golfrewind.com

I have a problem with a huge slice. I will aim way to the left and the ball will with the driver, start left, and end up way right. Also on my irons I notice the divot will be facing 30 degrees to the left, but my shot will go 30 feet right of the hole.

Just looking for some help to fix this problem.

Thanks

brent

The first thing I would check is your grip. It may be too weak for your swing. Take your grip and look at the v's formed by your thumbs and forefingers. Make sure they point more toward your right shoulder and not at your nose. The next thing you can do is to change your stance to a little closed to the target. Set up and pull your right foot back just a little. Use a club or two on the ground to make sure you're lining up correctly, maybe even have a friend stand behind you. Make sure your clubface is square to the target and then just swing around your body. The idea is to start swinging from the inside and not come over the top causing an out to in swing. BTW, no matter how you appoach the ball, if the clubface is open it is going to go right, either as a slice or as a push, so you've also got to learn how to square up the clubface at impact. Doing what I suggested may help you some but I would really suggest getting some help from a PGA Pro. He/she can look at your swing and see things that we cannot see here. Plus they have much more knowledge of the swing than most of us. Best of luck to you.
Jerry

I would possibly debate the grip, I am encouraged to have the V's pointing at my chin.... But if you are any worse than this, yes it could be a problem.

I would certainly agree about the aim. If you have a reasonable golf ability, chances are you will correct depending on setup etc. Setting up left will encourage you to come across from the top and hold the hands off.... which encourages your slice.... not what you want. So setup correctly and work from there. If you start with the fundamentals wrong, it makes matters so much tougher.

Thanks for the advice.

When you say weak grip, does this mean I am gripping the club to loosely?

Also on my drive, does how far the ball is up towards my front foot have any affect? I try to put it right on the inside of my left big toe.

Thanks again.

brent

thinking2 means by weak grip as not enough knuckles showing on the left hand. when you grip the club, you shoulg see two to three knuckles showing. a medium loose grip is good. what's happening is that the club head is going from right to left, but the face is open.that why on your irons, the divot is going left, but ball goes right. do as thinking2 and buns said at the range, if that doesn't help, do the jim furyk swing by taking the club straight back from the ball, when you get to top of the swing, let the club drop down so that it comes from the inside. practice this without a ball first. this is only to get you to feel what it's like to come from the inside. it will seem like your going to hit the ball to the right, but you won't. another tip to help you square the club face is to let your left arm slow down a little so that your right hand flips over top of it right before you hit the ball. ball placement: irons in the middle of stance , driver towards left foot.

brent,
Something else you can do on the practice tee that will help you stop coming from out to in is to place something like a plastic range ball basket or cardboard box a couple of inches outside and to the rear of your ball. If you hit the box you're coming out to in but if you miss it you are coming from inside. After hitting the box a few times you should start to compensate to keep from hitting it and this will cause you to come to the ball from inside. The swing trainer "Inside Approach" is designed to perform this same thing but you don't need it. Just use what I suggested. As to buns' statement debating my suggestion for your grip he may be right or wrong, just as I may be. We are all different and what works for one may not for another. I still say if you are a slicer that your grip needs to be stronger, not tighter, but having the v's of your thumbs and forefingers pointing more toward your right shoulder. You can experiment with this until you find what suits you. As you become more proficient in releasing the clubhead, then I would agree with buns' statement and you may need to slowly adjust your grip again. Good luck.
Jerry

Hey all,

Thanks for your help so far. So the main thing I get is the grip. I tried to take some pictures with my webcam, some with glove and some without. I hope I can get some feedback on whats wrong. Thanks!!

(Top View)


(bottom view)


(rear view, i had to move out the way)


(side view)


(straight on view)




I was thinking that there may be some problem with where i place my left hand palm. Right now the bottom right part of my palm wraps around the bottom of the club. (rear view)


In this picture I put the bottom right part on the top part of the club as seen here. Which one do you think is more correct, I think this may be the main problem. (rear view)

can you get us any pictures of you swinging the club like your setup from the front, a picture of you at the top of the backswing might help.

The grip certainly isnt too weak....

Dude, while your grip may contribute to your slice (yours looks OK from what I can see), your problem is an outside to inside swing path. The club head travels from right to left at impact imparting a clockwise spin on the ball, causing the curve to the right. This is why your divots point left. Golf is a game of opposties.

You need to work on getting your swing path coming more from an inside line. I know all about this because it took me a long time to fix the same problem, and it's probably the most common fault in golf.

Try aiming for a point on the ball not quite on the back of the ball, but slightly on the inside (your side), as if you're intentionally going to smack it right of the target.

Make sure your shoulders are square at adress, not open, or pointing left. Part of the problem is that the more you fight the slice, the more you open your shoulders (or point them left) and the more your swing path goes outside in.

Think of your clubhead coming towards the ball on a slight arc, inside to out. (you're standing on the inside curve of that arc).

Make sure you don't pull the club to the left after impact, easy to do when your trying to fight a slice, but this'll only make it worse. Try actually setting up your normal stance at the range and intentionally hitting the ball right. You'll feel the difference.

And of course, always maitain good posture. And if all these drills turn your slice into a shank, get back to me, I've been there too!

Photo #5, from face on, is the most telling. IMO your grip is way too weak for a slicer. Try turning your hands clockwise on the grip in increments and see if that begins to help. When you get them to a point where the slicing is minimized or stopped, keep your hands where they are at that point. And, as most of us have said, keep working hard on your swing path. As you begin to learn how to come into the ball from inside then you will probably need to make subltle changes to your grip in the other direction to keep from hooking the ball. But, as I said earlier, I think a good PGA pro could be of great value to you in learning to do these things. We don't know what your swing looks like. Your swing plane could be too upright, too flat (I doubt this one, but could be), you may be swinging too far back on the backswing or not far enough, and lots of other things that somebody needs to be able to see in order to help you properly. Do yourself a favor and go for a lesson. Best of luck.
Jerry

Photo 5 may not be all that strong on the left hand, but it is most definitely not weak on the right.

The most important thing to consider is the swing path and the reason you are outside to inside is because you are setting up that way. Setup straight and practice a bit (and dont just come across it from the top with your shoulders). I wouldnt honestly recommend changing the grip until you know what happens when you swing with correct alignment.

Thanks all for your advice, i will let you know next time I go to the range what happens.

I've just started to slice after adjusting my grip to the "correct" grip. My problem is that my shoulders are not parallel/square to the target line upon impact with the ball since my lower body is leading too early. Along with all the recommendations above about obtaining an inside-out swing, try this trick. Try to point your left shoulder at the ball on your back swing while facing your back to your intended target (the hole); this action should help in ensuring that your shoulders are square at impact. I was surprised how it reduced my slice. I had a friend also try it since he was also slicing and voila! His slice went away on his drives. Try it, and let everyone know if this works for you.

The moment has arrived...

here is my cruddy swing, to be torn apart by the crowd

flame away

Constructive criticism only please!

Brent's Golf video

Thank you all!

Brent