Did swinging indoors fix my slice?

[The Golfing Polack]

I'm always struggling to get rid of a fade/slice with my long irons and woods. I have an outside in path and an over-the-top move that make it very hard to keep things left.

Sunday I went to the PGA tour store down here in Texas and was hitting some drivers on the simulator. I started out hitting everything really "fat" and right, getting only 220 yards with a 110 mph swing speed. Usually I can't hit with anything over my head as I subconsciously am afraid that I'm going to hit it. Gradually my swing started to flatten out, and by the end of my fitting session (I bought a SuperQuad) I was hitting things straight or with a slight draw and averaging 280-290 yards of carry.

I thought it may have been a fluke and took my new Mp-57s to an outdoor range today. I was hitting everything much better, including my 3 and 4 iron, which I always seem to fade/slice. I'm just hoping that this change sticks around for a while. It's like everything seemed to click.

Sorry for the long post, just needed to tell somebody about my epiphany.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Practicing indoors ruined my swing for awhile..lol. More power to ya I guess..

[The Golfing Polack]

Until yesterday I would totally agree with you, but I've been so screwed up lately fighting a slice with almost every club in my bag. I'm just glad it carried over to the outdoor range today.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Well thats good to hear. But ive also had drawbacks trying to practice good results..if that makes any sense. I found that often when I stumbled opon something that was making me hit the ball better, I didnt really know what it was, i just thought i did. So in effect I was trying to practice something I wasnt really aware of and set myself back doing what I thought, not what the move actually was. So watch out for that.

[alcyone]

If I want to hit a high fade or slice around a dog leg, the first thing I do is take a drastically more upright back swing. If you flattened yours and straightened your shots out, it may have been too upright to start with.

[LastPrankster]

If I want to hit a high fade or slice around a dog leg, the first thing I do is take a drastically more upright back swing. If you flattened yours and straightened your shots out, it may have been too upright to start with.

That is exactly right. I started hitting my driver straight when I flattened out my swing plane. It helps me to square the club face at impact, and to swing more around my body with the driver. A upright swing plane works well for short irons, but anything longer than a 5 Iron requires a slight adjustment.

Anyone know exactly why the club face gets closed faster on a flatter swing plane?

[beung]

That is exactly right. I started hitting my driver straight when I flattened out my swing plane. It helps me to square the club face at impact, and to swing more around my body with the driver. A upright swing plane works well for short irons, but anything longer than a 5 Iron requires a slight adjustment.

With an more upright swing your swing path tends to come across your body more from outside to in. The outside to in swing will start the ball left and if the club face is point square to your target line the ball will fade/slice. If it is square to the swing path the ball will just go straight resulting in a pull of sorts.

Also with a more upright swing you tend to flip your wrists instead of rotating them and releasing them. Its hard to get a proper body and hand release if you come in on a more upright plane. Your body has to move out of the way more to make enough room for your hand and club. The wrist flip can cause the slice or the weak fade to the right. If you come in on a flatter plane your left wrist don't cup and you rotate your forearm which helps to sqaure the club face at impact. They say you are acutally suppose to hit the ball slightly on the inside of that ball and your club face should be slightly open at impact because at impact the ball stays on the club long enough that the club face still rotates from being open when the club face touches the ball to then the ball leaves the clubface. You want the club face to be square then the ball leaves the club face not when the club face first touches the ball. I can see swinging inside "fixing" your swing if you had low ceilings and as a result a) it shortended your swing a little bit b) made your swing a bit flatter so you are hitting the ball more on the inside c) you worked on how your body felt at each stage of the swing instead of where the ball ended up.