cannot fix my slice!!

[teamroper60]

Played 18 today and had the slice most of the day but on the last couple of holes, I was able to hit it straight...........    Went to the driving range afterward and continued to hit it straight...   What I found was a change of grip.............    I am not really sure how to describe the grip change, other than to say that I sort of "disconnected" the right hand from the left........    I gripped the left hand in a "normal" style, but turned the righthand just a bit right (stronger) and that change led to straight shots..........   Face was square and I hit probably 50 balls that way and they were straight as a string........    Time will tell if this holds..............

[threejack]

perhaps your case is similar to what mine was. i used to play baseball and to get the longer clubs going my hips would be active too early. if your right hip moves out its going to create the OTT swing. try swinging with your shoulders and keeping your back heel down well through impact. that will keep your hips quiet

[carpediem4300]

I thought an OTT move was created by swinging to much with arms/shoulders and leaving the weight on the right(back) foot?

the quiter the shoulders and more active the hips leaves the club lagging behind and swinging in to out surely?

Originally Posted by threejack

perhaps your case is similar to what mine was. i used to play baseball and to get the longer clubs going my hips would be active too early. if your right hip moves out its going to create the OTT swing. try swinging with your shoulders and keeping your back heel down well through impact. that will keep your hips quiet

[teamroper60]

I was out in the garage today (raining out, so no golf) using an expansion joint in the floor as a line, so I could watch the path of my clubhead during my swing.    Based on the fact the clubhead path as it comes into the impact zone is behind that line, crosses it at the impact point and does not cross the line again until I am into the follow through, I am pretty sure I am not going OTT on my swing.....

[swanny903]

dash,

I've really got no business giving advice about slicing because I am a chronic slicer myself.  I ran across a youtube video a couple days ago that I think is going to help me but haven't had a change to go to the range but I can tell from my practice swings that I believe it will help.  Essentially, it says how the longer the club, the longer it takes to get the clubface  to get back around and square at impact.  With the shorter irons the swing path is shorter and steeper so you can hang onto your lag longer and release the club later in your swing.  With longer clubs, especially the driver, unless you are a really good golfer and have fast hand action and extremely good timing you have to release the club way earlier.  With my shorter irons I can keep my wrists cocked until my hands are at or slightly past the ball and then release and still square of the clubface.  Thinking I need to swing like the pros with my driver I have built that same instinct into my driver swing.  After watching that video, I slowed down my swing (still releasing very late with my driver) and noticed that even with a strong grip my clubface is wide open.  The instructor says to beging to uncock your wrists (release the club) slightly before your hands make it to your back knee.  Releasing early like this and taking a slow swing my clubface is always square to slightly closed.  I think the hardest part will be actually releasing early with the driver during an actual swing.  If the weather is good I guess I will find out tomorrow.  Wish me luck.  Hope this gives you a bit of help and doesn't make things worse.  For everyone else, please chime in and give your thoughts on this.

[WUTiger]

I periodically battle over-the-top problems. I get started this way by overswinging on my takeaway, and ending up looping the club at the top as I try to regain balance. Result is either a low pull or more likely a slap slice. Three different pros have pointed this out to me since 2000.

If you haven't had a lesson in awhile, consider taking one. A good pro can point out the slice causes and get you started on swing drills toward a solution. If you played baseball before golf, definitely take a lesson.

[dash1988]

thanks for the tips funnily enough i played with a scratch handicapper the other day and he said i do have a slight outside in swing but most of the problem was i wasnt following through properly and that my driver was finishing infront of me where my wedges finish.

Any tips on how to solve that problem?.

[johnclayton1982]

The problem with fixing a slice off the tee is that the solution is counter-intuitive.  Slicing is not caused by an open face at impact.  Period.  Slicing is caused by an out-to-in swing path.  If your ball starts right and goes right, you also have an open face, but its not a cause and effect situation.

I had this problem and fixed it.  A few things to try that helped me:

1.  Tee up further back in your stance.  The swing is a circle, so if you tee up too far forward, you will catch the club on its way back in (out to in) rather than on your clubs way out (in to out).  At some point, you will stop slicing if you move the tee far enough back.  Alot of beginners tee it up way forward like the pros, but don't have the hip slide, so when they it it, they are already finished their swing and coming back.  Lower the tee and move it back.  That helped me.  I still move the tee alot depending on the hole.  When I can't miss right, I play the driver almost in the middle of my stance, and when I can't miss left, I play the tee way up.  It works for me.

2.  The ball could be too close to your body.  Typically (this is my experience, not a pro talking) you line up with your weight on the flats of your feet, but when you swing, you hit the ball on the balls of your feet.  This means you are actually going to extend out about 3/4-1" over your address position with the center of your clubface when you swing (at least I do).  If you subconciously correct yourself so you don't hit in the heel, you'll peel the swing off early, resulting in an out to in swing and a slice, usually a pretty exaggerated one that starts immediately.  Try teeing the ball up and taking your address position with the ball at the toe of your driver rather than the sweet spot.  Then think "go get it" when you swing.  This will make it very hard for the club to get outside.  You will hit some nasty hooks after a while this way but it stops the slice pretty well.

3.  Line up with a closed stance.  Take your normal stance, then move your back foot backwards about a foot.  When you swing, imagine a clock face at the back of the ball, and shoot to hit the "9" - that is, line up closed, and hit it like you feel you are pushing to dead right field.  This can give you the sensation of hitting a strong, powerful shot.

I struggled with a slice for a long time - and until I closed my stance and moved the ball out, I had no idea what a strong hit into the back of the ball felt like (as oppossed to a cut across it).  Once I felt it, I could hit solid from a normal stance.  But until you feel what it feels like, its tough.

