Switched from strong to neutral grip and developed a slice!

[Follow The Sun]

 

[InTheRough]

So you're using a neutral grip. I went from a strong to neutral grip. You need to unlearn all the compensations you did when you used a strong grip. These things are very subtle.

In P2, or first parallel, is your club head parallel to your spine angle? Or is the face pointed upward?

If the clubface is pointed upward, that opens the club face and it will stay open throughout your swing. With your strong grip you probably rotated the clubface with your wrists during the takeaway so it would square and you wouldn't hook. Now that your grip is neutral that move is opening the clubface. What you need to do is work on keeping your wrists quiet and making sure your clubhead is parallel with your spine angle at the first parallel (shaft parallel to the ground).

Also if you are setting your wrists at P3 where your left arm is parallel to the ground, you might not want to do that anymore. A later wrist set, like at the transition point, especially with the driver will result in draws.

 

[rocullen]

I decided to swap from my strong grip to a more neutral grip because it was limiting the radial deviation of my wrist and forcing me to do a lot of extension. For one thing, I was losing power but it was also starting to ache a lot after playing.

With a more neutral grip, the swing feels quite a lot more natural and I can feel the club head ‘wiping’ with more speed which is satisfying when I strike it right BUT, I’ve suddenly developed a slight tendency to hit some brutal slices.

It feels almost like the club slips slightly in the downswing and ends up striking the ball way more open than it was in the address.

It only seems to happen when I do a full-swing with wrist hinge at end of the backswing. When I’m doing half swings for warmup or with my pitching wedge I don’t have the same issue. Straight as an arrow with good ball connection (this grip has dramatically improved my short-game, actually).

Any ideas what it could be? I feel like it’s either the plane or my swing (something I have previously struggled with, especially when moving through different clubs with different lengths) or that I am twisting my wrist and opening the club face when I unwind that wrist hinge that I add at the top of the backswing.


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That is why some folks say Hogan's book "5 Fundamentals" is a slicer recipe.
He said he made a PERSONAL adjustment...weakened his grip so he wouldn't hook.

BTW he also said that EVERYONE should not need this adjustment or at least not everyone.

 

[uitar99]

Since the grip change is only effecting the longer clubs, I might suggest moving the ball farther forward in your stance. Do this until you start hitting pull, or hooks. Then move the ball back a little in your stance until the hooks disappear.

Chances are if you are hitting your short game shots well, your swing is not that bad.

I use a nuetral grip on all my shots. Something I do, is at address, I square my driver/3W club face up behind the ball on my intended target line. I then move the club back to my swing starting position. This of course makes the club face look like it's a little open. This is fine for my swing.

I know others who start their driver swing from a slightly closed club face condition. Just the opposite of what I do. By the time our club heads reach the ball, the club face is square to our target line. We basically hit the same ball flights.

I'm in the neutral grip , face closed camp.

I just played around with the face at address until I found what worked for me. More closed for driver, less closed as I work through the bag

I thought I was square face to target. Until I started practicing slo motion swings indoors. no ball, one winter. Turns out, my swing style opened the face at contact point. I chose to change nothing else. Just start with face slightly closed , at least in my judgement, at address.

There is so much to tinker with in a golf swing. I find if I change more than one thing at a time, I am hooped.

 

[WLG1952]

I'm in the neutral grip , face closed camp.

I just played around with the face at address until I found what worked for me. More closed for driver, less closed as I work through the bag

I thought I was square face to target. Until I started practicing slo motion swings indoors. no ball, one winter. Turns out, my swing style opened the face at contact point. I chose to change nothing else. Just start with face slightly closed , at least in my judgement, at address.

There is so much to tinker with in a golf swing. I find if I change more than one thing at a time, I am hooped.

Yeah thats what my swing guru had me do. He was a firm believer that alot of times, the hands (grip) duri g the the down swing, didn't return to the exact same position they were at address.

He called it his "1/8" inch rule". 1/8" meaning you moved the club face, open, or closed an 1/8" at a time to find a squarer club face at impact..

 

[Follow The Sun]

It's been my experience the smallest of small details on the Hogan grip make all the difference. The right hand will promote a slice if the right hand is turned ever so slightly toward the left ear for a RH golfer. The V must point to the middle of the chin at address. I like to see 2 knuckles on the left hand at address, too.

Now I don't hold myself out as an expert ... far far from it.... but I do not slice off the tee or the fairway....

And I believe the strong grip is the grip being taught to most golfers today ... perhaps I'm wrong ...

Good Golfing ...

