing the hell out of it.
Since I swapped drivers, my slices have gone from about 75% of my swings to about 5%. Huge difference.

Another thing that could have a huge impact on it is how you are gripping the club, and also your grip strength. The harder you swing, the stronger your forearms and hands need to be to control the club. I don't mean you need to put a death grip on the club either. If your swinging it 110mph, but your hands only have a grip strength of like 45lbs of pressure, your gonna slice like a MF.

May 27, 2009

Hi YamahaJay,

I´m new here, my first reply. I´m new to Golf, too (HCP47 still).
Did you mean woods or irons? I´m using regular flex.

I´ve had a great experience the other day. After slicing like hell and mostly trying to HIT THE BALL and swing WAY TOO HARD i went to see the ladies pro tour - they had nice energy and a lot tension going on... Ok i thought. I´ll go on the range and tried the following:

1. Keep the grip strong (left hends bends over the grip to the right
2. stand solid by strengthen out the back (no pudding below the rotation parts of thebody)
3. reduce the stance from wide (60cm ) to a littler narrower (ie 50cm)>>reducing the ability to hit too hard

4. I really tried to turn the shoulders as far back as i could
5. then I forgot about the fear not to hit the ball and focussed on SWINGING THRU (!!!!!) while keeping the arm straigtened (!)
6. I tried to keep my eyes down where the ball was (!!)

So basically i did all that but in a way "i dont care how i hit / impact the damn ball. The result were 150 to 180 meters straight shots with wood 5, 3 and Hybrid 4.
I know this is exactly the stuff that Pro always told me, and probably told everyone.
The difference to me was to forget about the possible "mishit" and drop the fear. Just bend a lot (as much as you can!), move nicely the hips to the left and just having fun to feel the tension and a FAST but not HARD rotation. Very small deviation to left and right.
No idea whether this can be replicated by anyone else. Somehow it´s just a mental thing that prohibited me from the right motions.
Will try now during the tournament on sunday.

cheers, Golfpimpf

**deafheaven** · May 27, 2009

I'm going to suggest that your slice is most likely due to your swing path (outside to inside). As I've stated in previous posts, I corrected my horrendous slice by learning to hit a draw (inside to outside swing path). If your swing path has you coming down on the side of the ball then you are imparting a lot of side spin on said ball.

**shortstop20** · May 28, 2009

Swing path has nothing to do with slices/hooks. Swing path dictates the line that the ball will initially take when it leaves the clubface. The angle of the clubface at impact then determines whether the ball will hook, slice, or keep going on the line it started on.

Although an over the top(outside-in) swing does encourage an open clubface, the two are not synonymous.

Good info, my hand position is incorrect and I will give it a shot at the range and hope for the best. My wrist is actually bent completly forward at impact,so its about the opposite as the picture shows.

Absolutely. That IS what causes a slice for the large majority of golfers.

Take your normal grip and then cup your wrist, you will notice this opens the face and adds loft(which equals high, slice shots). Now bow your wrist slightly instead, this will close and deloft the clubface(which encourages a straight or draw shot with much more solid contact).

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