Re: Why do i slice my driver

Hi, all I know is what worked for me, as I had a horrific slice until I tried a piece of advice which was to concentrate on an in to out path through the ball, it only needs a few degrees off the straight and it cured me. It is worth a try, just experiment and see what works for you.
Cheers
Dennis

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Strengthen your grip......

Chessbum

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Definition: the target path is a line that extends from the target through your ball.
Definition: the clubhead path is direction that the clubhead is travelling at impact.

For a slice (any ball that curves to the right for RH golfer - includes fades) to occur the clubface must be open at impact compared to the clubhead path.

First determine your clubhead path. Get a buddy to stand directly behind your ball, in line with your target. Your buddy should be able to tell you the direction of your ball in the first 15-20 yards after impact (pick a spot on the ground along the target path).
If your buddy says (based on RH golfer): left then out-in, right then in-out, straight then your clubhead is travelling along the target path.

At this point determine if you want to live with your clubhead path. If it is too severe then you will probably need to work on straightening it out. As an added bonus, less energy/momentum will be used in creating sidespin as you straighten your clubhead path to the target path, which results in greater distance (1 degree off straight results in about 1.2-1.7% of your swing speed being translated into side spin).

You know that your clubface is open at impact, but how much do you close it? Trial and error. As chessbum said "strengthen your grip".

Each type of clubhead path will have a unique clubface angle at impact to land at the target:
out-in path: clubface closed compared to the target path, but open compared to the clubhead path -- results in a fade to the target;
in-out path: clubface open compared to the target path, but closed compared to the clubhead path -- results in a draw to the target;
straight path: clubface square compared to the target path, and square compared to the clubhead path -- results in a straight ball flight to the target;

Hope this helps.

Re: Why do i slice my driver

I wouldnt want a different grip for different clubs...
the low loft on the driver will make any swing fault stand out, there isnt as much backspin to "cover" the sidespin.

work on your swing/setup with your driver,(assuming your grip is correct) maybe you are just playing the ball too far back in your stance?
Should be off left heel or just outside.

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Try this - when you get to the top of your backswing, think about returning your right elbow to your right hip to begin your downswing. This will ensure that you will approach the ball from the inside, and your slice should disappear.

Re: Why do i slice my driver

I'm in the exact same position as you. Great irons but terrible Driving.

I also have a Deep Red II driver and its terrible for keeping straight....i really stuggle with it...i have strengthed grips, turned clubface, all kinds of stuff with it. But slowly im finally getting it evened out. Don't be afraid to try new things with it as this will help find your personal solution.

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Hey J-man,

To be honest, i was having that prob not to long ago. Myself i moved the ball a little farther back in my stance, and lossened my grip and things have gotten 80% better.

Good Luck,

Tim

Re: Why do i slice my driver

I'm a noob and I had a slice so severe that if I could hit the ball long enough it would have made a complete circle to come back and hit me in the head. That's OK. It's not a vital area. I've almost got it licked. The thing is you can't hit a wood like an iron. You swing down on the ball with an iron striking and pinching it between the club head and mother earth. You need to sweep the ball with the woods. When you line up your hands should be out past your chin and you should be bent over a little more than with an iron. When you take away the club keep a lower angle into the back swing than you would with the iron and sweep through the ball not down through the ball and it should square. Another thing is the grip. I'm a lefty so I will refer to the hands as the upper and lower. Grip the upper hand as usual. Turn your grip with your lower hand clockwise until you can see you fingertips. This is called a strong grip and it also helps to square the impact. Take note of the position of your forearms when you line up and when you swing make sure they come back to that position at impact. Do not turn them trying to help lift the ball or it will slice. It's true what they say! You got to trust the club brotha! I'm a noob and not an instructor. I'm just telling what worked for me.

...also...if you have hybrids...swing them like irons.
This is just the opinion of Arc! Ha!

Re: Why do i slice my driver

definately turn your left hand over a bit to make your grip stronger. At address make sure shoulders are not open. Your club will follow wherever your shoulders are aimed. Try the cobra f speed or a taylor made draw bias driver- both should have at least 10.5 degrees. good luck

Re: Why do i slice my driver

There should not be a problem with the Big Red per se. It could be the shaft flex or the loft. As another poster said, if your swing is off, a higher degree of loft would help, as the driver will show the swing faults more than the shorter and more lofted clubs. But this is compensation, whereas the problem is likely in the swing itself, path and clubface angle.

This is a very simple test. In the driveway, backyard, or range, take your address position. Stand your golf bag about 3 feet back (away from your right side for a righty) and on your extended toe line. Take your normal backswing, and take it to the top, slowly and measured. Pause at the top and bring your normal downswing to impact and through. You can also stick an old shaft or rods in the ground on your swing plane angle, but even a vertical prop will give you the sensory message.

This is what you may see. You may be surprised.

