slice driver

ok I  slice my driver and hook my mid irons can anyone help me with this i'm a 22 HC . I feel the swing is the same to me but what do I know !!!!

Thanks

Army

Do you know your SS? What loft do you have on your driver? Were your irons fitted to you?

Believe it or not, this isn't an uncommon problem.  We'll try to help you with what we can.

Let's start with a few things:

- What model irons are you playing?  Were they fit for you, and do you know the specs (whether they were or weren't fit for you)?

- What model driver are you playing?  What is the loft of the head?  What is the flex of the shaft?  When you do hit it relatively straight, how far does it go?  For most shots, does the ball go high or low?

- What sort of shots do you hit with other clubs, such as non-driver woods, wedge, and utility metals?

If I have to make a guess, it's that your flex in the driver is too strong for you and your irons have too much offset, but appropriate shafts. This combination will lead to a push or slice (depending) with the driver and a hook with the irons, even if your swing is reasonably good!

None of my clubs were ever fitted  I use a Nike S9 10.5  Reg Flex  about 200 yrds on the driver.  I use Wilson Fat shaft Deep red irons

My others club I would  say follow the line of above the low the wood less of a slice  the lower the iron the less hook 3-9  PW,SW, Gap are pretty decent

Can you post a video of you swing?

Is it a Nike SQ or a Cobra S9?

Either way, you have a neutral driver and offset irons, so the hook with the irons off a good swing isn't a surprise.   The shaft in the driver is about right for the distance.

How's your driver set up?  More importantly, is the shaft leaning forward at impact?  How is its angle up?

I suspect the answer is that you've got a decent swing, but your set up is having issues, and the offset is playing too much into your irons (which were built with the expectation of a slicer).

Shindig

Your been a great help so far, thanks.

it is a Corba S9.  I set up pretty normal with my irons.  as for my driver  I play it even or just outside my front foot. with a closed stance (back foot about 4-5" back   and sometimes i try to close the head slightly to help lesson the slice.  Its a controllable slice but would like to get rid of most of it.

Thanks again

Army

Army,

I'm a high handicapper as well, and recently have been working on the "stack & tilt" swing which is supposed to simplify the game ... it really has worked wonders for getting rid of my slice & created a much more balanced weight forward swing for me (there's tons of info on youtube about it).     Also, if you slightly cant the face of your driver inward at set up, you can minimize the chances of a slice.

Here is a video of Grant Waite. The yellow line shows the path his hands follow on the down swing. It is an in to square path, the hands drop to the inside and the hands are now in front of him and then continue to travel down the target line and to the follow through. OTT is the most common swing flaw for slicers. Watch this video and study what his hands are doing.

*This video shows how to hit the ball Straighter and not OTT.*

First off;

Try never to change the way the club is suppose to work. i.e by shutting the face. Because if you make a good swing, you'll end up hooking the ball. You always want to correct the swing flaw, not work around it.

Second; Where is your lead shoulder pointed at setup? If your back foot is back a few inches, and closing your stance, are your shoulders reflecting that change? If you lead shoulder is pointed left (for a right handed player) than closing the stance will not help because your shoulder is still open. If your shoulders are open at address, it does not really matter how far from the inside, or how much you close the club down, you will probably still hit some sort of fade/slice.

Third; A video of the swing would really help.

I'm interested in this as well ... could you summarize in layman terms what are the problems indicated in this swing that lead to a slice ?   Is the swing too steep, too sweeping ?     Not sure what you mean by square path.     I wish my swing looked that good - without audio commentary, it's tough to tell whats wrong with it .. thx

Although I was not the one that posted the video. I think maybe you misread. Grant's swing is NOT a slice swing.

What everythingolf was trying to explain is that, the hands/arms/club approach the ball from the inside (or left side for right handed players) than at impact they are square or 'on' the target line. From these positions, it is near impossible to hit a 'slice' unless the club face is left WIDE open.

Most people slice the ball because, they do exactly that. 'Slice across it', or where the hands/arms/club approach the ball from the right side, or the 'outside' cause them to swing, right-to-left, and hence putting rightward spin on the ball. Does this make sense?

I'm in the process of updating my software right now, but when it is done, I will post a video of someone who actually slices the ball. That may make it easier to understand.

I agree with the poster above about not trying to manipulate the clubs to make them work. You should also not manipulate your swing to make the club work.  Thing you should consider: If you do not have enough SS then a lower lofted driver will slice on you if your putting a good swing on it. Its designed to do that with a slower SS. If your iron lies are off they will make you compensate in certain ways as well. Many times people with lie problems will see it mostly in their short irons, it sounds like you hit those well....so it could be that your long irons are not what they say they are....or your just really compensating for your short irons, or they are great?  You have to make sure they are both working together ( swing, and clubs).  If you have a great swing coupled with equipment that always goes left or right on you....you will start to change that great swing to make the ball go straight......if you have a terrible swing and equipment that "compensates" for it then you will always have a terrible swing, and never be able to develop that part of your game.   I would recommend going and seeing someone who looks at your swing, and your clubs so you can get to the root of the problem.

Good luck

I think he said his irons are offset, which would explain why he hits those better and not the driver.

OK thanks for clarifying that - looking forward to seeing that video breakdown of a slice for comparison ...

Outside your front foot?  Like ahead of it?  Where do you play your irons?

Here's what I think might be happening, now take this with a grain of salt because I haven't seen your swing.

Putting the ball that far forward allows you too really swing up on the ball, which can be good, but has some drawbacks.  It all boils down to the path of the club when contact with the ball is made.  You can have a perfectly on plane inside-out or square swing with an iron, and a ball placed in the middle of your stance.  But with a ball placed in front of your left foot that nice on plane swing puts the club on a outside-in path (clubhead moving to the left) when the head of the driver hits the ball.  It's hard to visualize, but think of the lowpoint of your swing as being square to your target.  At that point the path of the club (not the clubface necessarily) is pointing directly down the fairway.  After the lowpoint in your swing the club starts back up, but it also starts moving to the left.  And a club head moving left with a face square to the target is going to slice the ball.

This video explains club path and clubface relationship, it's very technical and a lot to digest, but gives you an idea of what might be going on with you.

The quick fix might just be to move your ball back a bit in your stance with the driver.  But it's probably best to see a good instructor.

Here you go; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAyhowwGyJE

If you have questions, let me know!

I have the same problem and have seen through it. But i pull-hook my irons. It is an over the top swing, fells like right shoulder over left coming into the ball instead of right shoulder under left. Also the right arm working away from my body from top of down swing.