Any good cues to help a slice?

Danielceee

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Hey there, I have been having some issues with slicing my driver. I know a few of the things I'm doing wrong but having some trouble fixing it. I have a heavy out to in swing, I have trouble turning the club over (not sure if I should be, as I do with my irons), and I come over the top. Any good cues to remind me to feel?
 
Bookmarked. Been struggling myself lately.
 
It would be easier with video to see what's wrong with the swing and what's causing the out to in swing. It could be takeaway or your transition. Could be setup.
 
I also will be tuned to this thread. My slice goes at least 60 yards to my right after traveling at least 80 to 100 yards straight out..
At time I try and close the head or aim left and sometimes the ball decides to go that way putting me now into the left side out of bound situations, very frustrating!
 
In general, you need to start your downswing with your lower body. There is a thread in the swing tips section about coming from the inside.
 
No video needed. You have the classic OTT, upper body swing with a death grip. You can do one of two things.

1. Play it and aim left, swing hard, stay behind the ball. Get used to playing from the right side of the fairway or right rough.

2. Close your stance. Right foot off the line, hips and shoulder on your intended target line. Make sure the club travels back slight inside on the take away. And start the down swing with the left hip pulling away from the ball. The hip move will drop
the club to the inside, provided you don't start the down swing by swinging the arms
 
I would hate to ever play something like this lol, I know I'm supposed to be dropping the club and I guess its just trying to feel it. It will help my game tremendously. Ill take some video tomorrow at the range. Thanks
 
For a right-handed player, a slice spin is angled right...clockwise when viewed from the top. Hit your driver with the idea in mind to spin it in the opposite direction. You already know how to do this with a cue ball, bowling ball, wiffle ball, tennis ball, ping-pong ball, etc...Put it to work in your golf game. You will overdo it, at first, but you will get the hang of it with practice.
 
No video needed. You have the classic OTT, upper body swing with a death grip. You can do one of two things.

1. Play it and aim left, swing hard, stay behind the ball. Get used to playing from the right side of the fairway or right rough.

2. Close your stance. Right foot off the line, hips and shoulder on your intended target line. Make sure the club travels back slight inside on the take away. And start the down swing with the left hip pulling away from the ball. The hip move will drop
the club to the inside, provided you don't start the down swing by swinging the arms

This is very good advice. When it comes to a slice this works for many players. For some this works. For others they still find they tend to throw the trail shoulder and arms out at the beginning of the swing. Here's an alternative that works well and accomplishes the same thing.

Put a shaft in the ground about 4-5 feet behind the ball on the target line, angled at about 30 degrees in line over the ball. Now take swings making sure the club goes under the shaft. This forces you to keep your trail shoulder and hands inside rather than throwing them out toward the ball at the start of your swing. You will not want to hit the shaft!

Many people also find these focuses helpful.

Make sure you set up with your hands and arms straight down from your shoulders. Focus on getting the hands back to that low position on the downswing. Your back arm (right arm for right handers) should make a motion similar to the skipping a stone, the arm coming under and extending down the target line. This keeps your trail shoulder back without thinking about it. Assuming you coiled on the backswing, keeping your hands in MUST produce an inside out path to the ball.

Two things can screw this up. A really steep backswing. That is a swing that basically goes up and down in front of you rather than around your spine. (Fix obvious.) Keeping your weight on your back foot. This will cause the club to bottom out well behind the ball. (Again, if this happens you need to focus next on getting your weight to your front foot.)

Hope you find one of these approaches gets you curving the ball the other way.
 
I had a slice and went to get a lesson. Basically what i got told was
-when i grip the club in my top hand make sure it's in my fingers and not palm
- bottom hand when i look down at address I should be able to see my first two knuckles (start with seeing one and build up to getting that hand around)
- take the club back straight like you are passing it to a person behind you
- at the top of your swing if you let your wrists go limp the club should basically drop over your back shoulder

now this was obviously to help my problems, yours might come from other things but this really helped me
 
Go have a lesson with a pro - they can see what you are doing, talk you through it and show you the exact things you need to do. Just my opinion, but watching and reading things on the internet is never a good way to fix a swing issue

If people are so determined to fix a problem, why don't they go have a lesson?
 
Go have a lesson with a pro - they can see what you are doing, talk you through it and show you the exact things you need to do. Just my opinion, but watching and reading things on the internet is never a good way to fix a swing issue

If people are so determined to fix a problem, why don't they go have a lesson?

