Do You Have A Swing Flaw?
If you’re like most golfers, you’d probably want to eliminate your slice. Slicing pumps up your scores and your golf handicap.
Eliminating your slice can be quite the obstacle. Some slicers try for years to eliminate this flaw unsuccessfully. Others try to play with a slice as best they can. That approach may work for some, but the reality is it makes it harder to eliminate strokes from your score. Ideally you’re going to want to cure or completely eliminate your slice.
Usually, slicers fall into one of two categories: If your ball starts to the left, then curves right, you’re a pull-slicer. If your ball starts right and bends farther right, you’re a push slicer. Despite their differences, both types stem from the same mistake: an open club-face at impact.
So how do you eliminate this problem?
Well, first, you need to determine if you are a pull-slicer or a push-slicer.
Once you figure that out, apply the right golf tips to fix the slice. Below are some hints that will help you determine what type of slicer you are and how to fix this swing flaw.
Pull-slicer
Shoulders aimed left — This type of slicer is probably the most common out there. Seeing their balls start left then go right, these slicers aim their shoulders left to make up for the curved flight. But the more your try to compensate for your slice, the worse it gets. That’s because you’re steepening your swing. You’re this type of slicer if you find yourself chunk shots and taking deep divots.
How To Fix: First, learn how to square your clubface. To do that, turn your clubface into the ball a bit. It will feel odd, but this move helps. Second, aim your shoulders to the right of the target and position the ball back in your stance a bit. Making these moves helps you swing on the proper inside path with a square clubface. The result? Longer, straighter shots.
Push-slicer
Weight falls right — This type of slice is harder to play with than the first type. Your ball starts right from the start, then just keeps going right. More often than not you miss the fairway altogether. If you’re a push-slicer, you probably start the club away with a shut clubface. That’s a clubface where there’s no rotation into the ball. The sets up the deadly reverse pivot, with your body tilting left as you go back and then right as you come into the ball. You’re this type of slicer if you hardly ever take a divot with your irons and hit a lot of thin shots off the tee.
How To Fix: Use a more circular swing path instead of the straight back and straight through one you usually use. A good way to ingrain this swing path is to hit balls from a side-hill lie, with the ball slightly above your feet. (If you’re going to do this, though, make sure the side-hill lie isn’t too steep.) The hill’s angle forces you to swing around your body more on an inside–square-inside path, which is ideal. If fail to do this, you’ll drive your club face into the ground. This exercise also encourages the proper face rotation through impact.
It’s important to fix your slice to help you eliminate some of those strokes from your score. Remember to determine what type of slicer you are first. Then apply the golf tips discussed above. Fix your slice and you’ll not only hit longer and straighter shots, you’ll also cut strokes from your scores and your golf handicap.