26
Dec '11
Eliminate your slice, hit more fairways
By Andrew Dawes, SwingFix instructor
If you want to make more birdies when you play golf, that process starts by hitting more fairways.
And there are two very important ways to hit more solid and straighter drives if you struggle with a slice.All too often poor drives are a result of an angle of attack that is too steep. This means the club is still traveling downward at the point of impact.
Remember, your driver does not have a lot of loft and to get the maximum distance and direction out of your drives they have to be launched at the optimum angle. Ideally, they need to be struck with a level or slightly upward blow.
To fix this problem, try tilting your spine away from the target slightly. Do this by holding the club upside down centered to your body and tilt away from the target until the shaft is in line with your forward knee.
During your backswing try to maintain that angle and hit the ball with a sweeping blow while clearing your body and maintaining the same spine position. This action will get the ball struck solidly up into the air resulting in longer, straighter drives.
Hitting the ball straight and solid is also a result of the club swinging toward the ball on the proper arc with the face square. This can be illustrated by swinging the club near the base of a wall.
Slicers have a tendency to swing “over the top” or from outside the target line to inside the target line.
Try standing close to a wall and placing a mat at the base of that wall. Set the club head down on the mat with the toe of the club against the wall. Try to swing the club on an arc that does not strike the wall.
This exercise should give you the visualization that the club swings on a tilted arc on the inside of the wall at all times. It never crosses the target line and only travels on it for a very short period of time.
To fix the out-to-in swing path on the range you will want to feel the club swinging from the inside of the wall and down the line of the wall as the clubhead closes.
Remember to do this somewhere safe because the first swing you make might have an everlasting impression on your swing, and/or the garage wall!
Good luck and for more great swing tips and personalized golf swing analysis, contact Andrew Dawes at SwingFix.com.