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In my youth I had a very pronounced banana ball that I eventually learned to turn into a fade/slice. Then, I read a tip about curing the slice by visualizing a baseball field with the target as second base and trying to pull the ball over the shortstop's head. Amazing! I started hitting the ball straight routinely and added tons of distance. My driver became my biggest strength which was great because I didn't play a lot and mostly in scrambles. I was a scramble team's dream - hitting short irons to pitches into most greens.

Then, this year I joined a club and began playing more regularly. I also started getting out to the range at least once a week if not more. Since I felt my driver was my strength, I didn't practice it much. My iron play became much better, especially from 90-120 yards. Then, all of the sudden, my driver became erratic. I was hitting it all over, but mostly my old nemesis the slice had returned with a vengeance. Now, I had the iron game to complement my long driving, but couldn't keep the ball in play.

Last week, I bought my 14 year old son a set of clubs and took him to the range (he's had clubs before, but was more interested in baseball). He starts hitting the ball decently and then really starts tagging his driver pretty well. He was hitting it 200-240, fairly straight. I started watching his grip and noticed his thumb position. I compared it to mine and EUREKA!! I had allowed my thumb to slip to the right in an attempt to control the club for more power. I concentrated on getting my grip right with my thumb on top of the shaft and hit five straight drivers straight down the range about 275. I went to my "hidden gear" with the same grip and proceeded to rip two more even longer, but straight. Unbelievable. Cured by my 14 year old. I never knew your thumb was so important....

Ummm, it is but I think your thumb was in the right position before.

I don't think this will be a permenant fix for you.

So you were slicing, then moved your thumb from the right to the middle and stopped slicing?
You must have also changed your swing in the process, because you went from a stronger grip to a weaker grip, which should result in more slices, not less.

I have the feeling that Mistertripps is talking about his left thumb (right thumb if he's left handed) while Ringer and Mill4023 assumed it was the other way.

Actually, I assumed he was talking about his left thumb. Although I also assumed that the right thumb would adjust in the same way.

I'm pretty sure I got it.

If you're a righty and you try to set your right thumb even more to the right of the shaft.. that's darn near impossible and very unlikely.

But if your a righty, your left thumb SHOULD go slightly to the right of the shaft.

I explain why in this video..
YouTube - Golf Tips, Lessons, & Drills - Full Swing Grip

Interesting subject on where to position the thumb . High handicappers can improve their striking ability dramatically if they discover the correct position. To me it is quite simple, the left hand thumb should be placed to the right of centre and the right hand thumb to the left. The overall feeling must be one of comfort and control. If not the thumbs are in the wrong position. Get the grip right and most things should fall into place.

How about a show of hands of how many here DO NOT place the tumb of their lower hand (right hand for rightys) on the shaft when they grip the club. I have not for several years and if I DO, I slice the heck out of the ball. Mine just kind of sticks out to the left (downrange side) of the shaft. I don't remember when I stopped doing it, but to put it back on the shaft now just doesn't feel right. I use a modified overlap grip.

BTW, thumb of left hand is just like described here, just right of center of shaft.

BT

I definitely have both thumbs on the shaft. I don't have a club in my hand, but I can't imagine how I'd keep control of the club without my right thumb on the shaft.

As far as positioning, I really only have to think about my left hand (I'm a righty) because once my left hand is positioned, my right hand just naturally falls into place. I use an interlock grip, so maybe it's different for other grips. It does seem like with an overlap or baseball grip, you'd need to think more about how to position the right hand. With the interlock, as soon as I lock my fingers, the rest of my right hand just falls into place.

As far as slicing, it was moving my left thumb from the center to right of center that fixed my slice. My instructor said that with my left thumb down the center, I basically had a slice grip. The only reason I didn't slice all the time is because I snapped my wrists to try to compensate. When I first changed my grip, I was hitting a lot of hooks, but then I focused on swinging with the shoulders instead of the arms and hands and that got me to hitting straight fairly consistently.

My point was just that the normal result of changing from the thumb being right to the thumb being centered should cause a slice. I actually just started working on intentionally hitting draws and fades. And in addition to opening and closing the stance, I've had good success with slightly weakening or strengthening the grip. I now find it pretty easy to hit a fade by opening up and moving my left thumb to the center of the grip.

Actually, it was my right thumb I was talking about. I use an overlap grip. My left thumb is on top of the shaft. My right thumb was setting off on the right side of the shaft. I wasn't turning my hand for a stronger grip, just taking my thumb off the top of the shaft. The result was no rolling of the wrists. When I moved my thumb back on top of the shaft, it allowed my wrists to roll and square the club face at impact. No other changes in my swing.