Slice Problem (And the Medicus)

[iacas]

I tried to do that. The document is over the size limit for attachments on this board. There is no link. Believe me, if I had a way to share the information without having to email it, I would rather do that. Any suggestions?

File storage is cheap. Post it somewhere, then start a thread on it... I'm tired of hearing this same drawn-out conversation every time someone says the word "slice."

[Trevor07Silvy]

What should the club face/head look like at the top of the backswing? My clubface currently is looking ALMOST straight up at the sky.

[Errant Dog]

Can someone clarify something for me??
I've heard there are different TYPES of slices.
The one I am hitting is called the "Straight Slice", starts out straight, and than hooks at the end. According to a website I was looking at, this slice occurs solely because of the club face, it says the swing plane is fine.

Is any of this true?

[sirshanksalot]

What should the club face/head look like at the top of the backswing? My clubface currently is looking ALMOST straight up at the sky.

Rather than the clubface pointing to the sky, I think the toe of the club at the top of the backswing should be facing down towards the ground. I tried imagine how the clubface could be pointing up and with a neutral grip, that would mean that your lead hand would have to bow/bend to be in that position.

[Leek]

What should the club face/head look like at the top of the backswing? My clubface currently is looking ALMOST straight up at the sky.

It really depends what works. When you say straight up, do you mean the club face?

What's pointing towards the sky? Many people believe the leading edge of the club and your left arm (for righties) should be parallel. This IS a neutral position. If you have a slice problem, if the leading edge is pointing a little bit more towards the round than parallel with the left arm, it can help get rid of the slice. Most slicers have a problem controlling the clubface. They can't quite get it square at impact. Opening it more, with the leading edge pointing more towards the sky makes that problem worse. This often happens when people roll the clubface open on the backswing, or when they try to cock the right wrist on the backswing. First, make sure you hinge the right wrist, don't cock it. The folding of the right arm will cock the left wrist and that's all you need to do. No clubface control is what results in the other swing errors often seen by slicers. Their clubface is open at impact, so to try to fix it, they often intuitively swing outside in in an attempt to keep the ball from going right. So now, the slicer is winging over the top and the clubface is now more open to the path and the slice gets bigger! So fixing a slice is sort of progressive. The first thing to do is learn to hinge the right wrist on the backswing- no rolling it open (turning the toe to point behind you)! On the downswing try to turn your arms so that if you had a wristwatch on your left wrist, the watch face would be facing the ground at impact. If that doesn't quite get it done, then a good way to fix it is to try the opposite, roll the clubface a little closed on the backswing, until your left wrist is flat and facing away from you on the backswing, then fold the right arm and go to the top. Swing down normally from there. If you do this, you MIGHT just end up fighting a hook or a pull hook if you learned to swing over the top to try to keep from slicing. The very good news is, fixing the path is much easier. If you learn to control the clubface, your shot quality will begin improving by leaps and bounds.

[Trevor07Silvy]

I don't have a problem slicing the ball, I use to a couple years ago ( I would come over the top instead of swinging in-out), no I swing in-out, occasionaly hitting shanks because I THINK my left arm lunges towards the ball on my downswing (so I put a glove in my left armpit to keep my left arm close to my chest). I hit draws and hooks when I make solid contact most of the time now. I was just wondering what the proper location of the clubface at the top of the swing was.


Also, what do you mean by cocking the wrist? What is the difference between cocking and hinging? Both my wrists barley hinge at the top of my swing.

[Avid Golfer]

What should the club face/head look like at the top of the backswing? My clubface currently is looking ALMOST straight up at the sky.

So your clubhead looks like the guy in the video below at the top of your swing?

http://www.swingacademy.com/swingana...ol.aspx?id=634 Grip and arm roation (or lack of) are usually responsible for what position your clubhead will look like at the top of the swing. Your position at the top does not alway correlate with where you will arrive at impact. Players with strong grips and slow or weak hip action will often arrive at impact with the clubface shut and hook or pull the ball, but if you have a strong grip and really clear (rotate) your hips on the downswing you could arrive at impact with the clubface square (Fred Couples and David Duval are good examples of strong grips and quick clearing hips). Conversely if you had a strong grip and (or) rotated your arms, got to the top with the clubface pointed at the sky, and then excessively slid your hips toward the target there is a good chance you'd come into impact with the clubface open and leave the ball out to the right. If you're not sure what a standard neutral grip looks like below is a picture of the grips of Ernie Els and Greg Norman: http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9...dnormanxs8.jpg An example of a good club face position for a neutral grip at the top of the swing is shown by Ernie Els in the picture below (face on): http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2...faceseqpk0.jpg Fred Couples is in a similar position with the clubface (view from the target) here: http://www.golfdigest.com/instructio...ouples?slide=5 (If Couples had a flat left wrist, instead of cupped, at the top his clubface would be facing the sky). The point being a clubface aimed at the sky can be acceptible if you make body motions that compensate for it on the downswing.

[Trevor07Silvy]

Thanks Avid Golfer! My clubface actually looks closer to Ernie's and Fred Couples swing, it's definately not facing straight up to the sky like the other guys. My right elbow doesn't go out as far from my body as Couples swing at the top though, whats the cause of this? Lack of shoulder turn? Or hip turn?

[Avid Golfer]

Thanks Avid Golfer! My clubface actually looks closer to Ernie's and Fred Couples swing, it's definately not facing straight up to the sky like the other guys. My right elbow doesn't go out as far from my body as Couples swing at the top though, whats the cause of this? Lack of shoulder turn? Or hip turn?

Couples extends away from the target with his arms and club in his takeaway and that seperates his right arm from his side and gives him width in his backswing (allowing the arms to travel in one direction while the shoulders and hips rotate in a different direction). It is not a requirement to get in that position, and getting the arms that high up requires timing to get them back down is sync with the body (so one doesn't out race the other).

If you look at Nick Faldo, Trevor Immelman, Annika Sorenstam and many other golfers they have the right elbow and arm closer to their side at the top of the swing (it requires less reliance on timing, the arm don't have to travel far to return, and the lower body doesn't need to stall or slow down for the arms to catch up in the downswing). Faldo image example: http://www.whatgolf.com/golfinternat...ldo_10x05.html Trevor Immelman image example: http://www.golftoday.co.uk/proshop/f..._reaction.html Annika Sorenstam image example: http://oakley.com/includes/managers/...le.do?id=29991

[Trevor07Silvy]

Thanks for the help Avid Golfer, I'm more then likely going to the range tomarrow, and I will try some of these things out and report back.