There’s a really good reason why people who slice the ball would want to fix it because when you’re playing golf, there is no place for a slice. You can go from hitting a hook to playing really good golf, but if you don’t learn to stop hitting shots with an open club-face, you won’t get very far in golf. Slices can cause you to lose distance, accuracy and your temper and yet, unfortunately, the reality is that a huge majority of players, around 90 percent have problems with a slice.
They don’t have a good grip, they make a steep swing into the ball, and they don’t understand how the hands work in a good release. Those things combine to make a high and weak shots to the right. The slice shot with the driver is a very common shot among amateur golfers. A slice is any shot that curves hard to the right in the air (for a right-handed player). One teaching strategy that has always worked for many people is to figure out a student’s major flaw and devise a plan for practicing the opposite of that flaw. Exaggerate the fix as much as you can and really feel the change. That’s how my new slice drill was born. Slicers everywhere need an easy way to feel the correct path and plane. My three-step drill will get you feeling a radically different swing shape, starting by tracing backward circles in the air.
Get A Driver That’s Fit For The Job
Before you start practicing your swings, you will need to see that you have the proper equipment. Almost all slicers use a driver with too little loft because they’re reacting to their high, weak ball flight. The new adjustable drivers let you increase the loft and move weight to the clubhead’s heel. Instead of swinging a 9-degree driver and making it 10 or 11 degrees because you hold it open through impact, you want more loft so you can release your hands and turn a 10.5 driver into a 9.
Set Your Hands For Release
Two grip mistakes make a slice almost unavoidable. Many players use a grip that’s way too weak, with the thumbs pointing straight down the handle. You have to make your grip stronger, so your hands are turned away from the target and your palms are parallel to each other. If you drew lines up from the base of your thumbs, they should hit the point of your collar on the right side of your shirt. Also, gripping too tight keeps the hands from releasing through impact. Take a softer grip.
3-PART DRILL TO FIX YOUR SLICE
Now that you got the right club and the right grip, your goal is now to substitute the swing loop you are making the pull inside then loop over the top one with a loop that goes in the opposite direction. You may try to take the club back on an upright plane and then flatten it coming down, but it won’t really change anything. I got to thinking there must be a way for golfers to start the correct shape earlier so they had it down through the ball and lucky for you, there is an easy way as simple as starting with a simple clockwise circle.
Step 1: Draw a Backward Loop
Checking your new grip, take a normal stance, with the ball inside of your front heel. Instead of soling the clubhead, as usual, set it in front of the ball. Then make a slow circle with your hands, swinging the club toward the target, continuing above your head and then down and over the ball. Focus only on the loop. As you swing, the club will naturally drop onto a shallower plane as it comes closer to the ball, and your hands will start to release or roll over.
Step 2: Lift and Turn
The next step is to incorporate some body turns into the drill and to move the start of the loop from in front of the ball more toward your normal address position. Once you’ve furrowed the clockwise circle motion, keep the loop going and add your shoulder turn. To do that, start with the clubhead behind the ball and lift it up over your head until your hands are in front of your face. Then, turn your shoulders back and feel the weight of the clubhead, keeping it on the shallower plane you’ve established, after, swing over the ball. You’re making half of a clockwise loop from the position over your head down to the ball which keeps the club on the correct inside path.
Step 3: Turn And Release
The final step of this process is the transition from a practice drill to a real golf swing. Lift the club into a two-thirds backswing position, with your left arm in front of your chest, then make your full backswing turn, and graduate from swinging over the ball to actually hitting shots. You will continue to feel the backward loop that you started in the first part of the drill, and you will see a right to left ball flight right away. It works for any player, at any handicap level. Just be patient and do it in parts. I have helped tons of slicers from a 20-year old beginner to a senior woman who got it right away. They could see in 5 minutes that they were getting rid of their slice and getting closer to playing to their full potential.
Hopefully, these tips helped with fixing your slice which in return made it more fun for you to play golf. Even, gave you an advantage over other amateurs you would be playing with.
