Slice question..

[Jrock909]

Guys I don't know if you could help me on this topic, but I am sure one of you guys will try and help me get my swing back.... I have been hitting the ball straight here lately and all of sudden I am push slicing, goes around 200 straight out and then 80 yards to the right and I keep hitting the ball off of the heel tried to correct my swing flaw at the range and that didn't help at all. Starting to get really frustrated, my buddy of mine is outdriving me and it's really starting to bug me now. By the way my grip is a strong grip with both of the V's pointing to my right shoulder ;(


HELP!!!

[Mcdougle]

Re: Slice question..

Have a look at this site,

http://www.golfinternationalmag.co.u...r/longgame.htm

[golfonenemesis]

Re: Slice question..

Check your grip, alignment, and wrist hinge. Chances are good that you have something creeping into one of these fundamentals.
Grip: move your right hand further to the right so knuckles are facing the ground.
Alignment: make sure you are not setting up with shoulders open; at address make sure your right side is lower than the left so you are easily taking the club back inside and lower then bringing it into the downswing sweeping from low to high on an ascending path.
Wrist Hinge: take your time on the backswing to allow the hands to do their job; as a pro used to tell me, enjoy your backswing. Don't rush the downswing, take your time and allow everything you have coiled to uncoil.
Also, remember Harvey Penick; someone asked him what to do about his slice and he said, "aim further left."
Seriously, you need to get on top of the problem by fixing it now before it gets worse, which is most certainly will without interventions.

[Jimboy1960]

Re: Slice question..

Try at the range: standing upright and closer to the ball. Put a paper cup with the bottom cut out down your shaft. Backswing your club so the cup rests on your hands. Then swing club down so that paper cup hits club head at the point of meeting the ball.
Worked for me.

[Jrock909]

Re: Slice question..

I will definitely give that a try....

[golfonenemesis]

Re: Slice question..

See my post please

[Matt10]

Re: Slice question..

I'll give my quick tip - actually David Leadbetter's.
Before today, 7PM EST, on my driving range, I was a push slicer. Now there's nothing but straight.

It all has to do with the setup.

1. address the ball, club face first. Your head must be stll for the entire time.

2. Tilt shoulders, so left shoulder is higher than right and don't be too worried if it looks weird.

3. Move your hands to the back of the club - basically put a backwards press ( as apposed to a forward press for irons )

4. Something that helps me, move the club (maintain the forward press) a couple of inches behind the ball - this ensures that you will the ball on the upswing.

5. FOCUS on keeping on your lower body completely still, especially on your right side, keep that right foot from sliding. You want to turn around it, not with it.

6. Push your left shoulder to start the backswing, keep a wide arc.

7. Perform a complete shoulder turn when club is parallel to ground. Back must face the target for more power.

8. With the torque you have built up, just let go and follow through, keep your head still. Focus on trying to hit your back with the club. But let the club do the work, not your arms.

9. Watch the ball go straight!

I just tried this today and hit 20/20 ball straight for at least 250 yards carry. I hit the 250 sign a couple of times so I know that's right. The mechanics may not be ideal, but a great drill the Leadbetter mentioned, was basically just go find a slope and try hitting your driver off of that, that's basically the setup you want to be in. The key part is keeping your hands behind the club with the forward press. My problem shots came when I didn't follow through or I tried to move my body too much into it, resulting in some seriously skyed shots - that went rather far and straight, but much too high.

[Jrock909]

Re: Slice question..

Matt I am little confused on what you are saying, but I think I get the gist of what you are trying to tell me on that backward press... You use a backward press the whole time through the swing right, you aren't forwarding pressing anytime of the swing are you? I might have to give that a try to.... So I should try and keep that backward press at least 12 inches of the takeaway to?

Thanks

[Matt10]

Re: Slice question..

J, let me know what you're confused about. Actually, I plan on taking somes screenshots from the video by Leadbetter.

