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Made a small change - Saw drastic results

TripleThreat802

TripleThreat802

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My woods would mostly stay in my bag. I had confidence in my irons and if I could hit a low iron straight off the tee, even at sacrificing 50yds, I would do it. The fairway wood and 3 wood might come out occasionally, but never the driver.

I went to the range a few times and decided I need to learn how to hit woods. My problem has always been a pretty significant slice. I tried a few things with my swing, but nothing seemed to work.

Two weeks ago I went out for the first time this year with a buddy and asked him if he did anything different in his swing / stance when hitting a wood versus a mid to low iron. He suggested choking up on the club a bit and putting the ball more toward my front foot in my stance.

Wow.

Tried it on two holes, hit the ball straight. The shots ended up straight left (because my aim is off being so used to accounting for a slice), but they flew straight. Wasn't sure if this was a fluke or not so I decided to try to same changes last week when I played 18. I can't believe how consistent I can hit a wood straight now! I'm not sure how much choking up on the club accounted for this change, I think it's more the ball placement in my stance...but I'd like some more experienced players to chime in.

Is it possible that putting the ball more forward in my stand (almost lined up with my front foot) would correct a pretty bad slice? Is that only part of the solution, the other part may be mental or something to do with my swing? Maybe there is no definitive answer...
 
Anytime I hit my 3W off the deck I'll choke down a 0.5" or so, def. allows for better contact. With me if I get too quick I'll put a nasty fade on it, but if I have a nice relaxed smooth swing it's only a minor cut or dead straight.
 
Sometimes what seems like a small change (choking down, moving closer to the ball, changing ball position) are actually bigger changes than we give them credit for.

Unfortunatley for me, I've yet to find any consistency with a "small change" for any more than 9 holes. Of course, I'm mental so......
 
choppstixxx said:
Anytime I hit my 3W off the deck I'll choke down a 0.5" or so, def. allows for better contact. With me if I get too quick I'll put a nasty fade on it, but if I have a nice relaxed smooth swing it's only a minor cut or dead straight.
Click to expand...
Yep same here. I've been pondering just having my 3w cut down for that reason.
 
I used to have a bad slice. There are a lot of things that can make you swing across the ball. I made a few changes that helped as well. I closed my stance (moved my right foot back). I make a point of trying to stay square and not let that left shoulder fly out (for a RH). These helped me with the proper rotation to close the clubface. And the biggest one is tempo, slow it down.
 
Yea, slowing down, keeping head down and some other fundamentals are certainly necessary.

I just couldn't believe that choking up slightly and moving the ball more towards front of my stance seemingly has corrected my slice.

I'm no longer afraid of my woods!! :)

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Ha. Had a similar revelation today w/my driver. I too have been slicing my woods (hit only 4 of 14 drivable holes this week). Instead of positioning ball in line with my left heel, I moved it forward about 2 inches. Straight!

In time, I'll work on the swing mechanics so I don't have to use this "fix", but for now I'm enjoying the game more.
 
The most aggravating thing is that, for whatever reason, these golf epiphanies are fleeting...at least for me they are :)
 
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Update:

Went to range on Saturday, slice came back. Probably due to my swing...back was really bothering me.

Headed out in a few to try and get through 18.

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I actually moved my ball almost to the outside of my foot for my woods ... Forces me to move weight forward ... If and I say "IF" I keep my head down by looking at the ball, I get very good results ...
 
For the most part...was able to get the woods pretty straight. Had one snap left and one slice right...but happy with my woods for the round

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I started choking up on my driver as well. One big thing that helped me really tame my slice was my wrists on the backswing - I thought I was hinging up, when in reality I was severely cupping my wrists. Once I realized that my right wrist needed to hinge back instead of up, I was hitting with a clubface that was a lot closer to square.

Hitting straight off the tee can be a HUGE confidence booster, glad to hear you're straightening your driver out!
 
russtopher said:
I started choking up on my driver as well. One big thing that helped me really tame my slice was my wrists on the backswing - I thought I was hinging up, when in reality I was severely cupping my wrists. Once I realized that my right wrist needed to hinge back instead of up, I was hitting with a clubface that was a lot closer to square.

Hitting straight off the tee can be a HUGE confidence booster, glad to hear you're straightening your driver out!
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I caught myself doing this last year. It's a tough habit to get out of!
 
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