WATCH: Get a friend to help you with this simple drill to fix your slice
All sorts of things can cause a sliced shot off the tee or anywhere else on the course, but it is often overlooked that the problem can have its root in a bad setup.
Using a rod or putter shaft, a friend or coach can help you correct your setup.
This is great for players who set up with their trail arm sticking out and causes a knock-on effect of problems.
Some players insist they don’t need to work too much on a slice, feeling they can correct it by aiming to the left as a right-hander and to the right for left-handers.
However, a slice is caused by a glancing blow and is a weaker, less controlled shot than a flush strike with the driver.
Less ball speed will also leave your ball to be tossed and blown by wind, and you will find that the slice creates uncontrollable changes in shot height.
Courses with obstacles in a slicer’s danger zone are the blight of these players.
Check out the video below for setup tips.
So why do you need to fix your slice? Giving away distance, especially off the tee, makes the game that much more difficult, and with so many simple solutions available, this is a problem that is correctable.
A slice is a quick way to kill your scorecard in quick time and it can also be incredibly expensive with balls lost out of bounds and in the water adding up over time.
At impact, an open clubface in relation to the swing path causes a slice.
There are degrees to this, which means that the ball will slice more or less depending on how open the clubface is to the swing path.
A clubface that is 3 degrees open to your swing path at contact produces a passable, repeatable fade. If you arrive at impact with your club 6 degrees open, you will slice.
If, on the other hand, you hit your golf ball with a closed clubface in proportion to your swing path, the outcome will be a draw or a hook, depending on how close you strike the clubface.
Where your clubface is directed is the most important aspect in determining where your golf ball goes. We’ve previously established that when you slice, it’s open to your path at impact.
The focus of your set-up should be ensuring you are able to address the ball with the full face of your driver.
Grip and setup are huge in determining a slice, but both can be worked on at any time.
There is now little reason to keep slicing the ball.