How did you fix YOUR slice?

I promise that as soon as I figure it out, I will tell the world
 

i have what my brother calls a "70 yard slice" because I lose 70 yards of my drive from it.  i have to aim over the trees on the left side of the fairway to have it land on the right side fairway or the right rough.  think Jackie Mason in Caddy Shack 2.  almost that bad, not even kidding lol.  can not fix it.  I still have a long drive though, so ive learned to play it.  if i am unable to play it on a hole, i will switch to a 4 iron.  i dont slice with my irons.

I'm very new to golf and only been playing about 2 months now. So feel free to ignore anything i say lol. All the info I get is from this forum and youtube, but you can build a swing that way lol, I have.

 

This could be the wrong way to adjust your swing but I fixed my slice and now have a slight hook at times. Just back up a bit from the ball, not sure why it works, and if you back to far away, you will hook it badly.

Most guys slice because the weight isn't enough forward and the handle is too far back at impact with the elbows separating.  That and people think you have to roll or release the club to put some kind of side spin on the ball.

 

This is what a slicer and a guy that draws it looks like at impact

 

This is a great way to address the ball to help draw the ball.

 

This is a good drill to get the hands forward.  Do this drill like Erik is and it's almost impossible to not draw it.

Ive learned to hit a draw. much more consistent, further and miss is straight and rarely a snap hook. Trying to do something completely different is easier than trying to not do some unknown thing that causes a slice. so many things can cause it im just better off focusing on what makes a draw and less about what i can do wrong. if that makes sense.

I had a really, really, really bad slice for a while. I could hit my 3-wood 180 yards with a 90 yard slice. (On our smallish netted driving range, I could slice from the left all the way to the right side on a bad day.) I used to cherish the super rare occasion I got to play from my own fairway. But now I occasionally struggle with it an unintended fade, and on a bad day an actual slice, but it's rare. My misses are more likely to be hooks.

For me, it involved raising my arms, pulling my right elbow off of my body to try to "hit" with it from behind, and turning very flat. My first move on the downswing would get my hands way above plane and then I'd have to tug them down through the rest of the swing to get to a decent impact position. I say "tug" because that's really what it was. It was far from a power move, more like a weak pushing move.

I hated to use my lower body because it felt unnecessarily complicated (how wrong), and I would lock my waist down to be still during the swing, forcing my shoulders to rotate very flat. Combined with I was miles off plane. And my rogue right elbow would effectively cause the "mid point" or bottom of the swing to be naturally farther back. I had basically no chance of not slicing, looking back. I was a poster child for how to slice.

Now I hit much harder with a lot less effort because I'm not fighting physics every step of the way.

 

Can go hand in hand.  The poorest players have the weight back or slightly forward at impact and the players have the weight the most forward.  To create a path out to the right (for a righty) you don't need to swing out to the right.  With the weight forward and flat left wrist (handle forward) you're already creating the outward path.

I see many players that have a slice caused by not getting the clubhead to square during impact, they swing around their body (outside/in) and not down the line. Then they will try to allow for their slice by playing further left, but in essence they are just opening up their stance and making their slice even worse. It is hard to get them to play to the right and to try to keep their club square and their line towards the target.

 

Many of these people I play with will hit some really good shots, when they do get to a squared up position at impact - but all to often this is the rare shot, but it gives them just enough hope that they are reluctant make swing changes, or get some lesson time.

Don't open the clubface with an improper hinge.  Don't get the arms high unless the shoulder plane takes them there.  Don't rotate to start the downswing.  That's all I did.  Nowadays the only reason I lose balls right (or left :) is if my grip gets wonky and the clubface gets open on the takeaway.  Take the right grip, hinge and set early, tilt the left shoulder down on the backswing, knees (not head) move laterally toward the target at the transition, tilt the right shoulder down on the downswing, slam it with the arms, pull the handle left and up through the ball, right hand rolls over to the finish.

I developed a horrible slice this year which I seem to have resolved....for the moment.  How did I fix it?  Well I can tell you that what I did on my own didn't work because I wasn't swinging in the manner that I thought I was.  So my self-fixes were aimed at an imaginary swing.

 

I took a 1 hour lesson with a good instructor about 2 weeks ago.  She analyzed my swing and found that I was doing all the things that others on this thread have outlined.  My swing was a mess but the fixes that have worked for me may not work for you unless you have the same "mess."  An outside-to-in swing is certainly involved with a slice but I think the combination of things to fix the problem can still be very different for different people.

 

Specific tips that are working for me.....

