Ball placement with driver.

[dtambo]

I normally struggle with a pretty mean slice with my driver.  I've read as much as I could find on it and tried different techniques to try to fix this, but somehow keep ending up going back to the one fix that helps me most and that's ball placement.  If I place the ball on the OUTSIDE of my left foot (i'm right handed) then I can about 90% of the time diminish the slice enough that it ends up just about where I want it to land.  I don't understand how it works like that, but it does and I'm wondering if its just a cheap fix for something that I should be looking elsewhere in my setup for the problem.  Does anyone else have to do this?

I've been a very casual golfer for the last oh.... 3 or 4 years or so and didn't really care about my score that much, just having fun.  This ball placement has always been my "fix" for slices, but now I'd like to take golf a bit more serisouly (including lessons along the way if my wife, 2yr old, and newborn permit ).  So that's pretty much why I'm asking.

[RonTheSavage]

Keep in mind that Im a high handicapper and the last person that should be giving out advice. But I think it's ok for me to tell you what helped ME. Make sure to check your alignment at set-up. I keep my feet and hips square and my shoulders pretty closed and that helps me come more from the inside. I play the ball just inside my left foot. I've never moved it up more than that.

[Hacker James]

sometimes I find going against conventional wisdom works better for me.

Example: most articles will tell you to tee the ball up fairly high when using 460 deg driver i.e. 2/3 of ball showing. For me, this will not work and I get the best results with lower tee. (I use either a 2 3/4 or 3 1/4 tee).  I understand all the explanations about launch, hitting up e.t.c. but for some reason or other it just does not work. The same can be said for ball position, many say you should place towards the outside of front foot, I do better just off the left heel (but maybe trending more towards instep).  Another thing that helps me is not grounding the club and as Fred Couples was experimenting with by setting up club placement  as much as four or five inches behind the ball. BUT with a caveat, which is DO NOT LINGER,  take a couple of waggles and execute.  I also use a putting trigger that seems to work well for me. After lining up the put, look at the pin and slowly move head back along the line towards address position and at the exact instant my eyes are over the ball , take the putter back as if that action "bumped" the putter into the take away. Sometimes this also enables me to see if I get off line on the take  away. Its hard to explain, kind of like a "chain reaction" I suppose.

[dtambo]

Originally Posted by Hacker James

sometimes I find going against conventional wisdom works better for me.

Example: most articles will tell you to tee the ball up fairly high when using 460 deg driver i.e. 2/3 of ball showing. For me, this will not work and I get the best results with lower tee. (I use either a 2 3/4 or 3 1/4 tee).  I understand all the explanations about launch, hitting up e.t.c. but for some reason or other it just does not work. The same can be said for ball position, many say you should place towards the outside of front foot, I do better just off the left heel (but maybe trending more towards instep).  Another thing that helps me is not grounding the club and as Fred Couples was experimenting with by setting up club placement  as much as four or five inches behind the ball. BUT with a caveat, which is DO NOT LINGER,  take a couple of waggles and execute.  I also use a putting trigger that seems to work well for me. After lining up the put, look at the pin and slowly move head back along the line towards address position and at the exact instant my eyes are over the ball , take the putter back as if that action "bumped" the putter into the take away. Sometimes this also enables me to see if I get off line on the take  away. Its hard to explain, kind of like a "chain reaction" I suppose.

I usually see it said to place ball on the inside of the left heel (or close to anyways)... So according to what you say I may not be doing it all that wrong anyways huh?

And Ron I'll check my alignment better next time at the range....which is where I may just head out to here shortly

[LettucePray27]

[video]http://youtube.com/watch?v=lnopJFvTa3Q[/video] This video is a major help with slicers... it helps you keep the shoulders square thru the swing and keeps your mind off of" hitting" and helps you swing thru the ball and sweep it from the tee...

[Slice of Life]

I'm a terrible golfer, so take this with a grain of salt...if that...

