Driver Slice

[Orangeslicer]

Hi all,

 

I am new to golf this year but have been fighting a slice with a driver on my tee shots. I know my swing path goes out to in with over the top swing which makes the slice even worse. Can you please critique my swing or recommend any drills I can practice to minimize the slice?

 

Thanks!

[harolease]

Instead of alignment square maybe try closed alignment and forcing the swing path more inside to out with less steep downswing.  Easier to say but it will feel very different and make you want to turn the ball right to left. 
Collin Morikawa has this drill where puts a alignment stick 12 feet in front of him vertically and he tries to draw or fade around the stick. 

[Dan_Woden]

Best thing for beginners to do is to learn to feel what straight hits are actually  like. Do gentle half swings initially and just have fun hitting balls in ALL directions (without changing your stance alignment) including extreme left and extreme rightwards - but with good contact (straight) not with slice. Then slowly build the length and speed back as you get more comfortable.. Don't be afraid to experiment with different grips also.

 

(When you reach full speed, draw your rear foot back slightly to help facilitate the upward strike).

[Cm105202]

From the top you are throwing your arms way outside and causing the over the top action. From the top think about keeping your right elbow close to the body. It will take some time to get used to and don't expect to close the whole gap right away. Make incremental improvements. Good Luck!

[Orangeslicer]

Thanks guys for the tips! I will try them out at the driving range today and keep practicing.

[DavidH88]

Hi @Orangeslicer Welcome to the game of golf and you have a good looking swing and Driver in the bag for that matter ^_^ . The backswing looks great. Now what I have found so helpful are videos by Shawn Clements on Youtube and believe me his teachings are so easy to understand and they work. I gained a instant 10 yards with all my clubs and never hit my driver so well. Give him a go and best of luck in your golf adventure ?

 

this may help. Good Golf and keep practicing. Golf is a game that can last a lifetime and most importantly have fun ^_^

 

[Orangeslicer]

Hi @DavidH88 thank you for the feedback! I am starting to love the sport of golf because it's been the hardest sport I ever played and I enjoy the challenge. I have been working on flattening my backswing and trying to hit the ball inside out (feels awkward at the moment). I will study the video and keep practicing and hopefully eliminate my slice for good. I did shoot my personal record of 98 and feel I'm slowly improving ?

[danthegolfer]

Not bad for a beginner. As you start your downswing, work on getting the feeling of letting your hands 'drop' rather than slide to the outside. Try to wait to extend your hands/arms until your are deeper into the downswing. 

[Orangeslicer]

Thanks for the tip @danthegolfer. I will keep this in mind this week when I practice!

[GMac-ATX]

Hi youre off to a good start. That over the top move is something to try to work out. I struggled with this for years and then had a drill that changed my game: 

 

This will really help you to get that club coming from the inside on the downswing. Its my go to drill when Im struggling. Best of luck!

[Orangeslicer]

Thank you @GMac-ATX. I hope this drill can fix my swing as well!!

[nsxguy]

On 8/28/2020 at 10:53 PM, Orangeslicer said:

Hi all,

 

I am new to golf this year but have been fighting a slice with a driver on my tee shots. I know my swing path goes out to in with over the top swing which makes the slice even worse. Can you please critique my swing or recommend any drills I can practice to minimize the slice?

 

Thanks!

 

Just stumbled on this. Really good actions for a beginner !!!

 

Some good advice already.

 

When I was taking lessons they concentrated on the swing plane. Get the swing plane right and you'll seldom make any really poor swings.

 

About half way back, a straight line from the head of your driver extending through the butt and past the ball is pointing OUTSIDE the ball - it should be pointing directly AT it. That's "on plane"

 

Pictures sometimes distort actual angles. It looks like you're lined up a bit closed as a line drawn along your toes appears to be pointing to the right of the parallel lines on the mat.

 

Just before you complete the backswing your club appears to be pointing right down the line but as you move just a little bit more to get TO the actual top it now appears to be pointing to the right of your toe line. The OTT move from this position seems a bit unusual because most players that are "across the line" drop the club (too far ?) INSIDE and hit blocks or draws or hooks, not slices.

 

AT the top your right elbow appears to be too far away from your body and your left wrist isn't quite flat. It is very possible that if you get your right elbow closer to your body your left wrist will flatten along with that. In any case, closing the gap of your elbow/body relationship should help your position at the top and prepare you better for coming down on plane.

 

Coming down we can see your hands and arms getting too far away from your body, the shaft getting way too vertical, and the club head path coming clearly over the top. If you keep that right elbow closer to your body that should help with dropping the club down from the inside. Also, halfway down the club head should mimic the halfway up in that the club should again be pointing directly AT the ball. Too far outside is OTT and too far inside the ball will be hitting too far(?) from the inside.

 

What might be helpful is to visualize a clock on the ball and/or place a tee about 3-5 inches in front of you ball and a little to the right. For the clock visual, 12 o'clock is your target line, 6 o'clock is opposite that pointing directly behind you. Try to visualize hitting ball at 6:30 or 7 o'clock. If you've place the tee in front of the ball that's another visual to hit the ball at 6:30-7 AND keep the club going towards the tee.

 

You're off to a good start. If there's a good teaching pro near you you might want to consider lessons.

 

Good luck.

 

 

[Orangeslicer]

Wow @nsxguy thank you so much for analyzing my swing. I will definitely need to fix my swing plane and keep that elbow in. I need to digest your advice and hopefully see some improvements. I will also be taking lessons!

[Valtiel]

Some good advice in here already, and @nsxguy's points are spot on. 

The only thing I would add is that it is important to understand the order of events that ultimately leads to all this. If you were to focus solely on what your hands/arms/elbows are doing then you'll run the risk of missing the important part of the foundation here, which is what your legs and hips are doing, or more accurately what they are NOT doing. 

A downswing that is triggered by the arms, like what you're doing above, will almost always lead to this type of OTT move. In focusing on getting on plane, you need to make sure you set yourself up correctly for that, and that will involve completely inverting the order in which you are transitioning from the top. This means beginning your downsing by driving the lower body instead of throwing the hands out in front of you. As @danthegolfer said above, this will help you "drop" your hands instead of throwing them out like you're doing, and your OTT move is extreme enough that this will likely feel VERY weird at first. This is always a great video to use as a reference for this because of how good Rory's positions are:
 

Pay close attention to the order of movement that starts at 0:35 and notice how passive the hands are compared to the hips which are actively rotating and firing. By the time he reaches impact, his belt buckle is basically facing the target whereas yours has only just passed the ball.

You don't want to feel like you're forcing yourself into the sorts of positions the folks in this thread have described, you want to be moving your body in a way that allows them to more naturally happen, and that involves the correct sequence of loading and unloading the lower body as the primary driving force of the swing which makes room for the hands and arms to fall down and go along for the ride. You don't necessarily want to attempt to mimic everything Rory is doing of course, but he is a great template for looking at both positions throughout the swing and the order in which it should be firing. 

Best of luck, and please report back with your progress!

Edited September 17, 2020 by Valtiel

[Orangeslicer]

Thank you @Valtiel for the great advice! I appreciate your feedback and Rory's beautiful swing. I have been trying to drive the lower body and drop my hands. I must agree it feels very weird but I feel like I have improved since working on my swing instead of just hitting ball after ball OTT.