1.  Tee the ball off my front heel and tee it lower.  No more than 1/2 the ball above the driver...usually about a 1/3 showing.

2.  Inside take-away to start the back swing.  The instructor needed repeated cycles of swinging the club, correcting, and show on video before I could finally associated an inside takeaway with a particular "feel."  I could not do this on my own.

3.  Shorter back swing.  I was grossly over swinging with my arms and wrists collapsing at the top.  I had no idea that I was over swinging and still struggle to maintain control of this.

4.  Better weight shift and extension.  This is the focus for the next lesson but I have noticed that my weight shift seems to be improving as a result of other changes and more commitment on my part.

 

Even though I still have a lot of work to do on my driver swing, my driving performance has dramatically improved with the changes I've made.  I played 18 holes yesterday with my brother-in-law and cousins.  I hit 12 of 14 fairways or was at least in the first cut of rough with a great lie.  Both my misses were hooks.  I have no complaints.....other than the hooks prevented me from recording my first score in the 80's.

 

The short answer is: Take lessons (with video), and in between lessons, go to the driving range.

A simple thing that worked for me was the thought of starting the downswing with your arms. Before that I used to try to keep my right elbow tucked in more towards my body on the downswing. Both helped keep the club on plane and coming at the ball from the inside. without that it's hard to hit it straight

I fixed my slice by developing a horrible hook so, yeah, don't do that.

The reasons for my slicing were fairly obvious. My weight went to and never left my back foot and I had engrained an over the top loop. It was the other things I changed that gave me the hook.

First of all, I'll preface with this: 

This Article written by Erik J Barzeski on ball flight laws should be considered mandatory reading for all in this thread.

 

Now to the details: 

 

I'm new to golf, very new... you could call this my rookie season. I'm also a natural born slicer. When I first hit the driving range a few months ago my slices were severe. I cut down on that thru learning a proper grip, getting in the habit of turning my hips, shifting my weight forward, adjusting my stance to be a little more comfortable and relaxed... That took me from massive push slices to just regular slices with a push sometimes... u know the kind that still rarely find the fairway but at least aren't out of play every time. 

 

Well thanks to the article referenced above, I recently began to think more analytically through my slice issues and had a massive "AHA" moment yesterday. Normally, when I take practice swings, its with the purpose of loosening up, and getting a generic feel of the swing in hopes that I make good contact with the ball. For the most part I would abandon the practice swing altogether after the first few hits.

 

But because of the info in that article, I've recently been more and more conscientious of what my club head is doing and what's happening to my ball flight as a result. I began to notice that my ball flight was initially straight then slice, and I began to take note of what my club path looked like through the downswing. (Note: this was not with the aid of a video recording, but simply from my point of view as the blurry figure of the head would swing through.)  I began to notice that the path very much appeared to be outside in (predictably so for all the golf veterans reading). 

 

So last night at the range I watched carefully during my practice swings and noticed again the outside-in motion of the club head. I took several more swings until that path more resembled an even looking "semi-circle" (my terminology here). Once I had the feel of the adjusted swing, I just stepped up to the tee, aligned the club face at address, and swung away. The results were amazing! I belted my first 5 or so shots straight down the fairway with absolutely no hint of slice. The quality of the contact I was making with the ball really showed as these shots were going 250+. I must have hit a good 75-80% of my balls like this. Any time I began to see curvature in the flight path, I would just step back, "re-calibrate" my swing so-to-speak, then head back to the tee to duplicate it. Sure enough, every time, the ball would sail straight down the fairway again.

 

Prior to this, a good day at the driving range would see maybe 20 balls or so (out of a large bucket) go straight with the remainder being variations of slices and pulls/hooks from over-correction. Last night was something different, it was somewhat of a paradigm shift for me. I know its a little premature to say that my slice has been cured, but the jump in consistency for me last night is something I can't ignore. I can't wait to get back to the range (tonight or tomorrow) and see if I can repeat those results. 

Here's how to cure a slice real quick with the driver...  By simply modifying your address position.

 

Well I can't tell you how to fix a slice cause I've been blessed with a draw. However, from time to time things go a little haywire and I get a wicked banana on my driver. When that happens I usually try to stay behind the ball a little longer and start my downswing before my body. Do not aim left...you'll only make it worse!

 

I like this one better  Lainey looks a little goofy in the demonstration.  And as you know Beachcomber we suggest having that ball further forward now.  

 

The checkpoints 

- Hips forward

- Handle forward

- Raise the handle slightly

- Hips don't shift back to the right on the backswing