The most important part for me, is the backswing. If the backswing is good, chances are, I'm hitting it straight. I focus on keeping my arms as tension-free as possible, and bringing the club back slowly to the inside. Not straight back, or out, but inside and close to my body. Then on the downswing, I don't try to bring the club around like a baseball swing, I try to release as I'm still swinging the club out to the right.

Again, this may not work for you, and I'm far from a pro...but when I bring it back well, the end result is normally pretty good.

[norrisedgar]

What's probably happening when you move the ball forward is that it is giving you more time to square your hands at impact. Do you tend to hit more pulls with the ball farther forward? A true slice, if that is what you have, is caused by a downswing that is too much out to in. I guess you probably do because in my experience 90% of beginners/high handicappers do. In my view this is mainly caused by the over reliance on the hands and arms in the swing and an under reliance on the body to 'swing' the club

[dtambo]

I do tend to hit a handful of pulls but not always. I think that once I get a lesson or two under my belt it would help drastically to have an instructors eye on my swing.  Working on lining up some lessons soon once I find a decent instructor that works weekends!  I will say that by some of the signs I've seen on the ground I'm hitting an out to in swing path a good bit of the time, so I do believe that it is an unfortunate true slice.

[rehmwa]

Quote:

I will say that by some of the signs I've seen on the ground I'm hitting an out to in swing path a good bit of the time

Then wouldn't moving the ball more forward at setup should make the slice even worse, not better.  So I have no ideas on what you are doing other that maybe the extra room is accommmodating a habit of shutting the face pretty severely and late (as norrisedgar noted.  So maybe what you are setting up for is a hard pull by putting it clear out forward there in your stance), or most of the swing you might be pushing under a bit with your right hand - results also in a late release, and a lot of half baked thoughts like that.....get thee to camera or a coach...

That video up thread was a lifesaver for me last year (found it here on OOB - thanks guys) - helps to keep your shoulders square to the target line.  I took a couple lessons this winter and now it's not such a big deal and I can control my drive and even, (much of the time) choose whether I bend it a little left or right - so I got that going for me.  But I doubt that's your fix considering (see note in first paragraph).  But it couldn't hurt and might help a little bit.

From my lessons, I learned that just getting some of the Basics taught was a "big freaking deal"

so a couple lessons from a good pro sounds like your best bet.

[Blueman]

I just put more offset in my driver. Put a small piece of white tape on top to mark it so you can get the right offset time after time. Ball goes straight everytime. Every now in then it will have a slight fade, or a slight draw. The slight draw is what I fear as I like to run the left sideline. I am a hack so take it for what it is worth, but my slice has all but disappeared.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by dtambo

I normally struggle with a pretty mean slice with my driver.  I've read as much as I could find on it and tried different techniques to try to fix this, but somehow keep ending up going back to the one fix that helps me most and that's ball placement.  If I place the ball on the OUTSIDE of my left foot (i'm right handed) then I can about 90% of the time diminish the slice enough that it ends up just about where I want it to land.  I don't understand how it works like that, but it does and I'm wondering if its just a cheap fix for something that I should be looking elsewhere in my setup for the problem.  Does anyone else have to do this?

I've been a very casual golfer for the last oh.... 3 or 4 years or so and didn't really care about my score that much, just having fun.  This ball placement has always been my "fix" for slices, but now I'd like to take golf a bit more serisouly (including lessons along the way if my wife, 2yr old, and newborn permit ).  So that's pretty much why I'm asking.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/44307/hitting-up-or-down-with-the-driver-in-an-inline-pattern

[dtambo]

Well I sure appreciate all of your helpful input, videos and links guys.  It makes me realize I need to go to the range and study my swing a bit more and ball flight as well.  I'm headed to the range today being that I finally have an opportunity and will do my best to try to see what I can realize on my own.  As for lessons, my vacation week at work is coming up and I'm working on getting at least a good lesson or two in that week.