Slicing.. i don't understand

[mjbartow]

The day I cured my slice was the happiest day of my life, there's nothing like hitting a straight drive, and then making sure it wasn't a fluke, hit another ball and see it be exactly the same.

I had two problems with my swing.

1.) My shoulders were not level at address, my left shoulder was shrugged up towards my chin, and when I swung through I would try to return to that position and it would push my arms out and the ball wouldn't slice but just go high and right. Think of a drive as you are playing baseball and trying to hit a pitch right back at the pitcher. I was aiming more for first base. So make sure your body is square, good angles, and I cannot stress how important your left shoulder is in your swing, it is the cornerstone. Make sure your shoulders are level, swing back, and pull down with your left shoulder towards the ball, and when your arms catch up, swing it up; make sure you are swinging your shoulder up, not around. Your hips go around, your shoulders rotate more vertically.

2.) Square the clubface at impact. For me, the trick was in my grip, I use a baseball grip but with the thumbs pointing towards the clubhead, running down the grip with the tip of my left thumb tucked a little under my right. But with this grip I could generate any velocity and I just couldn't bring the clubhead back to square after opening it in my backswing. So what I did is I just rolled my left hand over a little bit. The grip on your F-Speed should have two (I have the M speed so they are blue, I'm assuming on the F speed they are red) red dashes on the grip for where to put your thumbs. Try my grip, but put your left hand so your left thumb doesn't cover the dash, but the left side of your thumb is touching the right side of the dash; and over the bottom one with your right thumb as normal. This grip really put less strain on my left shoulder, helped me swing harder, and made it much easier for my wrists to come square at impact.

Sorry if any of that is hard to decipher, but I hope you can figure it out because it saved my drive.

[tigerwoo]

My 2 cents on this subject as I've been there and this is what works for me these days:

1) Slow and controlled backswing trying to keep your right right elbow as close to your right side as possible and pointing to the ground. As you swing back further your right elbow will detach from your body but try keeping the elbow pointed to the ground.

2) On the downswing make your first move be closing of that gap between your right elbow and your body and make sure you increase the acceleration of your swing through the ball. Note how your left hip releases naturally with the swing rather than openning up prematurely which often aligns your shoulders open as well and thus you 'cast' out your club at the top of the downswing and a slice is the only result (if not a pull hook) that can happen.

Try this and let me know how it works for you. It is the only thing I think about when I swing these days (with all my clubs). With my driver, I'm hitting at least 8 or 9 FIR's per round and the odd double digit FIR.

[sandtrap]

You understand that a slice comes from cutting across the ball. Most people think that you have to compensate by opening your stance. In fact you need to use a hook stance to over come the cutting across the ball.

Take your regular square stance. Then move your left foot foreward 2 inches. Not wider, closed. Leave everything else the same. you now have a fade stance. It will feel wierd and you will try to waggle yourself back to noem but you have to try it. Works with everyone i show once they relax and let it happen.

[ChiChiIsMe]

Take your regular square stance. Then move your left foot foreward 2 inches. Not wider, closed. Leave everything else the same. you now have a fade stance. It will feel wierd and you will try to waggle yourself back to noem but you have to try it. Works with everyone i show once they relax and let it happen.

I've done this for years. For me it's more a drop the right foot back, but it definitely works. The better solution is to fix the swing tho, this just masks the true problem.

[dmagalhaes]

Try these two things;
Take your normal stance but pigeon toe both feet. I guarentee you will rotate your body and hands through the ball. Give it at least 20 or 30 swings because you'll need to loosen some muscles that your're not using right now. If you swing too hard you'll lose your balance so swing at a pace wher you can hold a finish.

The other is to place a ball on a tee about 6-8 inches forward of your regular ball position.You should go for that ball with and ideally hit a hard hook. The hook is ok because the clubface should be shutting and turning over. That will also give you the feel of closing the clubface.

If your still slicing then you are probably taking the club away too inside and causing your wrists to roll. Practice taking the club away under your kitchen cabinets for a bit to get the feel of the proper takeaway.

