Why do I continue to slice my Driver?

[GolfMedic]

My Irons are hit pretty straight. What can I be doing that making me slice only my driver. I understand Im not getting the club face squared but what are a few things that you can suggest I can do to work on getting the club faced squared. Any drills will help! thanks

[Zeph]

Have someone watch you swing plane. Do you come over the top with it or does the ball start out straight and slice to the right? There is a different feel to a driver than an iron. Longer swing, faster swing. The clubface is open, so you could stop during the swing to check the wrist position. Not on the downswing of course. Try swinging very slowly and making sure your don't cup the left wrist or rotate the arms over in the backswing.

[out_in_30]

driver is the longest club so it will exaggerate the slightest error. it can be a number of things.. if your timing is off your lower body can block it and make it impossible to get it back around. Try thinking of a baseball swing after impact... the rolling over of the wrists... that is what you want through the ball with a driver. a good drill is to just make sure your feet are squared up to your target..(always have a specific target) and swing down your feet line.

[is2linda]

describe your slice for us.

is it going left then severe right?

is it going straight then right

is it just straight right?

is it curving right from impact?

is it pushing right then curving more right?

[mbole]

I'm not the OP, but mine is going left then severe right. Obviously an out to in swing path, but I can't figure out what to do. I have tried closing my stance (bringing my right foot back) and I still slice it pretty bad, it just starts out more straight. Any tips on closing the club face?

[max power]

I'm not the OP, but mine is going left then severe right. Obviously an out to in swing path, but I can't figure out what to do. I have tried closing my stance (bringing my right foot back) and I still slice it pretty bad, it just starts out more straight. Any tips on closing the club face?

Focus/practice shifting your weight onto your left foot as you come down and through the ball. Use a club, or you can even use a towel to exaggerate your shoulder turn and feel your weight shift. Whenever I start slicing my driver (usually hit a slight draw), the culprit is me staying back on my right foot, probably from trying to overswing. Focus on a nice smooth transition and weight shift-eliminates any slicing from me 98% of the time.

[Happy Dragon]

driver is the longest club so it will exaggerate the slightest error. it can be a number of things.. if your timing is off your lower body can block it and make it impossible to get it back around. Try thinking of a baseball swing after impact... the rolling over of the wrists... that is what you want through the ball with a driver. a good drill is to just make sure your feet are squared up to your target..(always have a specific target) and swing down your feet line.

This is the right way to try to correct a slice. Don't get too technical, just imagine swinging a baseball bat. Make you practice swings at a level where you can imagine a baseball being pitched to you. You'll have better balance, you'll be more likely to be on plane, and square with your shoulders and feet to your target line. You need to swing around you body.

[alf174]

I've used this tip with some success: http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...913789,00.html

[flopdarock]

i fixed my slice by practicing my driver swing in slow motion...
then id go to the range and hit 1/2 swings... 3/4 swings... then full swings...
if the 3/4 swings started slicing... id go back to 1/2 swings... and make sure i analyze my set up/ grip/ ball placement/ tee height/ alignment... etc...
ive found that any one of these things or a combo of these things being a lil off would get me to have bad ball flights... or at least not what i wanna do

[mc0388]

My Irons are hit pretty straight. What can I be doing that making me slice only my driver. I understand Im not getting the club face squared but what are a few things that you can suggest I can do to work on getting the club faced squared. Any drills will help! thanks

Whats the shaft on your driver? If your playing a shaft not suited for you, that could lead to a lot of your problems.

[squaddie]

My Irons are hit pretty straight. What can I be doing that making me slice only my driver. I understand Im not getting the club face squared but what are a few things that you can suggest I can do to work on getting the club faced squared. Any drills will help! thanks

Chances are you are swinging from over the top, or outside to in. Have someone analyze your driver and iron swing on video and see if you are going over the top. You might be doing the same type of swing with your irons, but the slicing effect is minimal as compared with a wood (that's what one instructor explained to me with my slicing problem). If the video shows you aren't swinging out-to-in then check on other issues one-by-one as out_in_30 mentioned in his post.

[Zeph]

I had two things that contributed to my slice. A swing over the top and an open clubface.
They creep into my swing every now and then, especially the over the top with the driver. I have however managed to get the irons on a better plane, removed the open clubface and gotten better release out toward the target.

The only thing that cause a ball to go far to the right is an open clubface. My left wirst was cupped and I didn't rotate the arms out through the ball. Keeping a flat left wrist has eliminated the shots to the right. I still hit the occasional slightly right when I lose focus or hold off the release. It's still not the banana slice I had before. More like a small fade.

[GolfMedic]

My slice starts off straight. It tricks me sometimes, looks like I hit a good drive then once the ball picks up so height the ball just rips right!

[Zeph]

Then I'd suggest you check the following:

1: Grip, pretty basic, but a bad grip can cause an open clubface.
2: The position of your left wrist at the top of the backswing. Look at the images below to see what a flat left wrist looks like.
3: Make some easy swings where you focus on not holding off the release, but letting the right hand overtake the left through the ball. If you hold off the release only a fraction of a second, the club will never have time to square up. This can produce a finish position where the club is more in front of you instead of turned around the body. You don't want to flip the hands or conciously turn the wrists, but making sure you don't hold it off. The hands will release through the ball automatically if you let them, but it is possible to develop a move where you hold it off. There is some distance in this move. I've done some experimenting on my part and found that when I get good lag and a release through the ball, I'll gain more distance. My current swing got little lag and little snap, so I'm hitting it short, but straight.


4: At the top of the backswing, check the position of your arms from the elbow to the wrists. If you roll over the arms, the club will be pointing more behind you. With the club parallell to the ground on the backswing you want it to aim on the target line. If the club is aiming left of the target, the arms and wrists have rolled over clockwise and will give you an open clubface. If the club is pointing right of the target, the arms and wrists have rolled counter-clockwise and the clubface is shut.

It is possible to roll the wrists to shut the clubface and cupping the left wrist to open it, which I'd guess would produce some bad shots.

[ControlJunkie]

Pick up this month's Golf Digest (the one with Arnie on the cover, Sept. '09). There is a big section on this very subject, detailing a couple of moves that are key to stopping the slice. The info contained in that article is based on info collected by GolfTEC, after analyzing the swings of 180000 ameteurs and 150 pros. A lot of it leads to the downswing starting differently, with the right shoulder tilting downward, instead of the left tilted towards the ground. There was a lot more to it than that, but it's worth the read. Here's a link - http://www.golfdigest.com/instructio...ssteveatherton .

[GolfMedic]

Thanks alot guys ill try that this week.