Grooving a swing

[bbedell]

Hi guys. I've been playing golf semi-regularly for about 4-5 years. Ever since my lessons about 4-5 years ago I've generally been able to hit a very nice subtle draw (i'm right handed) or hit the ball straight quite consistently. However, about 2 months ago I noticed that I was started to slice a bit with my driver. This progressed all the way down my clubs to the point where I now have a slight fade/slice going with my 7 iron. I am a former athlete and so rely very much on muscle memory when I do any physical activity.

My main question here is does anyone have any useful tips on how to start grooving myself a nice subtle draw again or even get back to hitting the ball straight with some consistency? Maybe some drills I can work on at the range? I've noticed that my main problem is that I am now for some reason swinging outside-in, making lots of contact towards the heel of the club resulting in some very ugly slices and an annoying fade when i make good contact. Any help here would be appreciated!

[Nickynoodles]

Any time this happens to me i can normally fix it right on the course. What i do is just start lining up for a draw and make sure i take a sweeping inside to out swing. Sometimes when your slicing the ball and its going right your brain tells you not to aim right because thats where the balls going, you just have to do it. Golf is a game of opposites. Take your front foot and put it roughly 2 inches in front of your back foot. Your feet will be pointing to the right of the fairway. Take a few practice swings nice and smooth, not trying to kill the ball here your trying to fix your slice. When your taking the practice swings aimed to the right, try to keep a nice sweeping swing plane from inside to out. When you finally are comfortable with it hit the ball. Dont swing hard just try to make good contact. The ball should start right and draw back to the middle of the fairway. This works for me everytime. It used to happen to me when i tried to kill the ball. Try it out and let me know how you make out. Remember just because the balls going right, aiming to the right and swinging inside to out is going to make it go left. Aiming more to the left when your hitting it right is going to make it slice worse.

[bbedell]

thanks for the advice Nicky. I've been going to the range trying to groove that inside-out swing for a few weeks here but cant seem to get anything consistent going. I think i'm going to go play 18 today so I'll give what you're saying a try and let you know what happens. Hopefully not to many lost balls :)

[Etzwane]

The first thing I would check are the fondamentals, mostly grip ("weakness" and pressure points) and alignement, they tend to ever-so-slightly change with time and need regular checks. If you can practice on turf, with a stick or a club to fix the alignement, I suggest to check the divot that would tell if the club path is out to in or if something else is going on.

[bbedell]

Just got back from playing quick 18 at the local muni...shot 14 over, not great but not bad considering how I was hitting the ball leading up to today. I saw a little clip on youtube basically explaining how to fix your grip in much the same manner that Etzwane is talking about. Basically I made this change to my grip and concentrated on swinging inside-out as I have been practicing lately, and the results were GREAT. I hit my first few drives poorly as I was getting used to the feeling, but after that I think i missed maybe 1 fairway all day. When my driver is going well, generally my other clubs are going great and this was the case today...most of my iron shots were dead on and I even hit a couple nice ones with my 3-wood which has been known to give me problems. Overall I'm very excited about these changes and will be going to the range over the next few days to solidify the corrections I've made. Thanks a ton to everyone who has made suggestions...they are all very helpful.

[walk18]

I would say check the top of your swing to make sure you don't have a flying right elbow (chicken wing), as that can cause a slice. You want to keep it connected close to your body.

[Nickynoodles]

Just got back from playing quick 18 at the local muni...shot 14 over, not great but not bad considering how I was hitting the ball leading up to today. I saw a little clip on youtube basically explaining how to fix your grip in much the same manner that Etzwane is talking about. Basically I made this change to my grip and concentrated on swinging inside-out as I have been practicing lately, and the results were GREAT. I hit my first few drives poorly as I was getting used to the feeling, but after that I think i missed maybe 1 fairway all day. When my driver is going well, generally my other clubs are going great and this was the case today...most of my iron shots were dead on and I even hit a couple nice ones with my 3-wood which has been known to give me problems. Overall I'm very excited about these changes and will be going to the range over the next few days to solidify the corrections I've made. Thanks a ton to everyone who has made suggestions...they are all very helpful.

No Problem . Nothing in Golf is worse then fighting a slice.