Why to people put up with a slice?

[mtsalmela80]

This is my first year playing golf out on a course. It took me a couple different things to fix my slice, and basically improve drastically over the course of a month.

1. The desire to play and the desire to play better
2. Lessons
3. A bit of practice

I believe my true handicap is around a 30, but yesterday I played 18 holes to a 20 handicap, out driving my other two buddies, and beating them, both golf veterans.

Lessons improved me! I know what the OP is talking about. I dont care what everyone says about "people over rate the driver and distance". Crushing one 250+ and having it land anywhere in the short grass is one of the best feelings there is!

The driver is now the most intuitive club in my bag. Straighter and a little longer has taken strokes off my game. All from a couple lessons with an old timer pro.

[Bauer]

If you want to pay for lessons for me then I will work on my slice. Until then, don't call it an easy fix when acquiring funds isn't easy.

[tsbrewers]

Well, I will just add that everyone is correct, it isn't that easy to fix. I am a slightly above average player (high singles) and I have had a slice my entire life. Now, I don't have one of those huge banana balls, but my mishits go to the right, more of a push-fade. I can hit all my irons with the prettiest little draw, but my drives are either straight or to the right.

I have worked on it for 30 years, and just can't get the draw down to a science. I have never taken a lesson, but I know all the rules. When I really consciously try not to hit the fade, I will duck hook it.

also, when I think about it, my drives tend to be around 250, when I start left side of fairway and let-er rip, they are closer to 300, but 1 out of 5 goes 50 yards to the right. So either way I am screwed.

I notice I hit it much straighter if I choke up about 2 inches, and really don't lose much distance, but it is tough to get myself to do it.

Brew

[Zeph]

Tiger's miss is not a slice. When you hear them say, "He lost it out to the right" they mean he blocked it out to the right. As in it went off to the right but in a straight line, that is the better player's miss. Much harder to fix than a slice which is nothing more than an open clubface at impact.

Never said he was slicing.

[mhodar13]

I have had multiple lessons. Still slice. But I sure can hit it straight at the driving range. Some of us just aren't very good at this game. Your real complaint should be: "Why don't slow players let me play through?!?"

I think the driving range is sort of an illusion to slicers. Since a driving range is a ton wider than a fairway, you may think you're hitting it straight when in reality even that little fade can put you out of bounds.

[$2 Nassau]

This seems to be a touchy subject, but I think I agree with the original poster. It's not an easy fix but it certainly isn't that difficult and does not require a lot of time. I think if you remain conscious of what causes a slice, or better yet what is need to hit it straight/draw the ball then eventually you can overcome it rather quickly.

There are no words to describe how much you will improve and how much more you will enjoy the game. That's just my $.02.

[Shorty]

If there is one thing that drives a player from the game, it is a slice.
In theory, it may be easy to cure, but in reality, it isn't.
A player who slices his drive and struggles to keep the ball in play is behind the eight ball on every hole.
You can't say that it is easy to cure, because it is the bane of the casual player.
I say that bunker shots are easy to play, and I believe that in 10 minutes I could make any decent golfer a very good bunker player but my experience with thousands of players indicates that they are hard.
The same with slicing. I have struggled with one and know why I do it, but solving the problem on the course is not easy. It's simple on the practice tee.

[pweenie]

Good thread as over 90% of golfers "suffer' from slicing.
To slice you have to have an out to in swing path and an open club face.
Sounds simple to fix but in reality it is not because we try to hard ........... that is try to hard to hit the ball hard. And it is a game of opposites. To get the ball up you need to hit down on it, to get the ball to draw you have to aim where the slice finishes etc.
My advice to anyone who doesn't want to take lessons is:
Take a 75% swing and DO NOT try to hit the ball hard and
Watch and mimic the Pros. But not Tiger as he is a machine and swings really hard. Watch Adam Scott, or Ernie Els, or Retief Goosen, Phil Mickelson, Vijay etc. They all have easy swings and still hit the ball miles.
Sorry to waffle on.

