Golf Swing Instruction Blog

That nasty slice.. the one thing about your golf swing that you can always count on. That nasty slice!

Want to get rid of it?

Are you willing to take some time to get it done once and for all at the risk of a few blisters on your pinky?

Ok, here is the most commonly seen move in a golf swing that produces the slice that you have grown so comfortable with.

It is almost always caused by an “over the top swing path” this causes the club to travel from outside the target line to inside the target line after impact, it puts a serious right to left spin on the ball. And the harder you swing the more spin you will get. And the further to the right the shot will travel.

Most often the over the top move is created because of a poor weight shift. Because, without the weight shift, the only way to get to the ball is to throw the club at it from the top with your hands and shoulders while leaving the weight on the right side.

Try it. In slow motion. You will see where the club goes and why. Over the top. Outside to inside. Keep your weight on the right side and slowly bring the club to the ball. Or keep your weight on the left side and then as you bring the club to the ball allow your weight to go to the right side, a classic reverse weight shift. But still you will generally make the over the top move and swing outside in.

Whether you have no weight shift or a reverse weight shift no matter. Same problem, different look.

Exactly opposite of what it supposed to be for the most effective golf swing.

So now let’s take your time here and see if you can follow this reasoning for the over the top move.

It is very important that you understand why you do it. And then how you do it.

So picture this: You are standing over the ball getting ready to tee off on the first hole. A par four slight dogleg left. You take your weak grip and move into your takeaway.

You pick the club up and turn to the right. Once you have picked the club up several things have happened, none of them are good. First you probably will stop turning your shoulders because, after all the club is already at the top of your swing.

Once you stop turning your shoulders, your left arm begins to break at the elbow. Often this is not so bad but a bent left arm contributes to the poor turn as it, in itself, is an indicator to you that you have already turned enough. ( although not true)

So you stop turning. ( death move)

The thing that this early pickup and the stopped turn does, is that it eliminates the opportunity for you to create the “slot” on the downswing. The slot is created by a good turn of the shoulders and the turning of the right hip.

This combination does create an area of freedom under your right elbow.

Test it to see.

Turn your shoulders so that your back is to the target. Lift your right arm so that your forearm is perpendicular with your bicep and your right wrist is in the “trayed” position. Your bicep should be parrallel to the ground or floor.

Now notice that you have a space where you could drop your right arm straight down into.

This is the famous “slot”

If you now just drop your right elbow you will see that there is plenty of room for it.

You must create this slot.

Now is there room for you to drop your right elbow straight down without hitting your hip?

If there is, you did it. If not turn some more.

This slot is never there if you just pick up the club and don’t turn enough. Trust this, you must have the slot.

The notion that you have to have an upright swing is not correct. There is another method.

I will call it flat, short and powerful.

You see, the mechanics of the golf swing always remain the same. The reason for this is that there is no way to avoid this fact: our body parts all all connected. So that if we move one part another part will also move. It is not possible to move one single part of your body without moving another part.

If we know this, we can use it to our advantage in making a useful and productive golf swing.

It’s kinda like the leg bone connected to the knee bone, and so on. So it makes perfect sense to make an effort to understand what is connected to what and how the parts will move and why.

Here is an example. If I move my left hip during the downswing so that it slides toward the target and stay on my right side, my left shoulder will move up, my right shoulder will move down, the bottom of my spine will go with the hip and the top of my spine will move away from the target, backwards.

This is all because I didn’t bump and turn my hip, and stayed on my right side. The result as far as a golf swing goes is a thin hit or the infamous worm burner. It’s because the spine angle changed due to the hip slide, the spine went back away from the target and this changed the downswing to an up swing at impact.

The point here is just to know why body parts contribute to the success of the swing and how. Or not!

Alrighty then. How to fix the slice and not have to think about all this.

The upright swing, or the more modern classic swing is what is more commonly taught on the practice tees across America.

Let’s try something totally different.

Instead of your hands being high and above your shoulders, let’s keep them below your shoulders on your backswing. Low and around yourself. Flat. Flat as a pancake.

Take the club to the inside and turn your left shoulder fully under your chin. Do not allow your hands to get above your shoulder. They will go behind you. Your right elbow will be behind you too.

Your left shoulder will go under you chin and you will feel tension and pulling of your shoulder and upper back. This is good!

This backswing will be decidedly shorter than you may be acustomed to. This also is good.

You will have created an excellent slot with little effort. Make sure you have some weight on your right leg.

Now if you are in the correct position, turn your shoulders back to the left while allowing the arms and hands to just go along for the ride. Turn with speed and power. Arms and hands going toward the ball.

If you have ever played baseball, this will feel very familiar to you. If you have never played baseball, now is a good time to imagine what hitting a baseball should feel like.

This flat, short and powerful swing is use by many PGA players and is so simple it is scary.

Try it. Caution. Don’t get too far inside on the takeaway. And remember to make an aggressive move on the downswing.

IF you do this correctly, it is almost impossible to hit a slice. But you can do it wrong and nothing changes for you.

Just give it a try. Nothing ventured.

By: Paul Macleod

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