Correct about the forward press, it's basically everything is behind the ball and as long as you make sure the club goes on an upswing, the ball should shoot out and not sky like some of mine did when I forgot about the backwards press. After you setup with the backward press, everything is pretty normal, pushing the left shoulder makes sure everything goes straight back.

Like I said i'll post the screenshots here in a few.

[Jrock909]

Re: Slice question..

Matt,

Please do.... I am definitely going to try and do what you suggested to do... I actually tried it out in my kitchen and wow did it feel good coming down at the imaginary ball I was looking at on the floor. It just feels like I am hitting the ball on the upswing. How long do I need to keep that backward press for, all the to parallel with the waist on the backswing?

L8er

[Jrock909]

Re: Slice question..

Here is a tee shot of me blasting the ball on the green:

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/9...teeshot2qs.jpg

[Matt10]

Re: Slice question..

J, I'm glad that it feels good. Feels better when you hit the ball on the upswing with that driver. As for the backwards press, I only apply it on the setup. When the backswing begins, focus on keeping a one-piece takeaway, basically if you focus on pushing your left shoulder back - you'll be in good shape, so dont' worry too much about the backward press on other than the setup.

Here are some screenshots:

Driver Set-Up

• Note the forward press. The hands are behind the ball and slightly behind the club.
• Weight distribution, according to Leadbetter, is 60/40; 60 being on the right and 40 on the left. If you have trouble, just focus on putting more weight on the inside right leg rather than the left.
• Make sure, during the backswing, keep the lower body still, you do not want to sway out and away on the shot.

Upslope Drill

• This is the upslope drill that maintains that "awkawrd" ( at least for me) setup. If your shots tend to mess up with the previous screenshot, try to put more emphasis on shoulder tilt, forward press and even ball position. I did plenty of trial and error to obtain straighter shots.

Iron Set-Up

• Basically, doing the complete opposite of the setup - is the driver's swing. That mentality helped me out quite a bit to achieve the new results.

Upswing Arc

• This is how the swing should be, practice on trying to achieve this arc for most of the time. If you get those slices again, figure out where the ball didn't get hit on the upswing.
• Make sure to follow through, Leadbetter says to try to hit your back with the club. Don't stop as soon as you hit it, just swing through.
• To focus on hitting through, for iron shots, I focus on the front of the ball the entire time. For drives I've been focusing on the back.

Keep in mind that I'm not a pro or anything, heck I've only played this game for a couple of months, but I love this game and am absolutely thrilled that I have figured out how to straighten out my drives. Just four days ago I was in the rough off of almost every drive. I hated having to adjust my setup to aim FARRR left and wait for my push-slice to kick in. The feeling of hitting the ball straight is incredible on its own, if you maintain a smooth rhythm and tempo THROUGH the ball, there really isn't any room for error. I sure hope this helps, but remember that I'm in no ways an expert - I'm just like everyone on this board (some exceptions) and I too had threads started asking for help.

take care and let me know how it goes.

[Jrock909]

Re: Slice question..

Matt can I do this with my Nike CPR Hybrid club off the short grass? That method you are showing me is basically how to sweep the ball off of the tee and basicallly you want to hit your fairway woods the same way pretty much right. I bet you were slicing the ball just like I am now, the ball would go 200 yards straight and then 50 yards right pretty much. So you are telling me that just doing this causing you to straighten out your drives now? If that is so that is crazy, but I will definitely give that a try. So you don't take the club back with that backward press? If this knowledge fixes my problem I will be happier than all get up.

Thanks for the info Matt....

[Jrock909]

Re: Slice question..

Matt, how long did it take you to start hitting the ball straight after using this approach.... I keep asking about that backward press because I was wondering how long you keep that position when you are going back on the backswing just seems weird at first. By putting the hands in a backward press like you are saying are you ensuring yourself that you will hit the ball on the upswing of the club?

Thanks

[scooter]

Re: Slice question..

I think you are tring to hit the ball with 100% Your bud is out driving you and you are ripping at the ball. Slow down and hit at about 80%. i have this to when compete with two of my friends. slow take away and slow start to the swing and let the club do the work. Try to stay behind the ball as long as you can.