People also advocate moving your hands forward and address and / or presetting your hips forward, but those were ineffective for me.

[EverythingGolf]

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

Slicing is not caused by an open face at impact.  Period.  Slicing is caused by an out-to-in swing path.

The face is open to the path! And you can hit a push slice with an in-square-in path.

[johnclayton1982]

Quote:

The face is open to the path! And you can hit a push slice with an in-square-in path

I thought you meant open to the target.

Quote:

And you can hit a push slice with an in-square-in path.

Not arguing, but how?

[teamroper60]

Well, I played another 9 today and was still push-slicing the ball.   A good buddy of mine who was there and is a single digit handicap was just sure I was swinging OTT until he watched me hit a few.    After that, he said nope, definitely not OTT but the face was definitely open.    After I finished the round, I went back to the driving range and after hitting a dozen more push-slices, I decided to try something I saw as a drill.   I put my feet together and hit a few without engaging the lower body at all.    All were dead straight and ranged from 160-180yds long.    After that, I said "F____ it!".   I decided to clear my head.  No thoughts of head still, hip slide, yadda-yadda-yadda and just hit the damned ball.........    Some were slight push-fades and some were straight pushes.   Others were dead straight.......   All would have been playable on the course and every one was further than anything I had been hitting for the past month, in some cases by as much as 30 yards longer..    So I have decided for the time being to quit thinking at all when I tee up..    I am calling it the "F-it!" method...........   LOL

[StricklandPropane]

What does it mean if my divots are following a line parallel to my feet (and usually in front of the ball), but I'm still slicing?  Even trying weak and strong grips did nothing for me.

[scv76]

I think that depends on which way your feet are pointing?

[scv76]

I slice very badly..I thought I tried everything out there to correct my swing mechanics; still hitting major slices to the right..the kind that started right and kept going.

The last lesson I took, the instructor having already told me I was swinging out to in, had me swinging something like six degrees to the right of where the target would have been; keeping my feet pointing to the target.

Told me that he was having me over-do the 6 degrees just to get me used to swinging to the right and that in actuality I would only have to do something like 3 degrees.

Took that idea to the range..looked down the line to the target (where I want the ball to go), picked a leaf or other object a little to the right and in front of the target line and swung the club over the object.

Instant success...Played 18 the next day and hit over half the fairways, which considering my handicap level...well, that's almost an impossible feat.

Now if I can just quit taking another 5 strokes to go the last 130-140 yards (sad, but true) lol

[carpediem4300]

All my playing buddies were telling me my push slice was an OTT move, yadda yadda,....yet you look at the ball flight laws and im sure you cannot hit a shot that starts right and goes further right by OTT,...

after having a pro video my lesson my swing is deffo in to out with an open clubface,...hence push/push slice,......

the thought thats working for me at the moment is to try to draw the ball by rotating the forearms (Obviously that is not how you should ever draw a ball, but nevertheless) what its resulting in is i think im wrapping the clubhead round the ball for a draw, like you would curl a football with your foot,...but im just releasing the club through impact instead of holding on and keeping the face open

Originally Posted by teamroper60

Well, I played another 9 today and was still push-slicing the ball.   A good buddy of mine who was there and is a single digit handicap was just sure I was swinging OTT until he watched me hit a few.    After that, he said nope, definitely not OTT but the face was definitely open.    After I finished the round, I went back to the driving range and after hitting a dozen more push-slices, I decided to try something I saw as a drill.   I put my feet together and hit a few without engaging the lower body at all.    All were dead straight and ranged from 160-180yds long.    After that, I said "F____ it!".   I decided to clear my head.  No thoughts of head still, hip slide, yadda-yadda-yadda and just hit the damned ball.........    Some were slight push-fades and some were straight pushes.   Others were dead straight.......   All would have been playable on the course and every one was further than anything I had been hitting for the past month, in some cases by as much as 30 yards longer..    So I have decided for the time being to quit thinking at all when I tee up..    I am calling it the "F-it!" method...........   LOL

[iacas]

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

Not arguing, but how?

Path +2 (2° right), clubface +6. Push-slice (or push-fade). Doesn't necessarily happen very often but it's obviously possible.

[EverythingGolf]

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

I thought you meant open to the target.

Not arguing, but how?

Here is a example that will produce a push slice/fade if the grip is too weak.

Club head speed 95 MPH.

Dynamic loft 10.5 degrees.

Distance 206 yards.

Path 0 degrees. (in-square-in)

Club face angle 3 degrees open.

Ball starts about 10 yards right and finishes 30 yards.

[JGLindner73]

All I know is I aim left.. Hit it Left and then about 150-200 out it shoots Right and either ends up right side of fairway or the rough...

I can work it on the Range to aim for a target by aiming left about 15 Degrees left and it will land within 10 yards left or right of my target depending on the bend (250 yard sign) .. but on the course.. if I am 15-20 degrees left of the markers in the middle of the fairway I still end up on the right side of the fairway or the rough on the right.

I shot a 42 on 9 today.. (4 Pars, 1 Birdie, 3 Doubles and a Bogey).. all my Over Par holes were because my drive went to far right and had no clear approach to the green.  I have gotten my irons and wedges on target like crazy.. but my Driver is killing my game.

I know a little Left to Right action is normal but I would rather aim down the middle have it go out 10-15 yards left and then come back 10-20 right and end up relatively in the middle of the fairway.. as I am sure everyone would.

I play the ball line up with the inside of my front foot, use a regular grip minus finger interlock, and stand slightly wider than shoulder width.

Note: I am getting similar results from my 3 wood.. only goes about 225 but still fades right more than I want.