How did you fix your slice?

[timberland50]

I started the game playing a slight natural draw, but as I became a better player, I had a slight fade.  Irons were never really a problem, but tee shots became a nightmare for me after a while, slicing all over the planet.  Some adjustments helped for short periods of time, but ultimately led to snap hooks...which I didn't care for either.  Ultimately, what worked and has continued to work for many years was simply making sure my shoulders were square to the line at address, stopping my arm swing when my body stopped turning back, and thinking "slow and smooth" with the arms in the transition from the top.  That last point, for me, probably has been the most effective.  When I start seeing more left to right in my ball flight than I desire, I know I'm getting too quick with the hands and arms at the top.  A few practice swings keeping things smooth and flowing from the top with arms following the body's lead seems to help.

[metrybill]

OK, MVMAC. I was encouraging a novice.  I said admittedly oversimplified, didn't I? IMO, your advice is too sophisticated for a novice.  You forgot to address the rest of the post, which encouraged lessons and proper club fitting. At less than the expert level, we learn to score by playing our tendencies until our tendencies become more refined and predictable through knowledge acquired through the search and practice.  We play with the game with what we show up with on a given day and then practice and learn to play better. Your advice is very, very common.  That is why I also recommended certain books and videos for practice. We don't know what his time and pocket book will permit. He has got the "fever." Encourage him don't overwhelm him.

[Phil McGleno]

Bad advice has to stop somewhere-I think @mvmac and others think it should stop before it starts. Im with mvmac in suggesting that golfers not try to roll the clubface even more.[quote name="metrybill" url="/t/58339/how-did-you-fix-your-slice/162#post_935254"]OK, MVMAC. I was encouraging a novice.  I said admittedly oversimplified, didn't I? IMO, your advice is too sophisticated for a novice.[/quote]

[iacas]

Im with mvmac in suggesting that golfers not try to roll the clubface even more.

FWIW, thirded.

[mvmac]

OK, MVMAC. I was encouraging a novice.  I said admittedly oversimplified, didn't I? IMO, your advice is too sophisticated for a novice.

Ball starts where the face is pointed and curves away from the path.  Simple enough? Better for a novice to get correct info that have to re-learn it down the road.

[RFKFREAK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metrybill

OK, MVMAC. I was encouraging a novice.  I said admittedly oversimplified, didn't I? IMO, your advice is too sophisticated for a novice.

Ball starts where the face is pointed and curves away from the path.  Simple enough?    Better for a novice to get correct info that have to re-learn it down the road.

As a new golfer, I can certainly say that I'd much prefer getting the correct info and trying to learn to apply it rather than ingrain something for years and try and relearn the correct way later.

[golf-noob-bruce]

Thanks everyone. To me, the amount of information is not the problem. Finding the nuggets of truth in the mountain of information out there is what's difficult.

Reading and thinking about it the last few days I reluctantly have to conclude that my slice is not due to some supernatural cause, but just that I'm swinging out to in, much as I've practiced not doing that. Doing "static" weight forward drills helps (so set up in a weight forward impact position, then swing without moving weight back), but I'm having trouble translating that into success once I set up in a more natural starting posture. I think I'm going wrong in the backswing already, which puts me in an irrecoverable position.

Ironically, doing a search for articles about squaring the clubface (because I steadfastly refused to believe I was swinging out to in) led to me a few threads here about keeping your hands deep in the backswing. One of @mvmac 's posts had a deep hands drill which, when I did it, felt completely unnatural, so obviously means I wasn't doing the same thing in my usual swing. Trying it out at home, swinging with deeper hands does feel like it's easier swinging in to out and might help with my affliction. Haven't had a chance to try at the range yet though.

Perhaps @iacas or @mvmac can comment on whether the idea of deep hands is still considered a good thing to aim for? The posts were quite old and seemed to be in a pre 5SK timeframe, so not sure if it's still considered good advice.

[PathToThePGA]

Most guys slice because the weight isn't enough forward and the handle is too far back at impact with the elbows separating.  That and people think you have to roll or release the club to put some kind of side spin on the ball.

This is what a slicer and a guy that draws it looks like at impact

This is a great way to address the ball to help draw the ball.

This is a good drill to get the hands forward.  Do this drill like Erik is and it's almost impossible to not draw it.

Hands forward really helped me to stop slicing and chunking my shots

[GolfGuy123]

Hands forward really helped me to stop slicing and chunking my shots

This made a humongous difference in my iron play, which is the best part of my game. Not saying its great, but its the best aspect for me personally. Once I learned hands forward I noticed an immediate improvement. ON the days when I keep hands forward AND remember to get weight forward I really hit it well. It's just often not there the next day

[mvmac]

Ironically, doing a search for articles about squaring the clubface (because I steadfastly refused to believe I was swinging out to in) led to me a few threads here about keeping your hands deep in the backswing. One of @mvmac 's posts had a deep hands drill which, when I did it, felt completely unnatural, so obviously means I wasn't doing the same thing in my usual swing. Trying it out at home, swinging with deeper hands does feel like it's easier swinging in to out and might help with my affliction. Haven't had a chance to try at the range yet though.