I agree lessons are the way. But not everyone has that luxury. They turn to the numerous online coaches or THP. Have you seen how many people are fixed from this forum? I think there is pretty good track record of fixed games from the Swing Fix forum.
 
I agree lessons are the way. But not everyone has that luxury. They turn to the numerous online coaches or THP. Have you seen how many people are fixed from this forum? I think there is pretty good track record of fixed games from the Swing Fix forum.

Each to their own, but I was just going off memory when a thread about lessons and excuses people gave for not having them previously came up
As for the swing fix forum, I don't go in there as I have no interest in reading about how to fix this that or the other, I will listen to what my pro says and work on it with him so that I get instant feedback on whether or not I am doing something correctly

A lesson for me costs slightly more than it would cost a visitor to play a round at my home course, but considerably less than what it would cost me at a lot of other courses and a fraction of the cost of new clubs so it is a no-brainer to pay for a lesson over a round of golf or new clubs

The OP asked a question, I gave my opinion on it. If the OP decides to ask your opinion then good luck to him with fixing the problem but it would not be my choice
 
Check out youtube videos from Tony Luczak and Mike Malaska. They both argue that the "arms first" swing isn't the problem for over the toppers, but that it's turning the shoulders that's actually the problem.

Tony is doing a lot of research using EMG monitoring to determine what muscles are activated and when in the swing of better golfers and what swing thoughts most easily recreate that in someone that is learning the game. His findings support the idea of swinging with the arms, but like Leftshot said above, in sort of a side armed motion like throwing a ball through impact or hitting through the ball with your right hand. He thinks, and has evidence to back it up, that the swing should be more natural (like throwing a baseball). You don't think about twisting or turning your body or hips when you throw a ball - you just think about throwing the ball and the body reacts naturally.

Both instructors think a lot of the swing tips out there technically describe what people are seeing in good swings, but are automatic as part of a process. Thinking about swinging with your body, or turning your hips, etc. could be detrimental for you - but are certainly worth trying because everyone is different.
 
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Mr. Kong aka Gentle Panda is a wise and smart man! I've still got to get a chipping lesson from him the next time I see him. Book it Panda!! #SD17

I'll add one thing to what Tadashi said since I've dealt with this issue ever since I went away from playing a draw many many many many many year back. When I really start to lose it right I find myself getting into too much of a sway on the downswing. My head and body seem to want to move forward, past the ball as my hips turn out. Club head gets stuck and left behind thus leaving the face way open and the rest is history. My fix, let the hips go but concentrate on them turning instead of swaying forward. Stay behind the ball (head) and it usually starts to straighten the ball flight.

Good luck Daniel!
 
Any good cues to help a slice?

I had a lesson yesterday. I'd gotten a little lazy with my downswing. It was starting with my arms. Slight OTT move.
We tried a few different swing thoughts. What stuck was when the pro stood to my left (RH) and at the top of my backswing he put his hand on top of the clubhead. He then had me start my downswing feeling the resistance of the club. He then had me keep this feeling for my practice for the next hour.
It worked really well. It gave me a great lower body shift and hip turn to begin the downswing.
The key will be matching this with proper club face control. Path and face will cure your slice.
You're going to get many tips on here for what has worked for guys. The key is finding what works for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mr. Kong aka Gentle Panda is a wise and smart man! I've still got to get a chipping lesson from him the next time I see him. Book it Panda!! #SD17

I'll add one thing to what Tadashi said since I've dealt with this issue ever since I went away from playing a draw many many many many many year back. When I really start to lose it right I find myself getting into too much of a sway on the downswing. My head and body seem to want to move forward, past the ball as my hips turn out. Club head gets stuck and left behind thus leaving the face way open and the rest is history. My fix, let the hips go but concentrate on them turning instead of swaying forward. Stay behind the ball (head) and it usually starts to straighten the ball flight.

Good luck Daniel!

Nate I've wanted you to ask me for chipping advice for years. I want to help at Bandon but it wasn't the place. I got you buddy!!

----------

To the OP, there is more than one way to skin a cat. But there are basic standards in the golf swing. Difference methodologies come and go. If your arms are moving opposite of your body, your going to have issues. The key to any good golf movement is moving parts in one direction with good timing.
 
