The sliced shot for a right handed golfer results in the ball starting to the left of the intended target line, and arcing back to the right side of the target.
The result is an incredibly frustrating loss of accuracy and distance.
To curb a sliced golf shot, there are three very important parts to the equation.
The first is your set up. In an attempt to self-cure a slice, the brain will often subconsciously aim its player further and further to the left of the target.
Unawares, this causes more of a slice than a fix.
Be sure to check that your club face, feet and shoulders are aimed square to your target. To practice this on the range, place two clubs on the ground, allowing both the feet and club face to remain square to the target.
Once your set up is square, you can begin the next phase of curing your slice. You must get the ball to start on your target line, rather than to the left.
This is often the trickiest part of curing the slice. There are a number of swing thoughts, and hundreds of gadgets on the market to help with this fix.
Ultimately, the path of your golf club is most likely making an out-to-in swing path, causing the ball to start to the left of the target. To get the ball starting on your target line, you need to feel like the path of your club is making an in-to-out swing path.
Try hitting the inside of the ball.
Place the stripe of a range ball on the inside portion of the ball, where you want to hit it, and hit several balls where you’re feeling like you are hitting that inside part of the ball, and your arms are swinging to the right. This is often the hardest part of curing the slice, because your brain is trying to guard against hitting to the right side in the first place!
Once you are able to get the ball started at your target line (and not to the left), you are ready to tackle the third and final piece to curing the slice, getting your club face square to the target line.
Because you have probably been hitting a slice for a long time, you have been compensating by leaving the club face open while the path is swinging to the left.
You must now wake up your hands, and let your club face release. For some players, this means allowing the arms and hands to naturally roll over, which lets the club face release and square up through impact.
The result is the golf ball starting on your intended target line, and continuing in a straight ball flight, or even with a slight draw, something that will give any slicer plenty of reason to celebrate!
In the end, curing the slice is no easy task. Most players have faced this plague, and all can agree that this is not an overnight cure. You must be willing to commit to practicing hard, and never give up!
Jennifer teaches golf to adults and juniors at the Chilliwack Golf Academy. She played professionally on tour for over 10 years, including 2 years on the LPGA. She was also named the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Tour Low Teaching Pro of the Year. She can be contacted at 604-798-9805, or at Jennifer@chilliwackgolf.com