[mapa94]

I agree with the original poster. Three lessons with a pro (combined with considerable practice time) and I learned the correct swingpath to eliminate my dreaded slice for good. On top of that, my ballstricking, accuracy and distance improved.

Before seeing the pro, I would do what many others do when trying to combat a slice...open my stance more, aim farther left, and swing hard. It just made for a more severe slice.

PLEASE people...fix your slice. You will enjoy this game so much more and so will your playing partners. Constantly searching for lost balls of playing partners takes a lot of time and sucks the joy out of a round of golf.

[mhodar13]

Thankfully, I'm only 14 and already put my slice to rest before it became muscle memory. All I did was research what causes a slice, worked on it myself, and now I'm hitting all my drives dead straight like butter and far to boot. I hit one about 290 today! There's no way I could ever afford to take lessons, so I'm thankful to have an uncle who has and helps me for free lol. But I fixed my driver swing all by myself so I'm pretty proud that I could do that without coaching from anyone. My uncle helps me with everything, but I help him with driving. It sucks if you have a slice because you have to compensate for it. It's so much more enjoyable to spend a few weeks working hard on your swing and not have to guess where it's going to go on every drive.

[Chas]

I practice often, I play often, I have had multiple lessons. I cannot stop slicing. It is mostly mental, and yes it is a habit. I have lost weight, I have quit smoking. Both have been easier for me than losing the slice. the sad thing is that if I could cure the slice by gaining 30 pounds and smoking pack a day, I would be hitting a ton of fairways.

I hear you, I've been there and I don't underestimate the challenge.

To me, conquering the consistent slice was all about developing the FEEL for the approach to the ball from the inside, highly uncomfortable at the time.. Slicers do the exact opposite. For me to improve, I had to overcome my years-long obsession with technique - you know, the X perfect backswing positions. I had to forget all those blasted diagrams and develop my kinesthetic sense instead. I'm not saying it's easy. My advice ..... do what feels UNNATURAL and exaggerate the approach to the ball from the inside (right elbow near right hip coming down). Once you've hit a few intentional draws or hooks this way, you can then adjust to hit straighter shots. Now learning to go up-and-down consistently from all sorts of greenside positions ......... that's a whole 'nuther thing.

[shortstop20]

Never said he was slicing.

You tried to relate Tiger's miss to the average Joe's slice, they're not the same thing, they're caused by different faults and can't be compared. Getting the correct swingpath takes more work than a square clubface.

Generalising a little are we here? For some it may be that easy, but it is not for most. Taking a lesson is one thing, but no instructor is the same as the other and no player is the same. To cure a slice you need to make the change, not only let the instructor point it out.

Tiger's clubface is still square to his swingpath when he misses to the right(no curve on the ball), most everybody else's clubface is way open compared to their swingpath. His release is fine, it's the stuff going on before that. The average joe's release isn't very good, it's timed, that's why they can hit 5 balls and all of them will have a different amount of fade/slice(or none).

[Zeph]

I pointed out that Tiger had a swing flaw, if all it took was a lesson or two, he shouldn't have to struggle with it for tournament after tournament. I know he's not slicing and I know the difference of a slice and push.

[shortstop20]

I pointed out that Tiger had a swing flaw, if all it took was a lesson or two, he shouldn't have to struggle with it for tournament after tournament. I know he's not slicing and I know the difference of a slice and push.

That's just it though, Tiger's flaw is harder to fix than an open clubface.

[iacas]

That's just it though, Tiger's flaw is harder to fix than an open clubface.

Right. And Tiger's "misses" aren't nearly as far offline as they might appear on TV.

[ukalum]

I was pushing/fading my irons this week and my playing partner suggests I close the club face. That's the wrong approach. I don't want to mask my poor swing with an artificial cure. Rather, work to fix the swing.

[Zeph]

That's just it though, Tiger's flaw is harder to fix than an open clubface.

So an open clubface is the only cause of a slice? Perhaps at impact it's the primary problem, but lots of things can cause that position.

[iacas]

So an open clubface is the only cause of a slice?

Relative to the swing path, uhh, yes.