Combat Your Golf Slice

Several days ago, we started talking about the slice. I covered a big cause: the “over the top” swing and factors that lead to it. Then, I covered some additional problems that can lead to a slice. Now, we get to the good part. Today, I’m going to finish up by covering some drills and techniques you can use to combat your slice.

Set up

Before we can play a good shot, it all starts with solid alignment. For a typical shot, you want to be aimed parallel left of your target. I covered proper alignment in a previous post. Using an aim club helps to set your feet, hips, torso, shoulders, and head in line with the target.

Once that’s out of the way, you must have a solid grip. Yesterday, I pointed to a post where The Golf Drill Guru covered the grip, with photos of weak, neutral and strong grips.

Once the grip and stance are solid, you’re ready to make a swing. Without those fundamentals, you’re set up for failure. Having a faulty grip or stance can lead to many swing faults, not just a slice. It’s very difficult to be a consistent player without these two fundamentals firmly in place.

Avoid The “Over the Top” Move

If you have an over the top swing, you need to get the feeling of swinging the club more around your body. A good drill to encourage this type of feeling involves hitting off a side hill. Find a lie where you can hit some practice shots with the ball a good bit above your feet (6 inches or even more). As you hit the shots, feel the club come around you in somewhat of a flatter plane (less upright). Swinging more around your spine will help rid you of the over the top move.

Another great drill involves the use of a training aid. Position something like a plastic range basket about two feet behind your ball a little inside of the target line (something you’re not worried about breaking is the best – an empty plastic milk jug, for instance). There’s a photo of this over at Learn About Golf. This drill helps you in two ways: first, it gets you taking the club back a little inside the target line. Second, it forces you to approach the ball on the downswing with an inside to square path. If you make a proper approach to the ball, you’ll be able to hit the ball without disturbing the basket. If you come over the top, and get your club on the other side of the target line, you’ll hit the basket.

Start by taking slow-motion practice swings to get the feel of taking the club back on the proper plane and delivering it to the ball from the inside, instead of from over the top. Slowly increase the speed of your swings and work up to actually hitting a ball with the basket there. With a proper on-plane, inside to square swing arc, you’ll be able to hit shots without disturbing the basket.

Proper Release

With your grip and setup correct and a properly grooved inside to square swing arc (as opposed to the outside to in arc) your other main focus should be a proper release of the club through impact. Remember that we said that as your club approaches the ball on the downswing, the back of your left hand faces more toward the sky. At impact, it faces the target. During the follow through, it starts to face more toward the ground.

Here’s a drill I learned a long time ago to encourage proper release. On the range, grab your seven iron. You’re going to hit some mini shots. For each shot, only take the club back far enough so that the shaft is parallel to the ground. The toe of the club should be pointing straight up in the air, and the butt of the club should be pointing at the target. Your wrists should begin to cock, but not completely.

From there, make an easy swing and stop during the follow through when the shaft gets to parallel with the ground. Once again, the toe of the club should point straight up, but now the butt of the club is pointing away from the target. When you make these mini swings going parallel to parallel, concentrate on making a nice smooth swing with good tempo and letting your left forearm rotate through impact. Feel yourself release the club from toe up to square and to toe up again. A little body action is fine, about like if you were hitting a short pitch shot.

Take a few practice swings, then hit a shot. Then take more practice swings and hit another shot. Concentrate on solid contact, but don’t think about distance, and whatever you do, don’t slap or stab at the ball, trying to make it go further. It’s all right if it bloops 50 yards. It’s also fine to stop on some of your practice swings at each stage so you get the proper feel, especially at impact.

Another excellent drill for feeling a proper release is the split hands drill. Grip the club with several inches of space between your top and bottom hands (i.e. move your bottom hand down on the grip a few inches). Now take some short practice swings (about the same length as the mini-swing drill) and you’ll get a good feeling of the right arm rotating over the left through impact.

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I only covered a handful, but there are tons of great drills to help fix the slice. I’ll cover some more here and there over time, but Google will definitely help you find some good ones.

I spent a lot more time covering some of the causes for the dreaded slice because it’s my firm belief that if you understand how the swing works, you’ll have a much easier time fixing it. If you have a basic understanding of these various flaws, they’re much easier to recognize and fix.

Keep in mind that the information I’ve put out over the last several days is not an exhaustive list of causes and cures. I tried to cover the big points. Your best weapon against the slice is information. Learn as much as you can, and if all else fails, pay a visit to your local PGA teaching professional for some help getting rid of that slice once and for all. Good luck and kill that slice for good.

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