Curing Your Slice

• Posted on Grant
• in Golf Fundamentals, Swing
• on September 16, 2012
• Comments Off on Curing Your Slice

The most common complaint that I hear from golfers is that they pull-slice or block-slice the ball, and do not know why. For a right-handed golfer, a pull is when the ball starts to the left of their target. A block is when the ball starts to the right of the target. A slice is when the ball curves to the right. So, a pull-slice is when the ball starts to the left of the target and then curves hard to the right. A block-slice is when the ball starts right of the target and curves even farther right. A slice is a very annoying shot because it is caused by a glancing blow to the golf ball which makes for loss of distance and also makes it very hard to aim.

Here are 3 fundamentals that I first look at when a student is slicing the ball: (These examples are based on a right-handed golfer’s perspective.)

1. Setup: Are your shoulders and forearms set up parallel to the target line? The common tendency is to set up with the shoulders aimed too far to the left, when they should be parallel. This contributes to cutting across the ball through impact.

2. Full finish: Is your belt buckle pointed at or to the left of the target at the finish position? (How far your body can rotate will depend on your flexibility.) If the body rotation to the finish is not completed, the tendency is to have a chicken wing left elbow through impact. This keeps the club-face open through impact which leads to a block-slice.

3. Steady head: Is your head staying steady on the downswing? If the head moves toward the target on the downswing, then the club-face can not rotate correctly through impact.

There are many other swing keys that can help eliminate your slice, but if you are not doing the three fundamentals above, the other keys are not worth working on.

GB