Cure Slice Part 2
Contrary to most of the golf tips and instruction you see in print and on video, all slices are not created equally and cannot be fixed by “a stronger grip” or by “rolling your hands through impact.”
For example, a golf swing slice that starts to the right of the target and curves further right is absolutely not the same shot as a slice that starts left of the target and curves back to the target line or further right of it.
Having said that, each of these two shots require distinct and separate adjustments if you have any hope of finding a cure for your slice, repairing your golf swing and hitting longer, straighter shots that fly toward your intended target.
There are three basic shot patterns that plague golfers who suffer with a golf swing slice.
1. The ball starts left of the intended target line and curves back toward the intended target and in some cases crosses the target line finishing well right of it.
2. The ball starts on the intended target line and curves to the right finishing well right of the intended target.
3. The ball starts right of the intended target line and moves further right. There are varying degrees of annoyance in all these shots depending on the magnitude of the curvature of the golf ball.
Although all slices are not created equal and there are distinct differences in them, all slices do have something in common, that being the club-face is striking the ball in an open position that produces left to right spin on the golf ball causing the ball to curve from left to right.
The severity of the curve depends upon the angle of the club-face at impact. The more open the face of the club to the path at impact, the bigger the slice will be.
This is why most of the instruction you watch or read suggests that you should simply roll your wrists through impact or strengthen your grip (Left hand on top of the grip and right hand under) in an effort to close the club-face through impact thus eliminating the slice.
Or so they say…
Let’s pause for a minute and take a look at this well meaning piece of advice.
Lets say for example that your slice falls into category # 1. Your ball starts left of the target line generally and curves to the right toward your intended target. If you simply roll your wrists through impact or strengthen your grip in an effort to close the club-face, your shots will start left of the target line and fly straight left or curve further left creating a pull or worse a pull hook.
Your eyes know where the target is so the further left of the target your ball finishes, the more your tendency will be to try and open the club-face at impact in an effort to maneuver the ball toward the target thus working backwards from your intended goal of hitting longer, straighter shots.
Another big problem with simply strengthening your grip in an effort to roll your wrists is that a strong grip leads to a closed club-face at impact, so not only does your golf ball finish left of the target but it doesnt get up in the air…
so now youre not swinging freely or finishing your golf swing because youre trying to hold the face of the club open and get the ball in the air. All this combines to slow your swing down and yields shorter and shorter shots that are less and less accurate.
You are also moving further and further from a good, repeatable golf swing that produces long straight shots.
As you can see, its not as simple as it sounds…or is it?
Lets take a look for a moment at the physics of ball flight.
Physics tells us that the ball will begin its flight in the direction that the club-head was moving at impact and its curvature once in the air is determined by the squareness of the strike.
For example, If the club-head is moving down the target line at impact and the club-face is slightly open, the ball will start down the target line and curve gently to the right. Simply put, if the club-head is traveling across the target either left or right at impact, that is where the ball will start. If the club-face is open a fade or slice is produced depending on how open the club-face happens to be. Conversely, if the face is closed at impact a right to left or hook flight is produced.
The only time this is not true is when the angle of the face at impact is severely closed or open as is the case with a golf swing slice. When this occurs the severity of the face angle problem will override the swing path. i.e. if your club-head is traveling down the target line but your club-face is severely shut, the ball will start low left even though the club was moving down the correct path at impact.
With that said, if you want to fix your golf swing slice, you should look at two things first.
1. Where does your golf ball start? Does your normal shot start left of the target line, on the target line, or right of the target line? Are your divots pointing at the intended target, left of the target or right of the target?
2. What is your ball flight like? How severe is the curvature of your shots? Do your shots start to the right of the target even though your divots are at the target?
Once youve answered these simple questions, youll know where your problem really lies and the severity of that problem. Once youve identified the problem, now you can go about fixing it.
One of the most common causes of a golf swing slice is poor alignment which results in a bad swing path. The first thing you should do is check your alignment and fix the path of your swing. Very few instructors focus on swing path..most treat it as an after thought but without a consistent path that starts your shots toward your target, you’ll never consistently hit long, accurate shots.
Here is a Golf Swing Instruction program that focuses on swing path first.
I can tell you from 20 years of experience, a golf swing slice is almost always caused by something other than your grip, (poor alignment, a poor set-up, etc.), and in 97% of the cases a stronger grip will cause more problems than it will solve.
If youre tired of struggling with your game and would like to start hitting quality shots and shooting lower scores without learning physics and theory, check out The Golf Swing Secret.
This program simply teaches you what you need to know to hit better shots and shoot lower scores.