[sandtrap]

I've done this for years. For me it's more a drop the right foot back, but it definitely works. The better solution is to fix the swing tho, this just masks the true problem.

True ...but as they say "it's not how, it's how many" You have to have some sort of quik fix when you are on the course and your game goes to S..T.

It may also be your clubs, shafts to weak or too strong.

[playfromthetips11]

I dont think anyone has mentioned this yet, but you could try the following and see what happens:

Address the ball normally.
Rotate your club face to a more closed position. Start with a quarter rotation. Keep your grip the same. This will give you a head start on closing the club face.

[iacas]

Try these two things;

I believe "toes in" restricts turn. I'd square up the back foot and flare out the front foot. I also like a slightly open stance to help the hips rotate. But that's me...

[ChiChiIsMe]

It may also be your clubs, shafts to weak or too strong.

It's my swing! The divot gives it away........

[dmagalhaes]

I believe "toes in" restricts turn. I'd square up the back foot and flare out the front foot. I also like a slightly open stance to help the hips rotate. But that's me...

It doesn't restrict turn. It's has the effect of putting your feet together but going pigeon toed really loosens up your back and hips.

[iacas]

It doesn't restrict turn. It's has the effect of putting your feet together but going pigeon toed really loosens up your back and hips.

I disagree. That doesn't make sense to me. Your hips can't turn nearly as much with your feet turned in as you can with them out.

I've given the tip to other golfers and just now tried it myself. You stand with your feet square and turn back as far as you can. Then let your right foot flare out and bam, you turn even more. Turn through with square feet, then flare the front foot, and you'll turn even more. So again, I don't think that's right. It defies anatomy.

[J_Bone]

I disagree. That doesn't make sense to me. Your hips can't turn nearly as much with your feet turned in as you can with them out.

I would agree!! I slightly flare my front foot to get my hip turn through easier. If I don't it feels like it's being restricted.

[Leek]

It doesn't restrict turn. It's has the effect of putting your feet together but going pigeon toed really loosens up your back and hips.

That's totally illogical to me.

[Leek]

The day I cured my slice was the happiest day of my life, there's nothing like hitting a straight drive, and then making sure it wasn't a fluke, hit another ball and see it be exactly the same.

If you're really doing that, you're flipping which is one of the worst things you can ever do.

[dmagalhaes]

That's totally illogical to me.

Guys, this is a DRILL to help him learn to rotate through the ball. I've seen this work for golfers at my club since this is the first drill the golf pro uses to force people to turn and release through impact. To a guy who can hit the ball straight this may not seem to work but for someone who has an arms only swing it really shows them what muscles they need to use to complete the swing. I'm sure the people that this drill has helped would agree that it triggers the body into the right positions because of the turn restrictions. He will notice an improvement from the first few swings. What may not work for you may work for someone else.

[Leek]

If you really wat to never slice again, please let me know and I'll send you detailed instructions. You will never slice again.

[gaz d]

Suffering with a terrible slice off the tee lately. im Swinging out to in, thanks for all the tips in here!

[Ospi]

First of all hi all, first post.

Anyway im a serious golfing beginner, infact iv only been playing for approx 2 hours :D. Had my first 2 lessons on thurs and friday and before that i played like i was playing cricket or something, a disaster to say the least.

So after my lessons iv got my grip, posture and stance coming along nicely. My swing was naturally pretty good which was nice so that didnt need so much work initially. But wow, the slicing bug has definately bitten me. Unfortunately i dont know what all the terminology means in this thread but i think my problem is not rotating through the shot as i do when i backswing. I did a few practice shots this arvo and kinda tried rolling my wrists a bit to make sure the clubface is perpendicular to the ball and it seemed to have worked for about 70% of my shots. Still get the odd one flying off to the right though but i guess its just practice practice practice.

anyway hope to have a good stay here and learn as much as i can, i used to dislike golf, but when you can actually hit a ball its so much fun!!