golfrewind.com

I've recently come to appreciate the whole "fire the wrists" concept, and I do believe that this is a major help to a slice problem. But there is another little tip that I have found that I have not seen in any magazine/book/video/etc.

Most resources tell you that on the backswing, bring the club up to parallel to the ground and have your left palm perpendicular to the ground (as if shaking someones hand to the right of you, a la Harvey Pennick).

But this is incorrect, you need to rotate your hands so that your left palm is parallel to your spine, and perpendicular to how the shaft was at setup.

THis is part of the whole 1 piece or 2 piece takaway concepts, but you never really hear a lot about the details of those.

Just remember to have your right thumb "point the way" on the backswing to follow a path that is perpendicular to your spine so that you are bringing the club back at the same angle your hips are bent at.

Otherwise, you'll have your left palm perpendicular to the ground, and your right thumb is pointing straight up to the sky. This leads to a too steep backswing, and then when you bring it back down, you will ALWAYS come too far outside the ball on the downswing (result: slice).

So the little tip(s) are: 1) rotate wrists when you initiate the backswing so that 2) the right thumb is pointing in the same direction as the shaft was at setup (perpendicular to your spine). You'll end up with more of a horizontal swing, and come in-to-out more.

I spent 30 minutes hitting slice after slice today, because I forgot about this while trying to remember 100 other new swing improvements, fortunately, I hit my last 10 shots with the driver using this tip and every one of them went directly straight.

Can you post a pic of what you are saying?

I like to feel the rotation at impact is controlled by the arms not the hands. I like passive yet firm hands through impact. Maybe we are saying the same thing just using different words.

At the point during the beginning of the backswing, there is a moment where the shaft is pointing away from the target, parallel to the target line.

Many instruction sources I've found don't tell you to rotate the hands by this point. The palm of the left hand is parallel to the ground, when it really should be rotated so that it is on a plane parallel to the line between your eye and the ball. This should be 10-30 degrees rotating your right thumb from the 12 o'clock position (on top of your hand, pointing straight up) to about 2 o'clock (pointing to the sky behind your right shoulder).

This thumb should be leading the way to where your left arm is going to the top of your backswing.

If you leave the thumb pointing directly up, then the arm is going to go on the backswing up, and not really back. Which then leads to you to come out-to-in on the downswing.

if you just release the club properly the wrists automatically fire, lots of people dont actually make conscious efforts to fire the wrists... but those who do hit a long long way

I took a lesson with an instructor who preached a strong release, focusing on rotation of the forearms...the hands were passive and he had me hitting crazy distances in a relatively short time...but again, the hands were passive and really just utilized to hold the club as the "fire" came from body rotation and rolling of the forearms...

can some one re explain the "fire the wrists" thesis?! i missed that class....

When it comes to curing a slice the biggest problem I see is hitting from the top which usually starts with poor shoulder motion. Right shoulder stays high and starts out and over. If you can feel as though you are keeping your back to the target when you start down and let the right shoulder drop as the club drops it's impossible to come across the ball..if you really accomplish that move.

Take a roll of paper towels and wrap it in duck tap. Place the roll behind the ball just far enough that the club head will hit it if you come over the top. Start with a 9 iron and practise hitting balls until you can miss the towels. Move down in clubs until you can hit your driver that way. You will have to move the towels slightly with each club change.

The only thought that will keep you from knocking the snot out of the towels is keeping your back to the target as the hands and right shoulder drop.

^^ yep, and alot of slicers do not release the club, i remember when i had my slice, i was in the perfect position all throughout the swing, and that inside approach thing didnt work for me.. a pro took a look at me and told me i was holding on to it, ever since i've released the club, ive hit all draws, so im on the correct plane now and hitting it longer then ever