Problems Hitting Woods

[CrazyHorsePete]

I have a problem with slicing when using drivers and fairway woods. I can hit my irons and hybrid fairly consistently, but not the woods. I have tried drivers of different lofts, flexes, sizes, and brands, but cannot rid myself of the stubborn slice. The same applies to fairway woods, though the slice is not as severe. I cannot afford to take lessons at this time, so that is out of the question. Does anyone have any tips for fixing this problem? I am tired of teeing off with my hybrid!

[schigara]

I have just recently stopped slicing(mostly). I played for 4 years with a slice and did all the stupid stuff to compensate like closing the club face at address, aiming way left and trying to use a very in to out swing path.

I saw a video which discussed the real problem that causes a slice. A slice is not caused by the swing path. An out to in swing path can cause the ball to fade a little or a lot but the trajectory will be about the same.

Assuming you mean the big looping bananna slice, that is caused by an open club face at impact. An open club face increases the effective loft of the club and puts side spin on the ball at the same time. Even if you hit with an in to out swing path, if you have an open face, you will still get clockwise side spin because the face is glancing off the ball and a much higher than expected trajectory.

The way I stopped slicing was to pay attention to my left wrist(im a righty). As long as I see 1.5-2 knuckles at address and the left wrist stays flat at the top of the backswing, the face will be close to neutral at impact and not open. Grab your driver and take your normal backswing and stop at the top of the swing and look at your front wrist. Is the back of your left hand flat and at the same angle as your forearm or is it cupped up and pointing at your face?

[ks8829]

start with your fairway wood and practicing hitting ball only taking the club back hip high and follow through slightly pass hip high.

What you are doing is focusing hitting your fairway wood in the impact zone. this also check your hand and club position on your backswing.

You are focusing on making solid contact and watch the direction of your ball and the distance is not important at this time only direction and that fact that you are making solid contact.

Tips the shaft should be on line with your target with the toe of the fairwasy wood point up on the backswing and follow through.

[inthecup]

Hello, my name is Bill and I am a slicer.

What has been said so far is true. I think to down play the in to out swing path is a mistake. You probably have a few problems one is coming over the top. Work on the on the in to out swing plane. Shallow out your swing meaning make it less vertical and more around the body. Exaggerate it at the range and see what happens. Slow down your swing. Trying swinging at 60% and see what happens. Then step it up to 80% and see what happens. If you hit it straight at 80% then 80% is your number. You will find at 80% you will be able to hit it pure and get more distance then an off center "all you got" swing.

Good luck report back!

[2xBoGuy]

A few things that helped me.
Make sure your feet are BOTH parallel to the ball line, I had my right foot back a bit for the longest time.

Check that you aren't tensing up your grip when you swing, I kept doing this and bringing my club toward me on the downswing.

Don't stand too far from the ball as you will be reaching for it and anything could really happen based on the rest of your swing.

All of these things made me hit close to the toe of the club which made it slice ( I think I have an outside in swing).

Most people I see set up take a couple practice swings, then step to the ball.... I start AT the ball and take a few slower practice swings and stop my swing just before I hit the ball (yes occasionally I tap the ball if I'm not looking and have to reset everything). I keep taking practice swings until everything feels right, then when everything feels good at the top of the backswing, THEN I let it go all the way. If I can't get a good feel, I step back and reset.

[Zeph]

Two things from my own experience:

1: Swinging too hard and pulling the club with driver or wood. I noticed that with my irons, I hit a draw, but sometimes I hit a fade with my driver or wood. So I am obviously doing something different in the swing, most likely trying to kill the ball and pulling the club to the inside.

2: Grip. It can sometimes be difficult to have a grip where the clubface is square with all the clubs. The face of the club looks different on an iron than a wood. I noticed that I was actually addressing the ball with an open clubface when I got my woods. Fixed that by starting to take my grip and square up the clubface by aiming at the little stripe on the grip instead of looking at the clubhead. Also helped me when I developed a shut clubface and was hooking the ball.

[CrazyHorsePete]

Well, I made it to the range this morning. Beautiful morning except for the fact that I was hitting into a 20 MPH wind. Oh well, I suppose those are good conditions to practice in.

I just want to say thanks for all the helpful posts here. I found out what my biggest problem was: I was gripping the woods incorrectly. I adjusted my grip slightly clockwise (I'm a righty) and the slice was significantly reduced. Also, I paid slightly more attention to my swing arc, and noticed that 1) my swing was a bit too steep and 2) I was swinging "outside-in." I flattened out my swing and went more "inside-out." The crippling slice is gone; all that remains is a slight fade. I can live with that for now. My carry distance has also increased by about 20 yards, and I should be hitting the CORRECT fairway more often! Thanks again, you guys rock!

[schigara]

Glad to hear you worked some of it out on the range. Be prepared though, most of the time one or two good practices at the range don't translate to play on the course.

I straightened out my drive at the range and had it so straight that I started working on draws. I was ecstatic and was hitting it 260-280 with and easy 80% swing. Two days later I go to play and my old swing crept back up and it has taken 6 weeks of playing 36-54 holes a week to really reprogram my swing to the way I had it that day at the range. I still only hit the drive accurately about 50% of the time on the course. It takes a long time to get the muscle memory of a new or modified swing where you don't have the think about every part of the swing.