 

[luckydutch]

Yeah thats what my swing guru had me do. He was a firm believer that alot of times, the hands (grip) duri g the the down swing, didn't return to the exact same position they were at address.

He called it his "1/8" inch rule". 1/8" meaning you moved the club face, open, or closed an 1/8" at a time to find a squarer club face at impact..

How do you avoid problems with the club face squaring at impact with the more neutral grip?

With a neutral grip, my wrist hinge naturally opens the club face so I find that if there is ‘lag’ in my swing where the wrists haven’t straightened out yet fully at the point of impact, the club face is basically open and I hit a slice.

With a stronger right hand grip, I find my natural wrist hinge is perfectly in line with the plane of the swing so even if the club head is lagging behind my swing by a split second, it is still square with the ball at impact.


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[WLG1952]

How do you avoid problems with the club face squaring at impact with the more neutral grip?

With a neutral grip, my wrist hinge naturally opens the club face so I find that if there is ‘lag’ in my swing where the wrists haven’t straightened out yet fully at the point of impact, the club face is basically open and I hit a slice.

With a stronger right hand grip, I find my natural wrist hinge is perfectly in line with the plane of the swing so even if the club head is lagging behind my swing by a split second, it is still square with the ball at impact.


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From some "old school" trial and error full swing instruction, I start my back swing with my club face closed to my target line a little.

The neutral grip will indeed open the club face a little on the down swing, but since it was closed a little to begin with, it's pretty close to square +/- at impact.

 

[razaar]

The correct concept is to hit down on the ball with a closed club face. It you are not doing this then you are most probably flipping (uncocking and recockiing the wrists through impact). We are taught to flip when coming to the game because it is easier to learn and to teach. However if you want to play competitive golf you will need to learn how to use the wrists, arms and shoulders to do this.

 

[uitar99]

How do you avoid problems with the club face squaring at impact with the more neutral grip?

With a neutral grip, my wrist hinge naturally opens the club face so I find that if there is ‘lag’ in my swing where the wrists haven’t straightened out yet fully at the point of impact, the club face is basically open and I hit a slice.

With a stronger right hand grip, I find my natural wrist hinge is perfectly in line with the plane of the swing so even if the club head is lagging behind my swing by a split second, it is still square with the ball at impact.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That slo motion practice, no ball, will show you what position your club face is at impact. Put a quarter on the floor to use as the target. I did that. It showed me how open I was at impact. So, I started with the club face closed by that amount. Not changing my grip, just starting with the face closed that little bit.

The other benefit of the slo motion practice , for me, was I discovered where the bottom of my swing was. I had the ball to far forward in my stance for all my clubs. I was chunking it a little. But that's something I worked on separately.

 

[Arlo]

I decided to swap from my strong grip to a more neutral grip because it was limiting the radial deviation of my wrist and forcing me to do a lot of extension. For one thing, I was losing power but it was also starting to ache a lot after playing.

With a more neutral grip, the swing feels quite a lot more natural and I can feel the club head ‘wiping’ with more speed which is satisfying when I strike it right BUT, I’ve suddenly developed a slight tendency to hit some brutal slices.

It feels almost like the club slips slightly in the downswing and ends up striking the ball way more open than it was in the address.

It only seems to happen when I do a full-swing with wrist hinge at end of the backswing. When I’m doing half swings for warmup or with my pitching wedge I don’t have the same issue. Straight as an arrow with good ball connection (this grip has dramatically improved my short-game, actually).

Any ideas what it could be? I feel like it’s either the plane or my swing (something I have previously struggled with, especially when moving through different clubs with different lengths) or that I am twisting my wrist and opening the club face when I unwind that wrist hinge that I add at the top of the backswing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In order to correct a problem with ball flight, it helps to know exactly what causes the ball flight your trying to stop.
Open clubface at impact relative to target will put slice spin on the ball.
If ball starts left of target line, then clubhead path was from out to inside.
If ball starts right of target line, and slices more right, then clubhead path was from in to out with open clubface.

For a quick fix to remove the slice spin, take your normal grip then release grip pressure and turn club CC. Close grip with face closed slightly . Now swing normal. Correcting path will depend on where ball starts: left, right or straight

 

[uitar99]

Hey Lucky, how are you making out with the slice? Found something that works for you?

I'm no expert (18, creeping into the 17's) but I found that learning what "your" swing does to club face and ball flight is the path to lower score and less frustration.

I started slicing so I just turned right more (I'm a lefty) to compensate. Didn't fix the slice.

For most of us hackers we have to work with what we got. I find simple set up changes make big changes to ball flight without "retooling" a swing to make me look like someone else's idea of a proper swing.