My driver is killing me

[smr91481]

I can hit much better with my irons that than with my driver or woods. I have a bad slice that shows up most of the time and I can't figure out how to get rid of it. Got any good advice or links to articles that can help me get rid of it?

I'm going to hit solely with it at the range until I work it out

[Islice]

I can hit much better with my irons that than with my driver or woods. I have a bad slice that shows up most of the time and I can't figure out how to get rid of it. Got any good advice or links to articles that can help me get rid of it?

Annoying ain't it? I tee off with my 5 iron. The driver only shows up at the range until I figure out the slice.

[duffer]

The thing that helped me the most in fixing my slice was understanding why the ball moves that way relative to my club face at impact and swing plane.

My advice is to do as much research as you can around here to understand why the ball moves the way it does. With just that (and plenty of buckets of balls), I've made dramatic improvements in my swing.

[Drunk Driver]

It could be lots of things...

Having a vertical swing plane can make slicing more likely (when your back swing starts high over your head) because you tend to transfer a lot of spin onto the ball that way.

If you try a more horizontal swing you might find you are able to hit the ball straight and even hook it.

Standing too far forward can also be a problem, because it allows you to hit down on the ball and put even more spin on it. Too far forward + over the top = WOW banana slice!

Make sure you have a nice wide stance and the ball is somewhere in line with your left foot... it's much harder to put spin on the ball from there so you are more likely to hit a push or a draw.

You also need to make sure your arms (and wrists) don't bend as you swing. Even though you might not think you are doing it, it takes a lot of strength to hold the right wrist position when you swing a heavy club like the driver at speed. And you can end up hitting the ball like a hockey or cricket shot with the face wide open, and that causes a slice too.

[HotBite]

When I fixed my fade/slice...I really concentrated on coming from the inside until I started to straighten it out.

After that I started using a bigger shoulder turn, that increased distance (By about 30 yards) and ironically, causes me to hit the ball straighter too. Seems like if you swing too slow/easy there is too much to think about. Get comfortable from the inside, then move a little farther from the ball than you are used to, use a shoulder turn, grip it and rip it.

That's what I did...and it worked for me, I started standing uncomfortably far from the ball, so the toe was on the ball.

[RX Phoenix]

If you're going to keep just one thing in mind, probably swing plane would be the key out on the course. If you want to hit a fade use a more upright swing plane, then flatten it if you want to the ball to go more left. Sometimes we think about many issues but forget about the swing plane. Happened to me on the range today, totally slipped my mind.

[smr91481]

I just wanted to add this. I was reading through some other posts from people who slice and see they were often asked about the flight of their ball. Most of the time mine starts straight gradually fades right. Sometimes is starts straight and immediately turns straight right.

[Wisco-Kid]

Ok well we have all heard of the "Inside Approach" and I know that it sounds cliche but the darn thing works like a charm. I am not a paid endorser of this product but certainly would be!

Last year I worked hard on getting rid of my slice but this year I got a new driver and have been slicing it. I have worked on my setup, alignment, grip, closing the club face, shorter backswing nothing worked. So being as frustrated as a guy can be I went to Target and bought the Inside Approach. I didnt use it at first. I swung my club underneath it and thought because I didnt knock the bar off that my swing was fine and that it wouldnt work for me. Well last night after getting nothing but slices again I finally put the Inside Approach into action. All I can say is "WOW" the darn thing works. I hit 10 balls with it and they went further then any drives I have hit this year and all but 1 went straight. It is that simple. I wished I had used this thing along time ago.

[MonkeyClaw]

This seems to vary for different people. I recently made huge advances in my driving by adjusting the rotation speed of my hips. I had been rotating my hips faster than my shoulders (like swinging a bat). This caused me to slice very badly. I've found that rotating my hips slower straightens out my shot a lot. If I rotate them too slowly, I end up with a draw. A full follow-through is still required, of course. Now I'm working on getting the timing down.

I was also widening my stance, but my pro told me to stop. Now I keep my feet shoulder-width and I've been hitting much better and more consistently. There was an extreme weight shift with such a wide stance.

I'm still new and have a lot to learn, but this was a good start for me. I also have a bit of an out-to-in swing, but this was also corrected a good deal with my hip adjustment.

My drives were a pretty consistent 180-200 yds at the range yesterday (when I made good contact) with the 320cc Snake-Eyes Ti driver my pro gave me . He also gave me a Taylor Made R580xd that I haven't played with. Every time I see him he gives me a new club!

[DavidFehertysBike]

If your driver or woods set up closed at address (alot do)..then use it.. even if you do still come over the top the close face should at least turn your strait up slice into something of a pull slice. Which might be more playable.

[tm22721]

Ok well we have all heard of the "Inside Approach" and I know that it sounds cliche but the darn thing works like a charm. I am not a paid endorser of this product but certainly would be!

LOL that thing has never worked for me.

I can only get rid of a slice by doing what everybody says to do. Use the lower body to initiate the downswing, not the arms.

[Wisco-Kid]

LOL that thing has never worked for me.

I think more then anything it was the mental image of that bar over the ball. It helped me focus on making good contact with the ball. Because that bar was there I was more delibrate with my back and down swing. I didnt want to hit the bar so my tempo slowed down enough for me to make good contact.

I have heard both sides of the Inside Approach. Either it works wonders or it doesnt work at all. Good thing about it is if it doesnt work for you, you know that it is not your swing coming out to in and then you can safely eliminate that from the equation and work on your grip and or starting the downswing with your lower body instead of your arms.

[smr91481]

Well I've decided that I'm going to stop by the range everyday on my way to work and hit a small bucket of balls with my driver until I work this problem out. Thanks for the tips and keep em coming.

[smr91481]

Went to the range today and made one small change that made a huge difference. I moved closer to the ball so that my arms hang straight down. I'd say only about 5 out of 50 balls had the bad slice.

[Scott_Tee]

Do you have a Digital Camera? If so, maybe someone can get some vidi clips, and u could analyze, or put it on You Tube for better analysis. Check my swing on You Tube... http://www.youtube.com/user/GolferScott4u

[smr91481]

I've had my girlfriend record me with the digital camera, but couldn't get it on the computer. I'm going to try again.

Went to the range again today. I hit about 35 balls and this time probably 30 of them sliced. I feel like I was swinging the exact same way as before.

I would say my clubface can't be opened up b/c I even tried angling it far to the left and it still started straight and sliced hard.

[Elsfan]

I am going to sound like a broken record but with your irons if you body gets a little ahead it is not a big deal. The impact isn't like it is with a driver. Learn to use your hips properly and stay behind the ball. The object is different with a driver then irons. You want to be coming from under or even with the ball when striking the driver while the irons you are hitting down on the ball, ball first then shallow divot.

[smr91481]

I'm happy to report that I've figured out how I can hit the ball straighter. It's a temporary fix but it's working. I've closed my stance a little and closed my clubface a little and the result is lots of drives right down the middle. My distance isn't consistent. I'm hitting them with my driver anywhere between 250-300 yards.

I'm not so much concerned with distance at this point though. I'm concentrating on keeping them in the middle of the fairway.