If you get a chance, watch the golf fix with Michael breed from Monday, the one where he's at the PGA show. He goes over a drill for an over the top move and it's basically this: your first move in the downswing should be either dropping your trail shoulder or raising your lead shoulder. I LOVE that drill. Helps me in my driver and woods, one of my favorite swing thoughts to get my draw going.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is very good advice. When it comes to a slice this works for many players. For some this works. For others they still find they tend to throw the trail shoulder and arms out at the beginning of the swing. Here's an alternative that works well and accomplishes the same thing.

Put a shaft in the ground about 4-5 feet behind the ball on the target line, angled at about 30 degrees in line over the ball. Now take swings making sure the club goes under the shaft. This forces you to keep your trail shoulder and hands inside rather than throwing them out toward the ball at the start of your swing. You will not want to hit the shaft!

Many people also find these focuses helpful.

Make sure you set up with your hands and arms straight down from your shoulders. Focus on getting the hands back to that low position on the downswing. Your back arm (right arm for right handers) should make a motion similar to the skipping a stone, the arm coming under and extending down the target line. This keeps your trail shoulder back without thinking about it. Assuming you coiled on the backswing, keeping your hands in MUST produce an inside out path to the ball.

Two things can screw this up. A really steep backswing. That is a swing that basically goes up and down in front of you rather than around your spine. (Fix obvious.) Keeping your weight on your back foot. This will cause the club to bottom out well behind the ball. (Again, if this happens you need to focus next on getting your weight to your front foot.)

Hope you find one of these approaches gets you curving the ball the other way.


The shaft idea was my next attempt. Should I be inside the shaft on the back swing as well?
 
Go have a lesson with a pro - they can see what you are doing, talk you through it and show you the exact things you need to do. Just my opinion, but watching and reading things on the internet is never a good way to fix a swing issue

If people are so determined to fix a problem, why don't they go have a lesson?

I went for one a few weeks ago but it was mainly to get my iron shots more consistent. My driver slice wasn't too bad at the time, Id say in the last 3 weeks when I have been trying to get more distance on the driver did it start. I will be scheduling a lesson next week for sure. Thanks
 
Mr. Kong aka Gentle Panda is a wise and smart man! I've still got to get a chipping lesson from him the next time I see him. Book it Panda!! #SD17

I'll add one thing to what Tadashi said since I've dealt with this issue ever since I went away from playing a draw many many many many many year back. When I really start to lose it right I find myself getting into too much of a sway on the downswing. My head and body seem to want to move forward, past the ball as my hips turn out. Club head gets stuck and left behind thus leaving the face way open and the rest is history. My fix, let the hips go but concentrate on them turning instead of swaying forward. Stay behind the ball (head) and it usually starts to straighten the ball flight.

Good luck Daniel!

Thanks a lot Nate!
 
Nate I've wanted you to ask me for chipping advice for years. I want to help at Bandon but it wasn't the place. I got you buddy!!

----------

To the OP, there is more than one way to skin a cat. But there are basic standards in the golf swing. Difference methodologies come and go. If your arms are moving opposite of your body, your going to have issues. The key to any good golf movement is moving parts in one direction with good timing.

Hopefully we get some time on the range at the Kickoff Classic. I feel that i'm close with having my game be very steady and just need a few small fixes to get me on my way.
 
Hey there, I have been having some issues with slicing my driver. I know a few of the things I'm doing wrong but having some trouble fixing it. I have a heavy out to in swing, I have trouble turning the club over (not sure if I should be, as I do with my irons), and I come over the top. Any good cues to remind me to feel?
At my handicap-always struggling. Been trying to stick with one adjustment at a time. The two that seem to help are slightly closing my stance and "thinking" of a slightly flatter swing plane (forces me to start with my hips and drop my back shoulder). It produces a fade bias and I play from the left side of the course (I'm left handed) but it isn't a brutal slice, as often LOL I "feel" like I was starting it to high, like a wedge. Thats bad for my fat old body type
 
It is hard to tell exactly what you are doing. However, maintaining your spin angle and not swaying forward is a good place to start. Do you draw or fade your irons? Are you rushing your swing and leaving the face open? If you have access to a place where you can record your swing and look at it I would take advantage of it. The best suggestion any of us can give you is that you need to go take a lesson. Generally, the problems you experience with your driver are magnified problems you have in your swing. Good luck!
 
easiest tip I got to get rid of my initial slice was to over exaggerate the fix. A really strong grip, right hand basically under the club. And swinging heavily inside out, batting to right field as some say.

Once you feel the opposite of the slice, you'll know how to cure it.
 
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