Straightened my slice, lost considerable distance

[powermatt99]

For years I have had a hard time reigning in my slice. My tee shots would look great for about 150 yards and then break hard right. On the rare occasion I would hit the ball straight, I was good for about 250-270 depending on conditions, ball selection, etc.

After lurking around these forums for a while I started trying many of the tips offered by various contributors. I relaxed my grip (I was choking the dang club to death), tried not to cup my wrist, kept my right hand on top during my follow through, etc. Well, after getting used to a completely new swing, I was consistently hitting the ball straight.

The problem though is that despite being straight, my balls are only traveling 200 yards and have the flight trajectory of my 9-iron. I have a higher loft on my driver (11°) but that shouldn't be the sole contributor to the high trajectory. I was consistently hitting the middle, or slightly above, of the club face.

Despite my horrendous tee-work, I have been able to play bogey golf with good iron play and putting. Being able to rely on my driver would get me into the sub-10 handicap range.

[grantc79]

The problem though is that despite being straight, my balls are only traveling 200 yards and have the flight trajectory of my 9-iron.

There is your problem right there.

This is a very, very strongly educated guess. The club head fans open throughout your back swing. A slicer will not release the wrist at impact which squares the club head. The wrist will remain flat (which you want) but flared open. That leaves the face open which causes the slice. Now your problem is you are uncocking and rolling the wrist at impact which is closing the face at impact (good). But, you are also cupping the left wrist at impact which is leading to the club head passing in front of your hands, adding loft to the club, and draining you of club head speed. So what you need to do is practice uncocking and rolling the wrist at impact without cupping the left wrist. There are a ton of good training aids for this. Here is one: http://www.kikogolf.com/golftools/

[mrserv0n18]

I thought you wanted to bow your left wriest at impact not flatten it? No?

[powermatt99]

There is your problem right there.

I've been back to the range a couple of times. I've been concentrating on my good mechanics but only swinging at about 70%. I am able to hit drive after drive straight as an arrow with decent distance for a 70% swing. The ball is carrying 235 with medium-high trajectory. I figure the range balls are costing me 10-15 yards so on the course with Pro V1s or Tour IXs I should be at about 250 with some roll. Its not as "big" as I used to be but being in the fairway will make up for losing 25-30 yards.

[grantc79]

I've been back to the range a couple of times. I've been concentrating on my good mechanics but only swinging at about 70%. I am able to hit drive after drive straight as an arrow with decent distance for a 70% swing. The ball is carrying 235 with medium-high trajectory. I figure the range balls are costing me 10-15 yards so on the course with Pro V1s or Tour IXs I should be at about 250 with some roll. Its not as "big" as I used to be but being in the fairway will make up for losing 25-30 yards.

Good to hear you are making progress.

Learning to swing a little slower always helps a ton. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been in a lesson and looking at myself on video struggling and just slowed my swing down by about 25% and lo and behold all of my alignments are damn near perfect again. Over acceleration is the biggest power loss that you could possibly have.

[powermatt99]

This is a continuing saga for me. I played a few times this week at an unfamiliar course in Muncie, IN. I hit more fairways than ever before and put myself in a good position to make some GIR. Unfortunately, I couldn't translate this into a better score. Now that my driving is better, my short game which used to save me, is letting me down. I used to be near automatic for up-and-downs when around the green. On two straight holes I flubbed chips under and made double and triple. I think I need to relearn to hit every club in my bag, not just my woods.

[Mizzy57]

That's why GOLF is a four letter word. Once you get one aspect of your game working, another fails you. To me it seems like it's like a biorythm chart lol, only for a few weeks does everything seem to click and I lower my scores. Then either my driving, ball striking, or putting fail me, and as I work that out something else pops up...A few weeks ago I had the perfect putting stroke, yesterday I felt lost over the ball and my putting distances were off. It's all part of the expierence.

[deafheaven]

This is a continuing saga for me. I played a few times this week at an unfamiliar course in Muncie, IN. I hit more fairways than ever before and put myself in a good position to make some GIR. Unfortunately, I couldn't translate this into a better score. Now that my driving is better, my short game which used to save me, is letting me down. I used to be near automatic for up-and-downs when around the green. On two straight holes I flubbed chips under and made double and triple. I think I need to relearn to hit every club in my bag, not just my woods.

It's a great game isn't it? I was out today and played ok - 89; played the entire round with one golf ball and my issue lately has been penalty strokes - problem is I couldn't putt to save my life and putting is usually a strong suit for me. Guaranteed I'm going to go out tomorrow and putt really well but my Driver will start slicing or I'll struggle with hitting fat shots off the fairways or my chipping will let me down. Must be a wonderful feeling to have everything working at once but I wouldn't know.