How to stop slicing is a question that is constantly asked of golf professionals by budding amateurs worldwide. Unfortunately there is a lot of mis-information on the internet and in magazines as to what actually causes a slice and how to fix it. Let’s start with the laws of impact and ball flight.
There are 3 major ball flight laws or impact laws that cause a slice.
1. The face is open at impact. This is the most important thing as the face is 4 times more influential than the path in the golf swing.
2. The path is cutting across the ball from outside to in. This is helping to create the left to right spin that is on the golf ball.
3. The angle of approach to the golf ball is too steep. This means that clubface is coming down too sharp onto the ball. This creates excess spin on the golf ball.
So your slice is caused by a lethal combination of all three things. Now you should understand why the ball behaves the way it does. The question still remains ‘How to stop slicing?’ Let me take you through a simple 10 ball excercise.
Firstly, imagine that the toe end of the clubhead is pointing to 12 o clock on a clock face. Loosen your grip completely and rotate the toe around till 10:30 on the clock face. Now regrip the club so the clubface points left. Hit a shot. I bet the ball goes low and to the left. I want you to hit 5 shots like this. Just let the ball go left.
Ok, here is where the fun begins. Keeping the grip the same, how are you going to get this ball to go straight? You are going to have to swing out to the right more aren’t you? Go for it, swing the path out to right field in a baseball diamond. I bet the ball is now hooking. “Great” you say, “I’ve gone from a slice to hook.” All you have to do from here is slowly adjust your grip back around close to the original position over the course of the next 3-4 shots. Keep the path the same, feeling like it is swinging out to right field. Within 10 shots you should be hitting the ball fairly straight.
I hope you have enjoyed this article. Try it out next time you are at the driving range.
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