How to Cure Your Slice the Wrong Way

How to Cure Your Slice the Wrong Way

By Bob E. Jones

If I read another magazine article on how to cure your slice, I'll scream. They give you advice that you don't really know what it means, and if you finally figure it out, it's so complicated, how would you know if you're doing it all correctly?

This is an example of what a typical article says. It's taken from a magazine that you can buy at your local newsstand. To cure your slice, you should:

• Have a balanced address
• Tilt away from the ball before takeaway
• Swing underneath your shoulders
• Flatten your wrist at the top
• Keep your head behind the ball
• Square your shoulders
• Extend your arms

See how easy it is? Why would anyone keep slicing if the cure is this simple? Now I don't disagree with any of those points, but as a slice cure, it's all way too complicated, too bound up in technique. That's the wrong way to go.

Let's do it the right way. First of all, there is one and only one reason why you slice. Your clubface is open to the club path at impact. You're swinging toward 9 o'clock and your clubface is aimed at 10 o'clock.

There are varieties of slices. The ball can start left then curve right. It can start straight and curve right. It can start right and curve farther right. The curve is the error, and if you can fix that, odds are you'll fix the ball's initial direction, too.

To cure your slice the right way, let's start with one thing at a time. The grip is first.

You've heard about strong grips, weak grips, counting knuckles, pointing the Vs, everything except which grip is natural for you. Let's find it.

Put a club in front of you, clubhead resting on the ground, and grab the club with your left hand. Just swing your hand over and grab it. Now swing your right hand over and grab your left hand, like you're trying to strangle the club. Which you wish you could do sometimes. Now slide your right hand straight down so it, too, is holding the club and as you do, turn your stranglehold into a golf grip.

What you've done is oriented your hands and arms in a way that conforms to their natural shape and alignment to each other. This is where your hands go. Don't imitate Joe Pro. His grip is for him only. This grip is for you.

Why is this important? If your hands are not oriented in this natural way, they will want to return to it during your swing. That returns the clubface to the ball at a different angle than it had at address. Hello, slice.

Try hitting some balls with this new grip. It could be all you need to do. If not, let's move on.

Check one thing in your setup. The alignment of your swing follows the alignment of your shoulders. Many recreational golfers align their shoulders to the left of the target. This can cause you to cut across the ball, sending it... well, you know where.

Address the ball and then stand upright. Relax your shoulders so they are parallel to your target line. Then bend over from your hips so your shoulders stay parallel. That's correct, and if it feels different, then practice this alignment until it becomes your habit.

The last place to look for why your clubface opens up is in your swing. Address the ball and swing back, stopping halfway up. Leave your hands where they are in space and turn around so they are in front of you again. Lower the clubhead to the ground without turning your hands. If it isn't as square as it was at address, you've found where you're getting it out of square. Now you just have to practice swinging through this area in such a way the the clubface stays square.

Keep going through your swing until you find that place where the clubface opens, and with a little thought, the reason and cure should become apparent to you.

If you have followed these steps, you slice will have vanished, and you haven't gotten your head filled up with pointless technique. Good golf is simple. Don't let anybody tell you different.

Bob Jones is dedicated to showing recreational golfers the little things, that anyone can install in their swing and game, that make a big difference in how they play. See more at http://www.bettergolfbook.com.

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