Your normal backswing may hit the bag, meaning that it is whipping too much to the inside, which could cause a reactive over the top steep downswing. It may be too far outside the bar which, unless you compensate with a loop to the inside, it will be a steep DS. If you are close to the bag, it's a fair indication you're in good position.

The kicker though is the DS relation to the bag. Long ago, I used to have a reverse pivot, because I was trying so hard to make a full shoulder turn and getting my hands high. This was in concert with other problems I was creating. Anyways, when I did this test, I could not believe how difficult it was to come down close past the golf bag with my normal swing. I was way outside. It was like a light went on in my head. So, I tried to see what it took to make the DS graze the bag or even come down on the inside of the bag. I had to get behind the ball with my upper body on the BS. I had to start the DS with my legs and hips. I had to keep the shoulders from opening up and the back shoulder from diving at the ball. And so on. I did slow measured swings with the prop in place, until I got the feeling. I later used the shaft in the ground at the range and practiced full shots.

I think this was the moment my swing made the key breakthrough.

Ted

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Ted, do you have a link to a video or illustration of the drill you described?

Re: Why do i slice my driver

yukon,

I don't have a picture or video to show this specific drill, but here's something to give you a start in picturing the setup.



In this video, in place of the plane board, stand the golf bag (empty of clubs) or other similar height item to provide a visual obstruction, along the line of your toes, about 3-4 feet towards the camera (you'll have to play with the distance depending on what club you're using). Alternatively, stick a shaft, umbrella, or any rod into the ground to match the setup and angle of the plane board, at the same distance away. Actually, a golf stand bag is ideal, because it has a angle to replicate the plane board.

Remember to take the swings very slowly through the stages, until you see what's going on with your normal swing.

At the hip high position of the backswing and downswing as shown in the video, the shaft of the club is in contact with the plane board. Similarly, with your chosen props, you should be grazing the top of the golf bag, or following the plane of the planted shaft.

I like the big physical presence of the vertical golf bag, which I know will be crashed into if I screwed up.

So, back to my description. On the backswing, one of the scenarios is if you tend to take the club too much to the inside, you will crash into the golf bag or the planted shaft. A worse scenario in my description is, after you have managed to clear the golf bag or stayed in contact with the angled shaft in your backswing and taken the club to the top, if you have an over the top downswing, you will miss the golf bag or lose contact with the angled shaft by a good margin.

When I found I was coming over the top, I worked on overemphasing an inside to out to inside downswing. For example, using the golf bag prop, I made sure I cleared the top of the golf bag on my backswing to the top, and
when I started down, I dropped the club into a shallower plane to go to the inside of the bag. Initially, when I started to pick up the speed of this drill, I kept crashing into the bag. I slowed it down to feel the moves I had to make to accomplish the inside swing, and gradually built the speed up.

I believe that slicers will be amazed to do this drill, and see and feel (like in feeling the unsettling crashing of the club into the props) the faults.

I hope this video helps your visualization.

Ted

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Sorry to belabor this, but I received private messages with questions, so I'll try to clarify this further.

The reason for the golf bag or planted shaft is they are much simpler props than building a plane board. I also believe these physical obstructions help you.

The first thing is to realize what your backswing and downswing are doing, and this drill will show what your mind may not realize. Without seeing this for myself, I did not know, or was absorbed into thinking my swing was OK. But if so, why were the results barely acceptable, and why was the game so difficult. Most people believe they are doing everything right. I found it was an eye-opener for me.

As I said earlier, I found my problems were too steep a BS (so in this drill, I never contacted the golf bag), and then an over the top DS (so in this drill, I was way out from touching the golf bag).

The opposite problems from mine are disclosed by this drill. If you hit midway up the bag on the BS, you are whipping it too flat and too much to the inside, the same effect as if you were applying pressure against the plane board and not lightly sliding your club shaft up the plane board as you should be doing. This could cause an over the top DS as well.

Once I found out my BS problem, I used the props to over exaggerate a flatter BS, taking the BS more on plane (which meant for me turning my shoulders behind the ball, instead of lifting my arms and going into a reverse pivot. I would slowly practice taking the club back to barely glance off the top of the bag, while continuing to the top.

As I said previously, on the DS I worked on dropping the club to miss the golf bag in a exaggerated inside swing. This made me realize what I had to do to accomplish that, such as lower body first, tuck in the rear elbow, etc.

So I worked on this daily, outdoors and indoors, even without the props or a club. These over exaggerations are to make you change your faults in this drill, and can be tempered down to groove your eventual playing swing. But you have to do this to eradicate years of playing and practicing, and grooving the faulty swing.

Ted

Re: Why do i slice my driver

Hi there
I'm new around here and I too slice the ball with the driver. My fault is to have my hands ahead of the ball at impact (thus an open club face). Try to put your hands, head and ball all in a straight line at impact. When I try to do this I find I don't slice at all. Ask someone to video your swing with a mobile phone and see where your hands are at impact. If you look at any pro in action you'll see what I mean. Hope it helps. V. Lopes.