Fixing a slice and the ball flight conundrum. When it comes to solving a problem such as a slice often the solutions are far easier than they first appear. Golf has an interesting way of making itself more complicated than it actually is. Conflicting information, millions of YouTube clips and magazine articles mean that understanding why your ball does what it does is often harder than it should be.

In my opinion to cure a slice there are only 2 pieces of information that you need to know:

The clubs’ path through impact in relation to the target is the main cause of a slice.
The face angle is secondary to the clubs path and therefore trying to practice releasing the club more in the downswing will do little to help.
So why do we know that fixing a slice can be as simple as adjusting the clubs path through impact?

The answer is modern day launch monitors; it was previously thought that those with slices needed to rotate the club more through impact to reduce the sidespin. However launch monitors showed that those who draw the ball regularly have a more open clubface than those that slice the ball.

Confused? Take a look at this image.

We have two scenarios here, both have the same face angle options 1) A closed face pointing left of target 2) A square face pointing at the target 3) An open face pointing right of the target.

On the left we have a red arrow showing a club path that moves to the left. This is the path of a typical slicer of the ball. In this scenario each one of the club face angles would give a ball flight that moves left to right in the air. So regardless of how hard you rotate your hands in the downswing even position 1) a closed face that points left of the target, will still move left to right in the air.

On the contrary the green path on the right will always produce a shot shape that moves from right to the left in the air regardless of the 3 face angles.

So we know that if you are a big slicer of the ball it doesn’t matter how much you manage to rotate your hands in the downswing if the path is moving left the ball flight will go to the right. Therefore what you need to do is to focus on creating a club path that moves to the right, like the green arrow rather than to the left like that of the red arrow.

This knowledge is all well and good but the next step is to go on to the range and practice.

Setup so that you are open to the range mat aiming 20 or 30 degrees left (for right handers) of where the mat is pointing.
In your downswing ensure that the path of the club follows the line of the mat and not where you are aiming.

After a few attempts you should see the ball straightening and then begin to hook. If you consistently hit hooks then you should reduce the amount you are aiming to the left, but remain swinging down the line of the mat. If you’re still slicing then you need to exaggerate the sensation of swinging right even more.

If you are unable to stop the slice then I would highly recommend some specific training drills designed to enable you to drop the club in the downswing and swing from in to out at impact. For more information please get in CONTACT and we can this discuss further.