Well said, yes making changes will feel odd at first.  Like you said, it's because you're doing something different, if it felt normal, just means you're repeating the same stuff.  You have to welcome the uncomfortable feel, it won't feel that way forever.

Perhaps @iacas or @mvmac can comment on whether the idea of deep hands is still considered a good thing to aim for? The posts were quite old and seemed to be in a pre 5SK timeframe, so not sure if it's still considered good advice.

Yep the idea of deep hands is still a good thing, especially if you tend to have the path too far across the ball.  This is a Key #4 piece.  We don't swing the clubhead straight back and straight through.  On the backswing we swing the clubhead back, up, and inward .  On the downswing we swing the club forwards, down and out.  So in order to have some "out", we need some "in" on the backswing.

There are a few reasons players don't create enough depth, two most popular is that they don't turn enough on the backswing and lift their arms to create some speed or their weight doesn't go forward on the downswing, sometimes both.

Check out Tiger's swing, note the left arm across his chest at the top of the backswing, arm almost matching his shoulder angle and the left arm "in" on the downswing.  Easy "tip" to start getting some depth, hit shots with a tee or glove in your left arm pit, can even do it in both arms.  Also turn out the right foot, helps the right leg lose some flex so the hips can turn , which gives you depth.

Hands forward really helped me to stop slicing and chunking my shots

This made a humongous difference in my iron play, which is the best part of my game. Not saying its great, but its the best aspect for me personally. Once I learned hands forward I noticed an immediate improvement. ON the days when I keep hands forward AND remember to get weight forward I really hit it well. It's just often not there the next day

Awesome, great to hear.  You're well ahead of most golfers, heck even some instructors

[TJ106]

I first started with aiming left, but then I realized it would only get worse and worse.  So I figured if it gets worse by aiming left, aim more right.  Aim to the right side of the fairway...it actually helped a lot.  Your mind kind of fixes some of the things going wrong, i quickly developed a draw from doing this.  There is definitely more I need to work on to perfect it since I occasionally hit a hook or accidentally hit it too straight which misses right.

But never try and aim left on a slice...try using some reverse psychology and aim even further into it

[BuckeyeNut]

I played a HUUUUUUUUUGE banana slice in my early years. IMO....there is no easy/quick fix.  For me, it was an evolution that took place over many years as I developed as a golfer.  The change was gradual over years.....

[maddog0512]

I would say two things helped me get rid of my slice (although it still shows up occasionally).  First, I needed to relax my grip.  I have a tendency to try and squeeze the life out of the club.  This would inevitably leave the club face open and send my ball spinning off to the right.  Second, I needed to stop trying to kill the ball ("swing faster, not harder" and "smooth is fast").  I try to just let the ball get in the way of a smooth tempo swing now.  Those two things seemed to help a lot.  Also, I try to think of my swing as just a rotation around my spine.  I know there are a lot of other things going on, but I like the simplicity of that "swing thought".

[TK21]

The key is keeping the left arm straight (for righties) thru impac and making sure that your right elbow remains tucked into your ribcage thru the swing sequence. Helps to keep your weight moving toward the target.

[bajapalm]

I played a HUUUUUUUUUGE banana slice in my early years. IMO....there is no easy/quick fix.  For me, it was an evolution that took place over many years as I developed as a golfer.  The change was gradual over years.....

Aww C'mon we want easy fixes - work hard for years  =

haha - all good stuff here - i need this thread it is all helping me and I rarely slice now (like the judge on caddy shack!)

[MS256]

What's a slice? (Just joking).

I could probably count on one hand all of the unintentional slices I've ever hit. Hooks...An entirely different story. When I first started playing I was talking to a friend and he asked me how I was hitting the ball. I told him mostly hooks and he said "Well you'll never be a golfer then."

No idea why he thought that but it turned out to be a true statement anyway.

[Michael Lee]

Okay, weight forward and hands forward at address and at impact.  I can hardly wait to try these ideas, however in Canada our groundhog messed up seriously and we aren't going to be playing until at least May.  It's sad but true.

[tefunk]

I've heard it said that 90% of all golfers struggle with a slice at some point in their golfing careers. My question is, when that time came for you, how did you deal with it? What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself when that slice first surfaced?

I started hooking the ball, haha. But seriously, i used to slice about 90% of the time. I took a couple lessons and where we actually worked on hitting a hook, and the plan was once I was doing that consistently we'd work on turning that into a draw (apparently an easier fix). I've struggled with a hook for past 6 years, and over this past fall and offseason I worked on changing a few things around with my set up and takeaway. Now my more typical miss is a slice again, but much less frequently (30% of the time). I'm pretty sure one or the other (hook or slice) will always be in my game. But at least they're less frequent due to lessons and practice.