Slicing

Golf Tips Classic: Slice No More

Editor’s Note: In this timeless lesson, PGA teaching professional Jeff Ritter offers a fail-safe roadmap for finally realizing the most sought-after words in golf: Slice No More.

1. Align & Visualize

To draw the ball,the first thing you need to have is the right image. Begin by setting your sights on a spot to the right of your target. This is your starting line. Now, imagine your ball beginning on that line (illustrated in white, above) and curving left, back to the target. Visualizing your shot will send valuable information to your muscles and help turn that image into a reality.

When setting up for a hook, it’s a good idea to close your stance a touch, as well. (Note how my left foot is slightly closer to the ball than my right.)

How To Stop Your Slice Forever

Even as technology has pushed golf equipment to the physical limits of ballflight correction and control, the slice remains the average player’s Waterloo. It’s an insidious condition resulting from certain swing flaws that, through the decades, haven’t changed. Do certain things, especially in the downswing, and you’re guaranteed to produce that dreaded banana ball. In this extensive step-by-step lesson, PGA professional Dale Abraham — director of instruction at Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, during the winter months and an instructor in Telluride, Colorado, during the summer — shows how to rebuild your swing into a draw-producing machine from address through follow-through and stop your slice. Do these drills and say goodbye to half your golf course’s hazards … and hello to the fairway.

STOP YOUR SLICE BACKSWING

Starting your backswing the correct way and having it reach a position at the top that sets you up for a good downswing is an important part of striking the ball consistently. Most amateurs have backswings that are off plane and cause issue on the downswing and, most importantly, cause compensations at impact. Relying on timing to achieve a consistent impact position is nearly impossible when the ball is only on the clubface for approximately .004 seconds. Instead, make a motion that is easier to repeat and sets you up to achieve a more consistent impact position. Here’s how to do it:

Grip a club cross-handed (Photo 1) or with your left hand lower than your right (for a right handed golfer). Make backswings and feel how your right elbow folds, your left wrist stays flat and you have lots of angle in the back of your right wrist at the top of the backswing (Photo 2). Your right elbow should feel fairly low and close to your body, no more than 3 to 4 inches away from your rib cage. Your arms will swing to the natural height, plane and length that fits you. After making swing cross-handed, try to achieve the same position with your normal grip. This will be your desired backswing position.
Starting at your normal address position, take your right hand and grasp your left wrist. Your right palm should be facing up and toward the target, not down and toward you. (Photo 3) Make a backswing and feel the natural plane you swing the club and your left arm on (Photo 4). This is your desired backswing arm plane. Make this motion several times and then try to make the same motion with your normal grip.

3. You can also learn to swing it back on-plane with the following drill. Set up as if you are going to hit a normal shot. Keeping your normal set-up posture, bring the club up so that the butt end of the grip is touching your belly button and your arms are extended normally; you will grip the club just below the grip on the shaft. (Photo 5) While keeping the club in your belly button for the first few feet, make a backswing with the feeling of how your turn and your upper arms stay connected to your ribs/chest. As the club head approaches waist high, allow your wrists to hinge and right arm to fold as you continue to turn (Photo 6). Blend this motion in to one smooth back swing and you are on your way to setting up the draw downswing.

STOP YOUR SLICE FAKE TURN

Golfers are often astonished at their shoulder turns when they see their swings on video or in 3D. Making the proper shoulder turn with the correct spine angle gives the golf the necessary room to “drop” the club to the inside as they start their downswing. Without this room, golfers will inevitably “come over the top” and swing the club to the left of the target, thus causing the ball to slice. Here’s a drill to give you the feel of the proper shoulder turn on your backswing.

Without a club, get into a set up position as if you were going to hit a middle iron.
Place your hands on your hips and turn your head and body to your right to look at something directly behind you, allowing your left heel to lift slightly if flexibility dictates. (Photo 7)

3. Now, without turning your body back to its original position, just turn your head back so that you can see the ball. This new position is your desired shoulder turn and spine angle for your backswing. Your spine should be angled slightly away from the target and you should feel pressure from your right foot and leg pushing into the ground. (Photo 8)

4. If you feel restricted due to lack of flexibility, your right leg may straighten or your hips may sway to the right on the backswing. If this is the case, very common by the way, flare your right foot out 15-20 degrees to allow for more hip turn.

This position will help you make the desired downswing.

STOP YOUR SLICE CLUB FACE

On average, the clubface is responsible for about 80 percent of the initial starting direction of the ball, making it the single most important aspect of hitting the ball the correct direction. The path is responsible for the remaining 20 percent and most of the curvature of the shot (where you hit the ball on the clubface also affects the curvature). To be consistent we need to be able to get the club to impact in a predictable and repeatable manner. Most amateurs suffer from a poor clubface position at impact due to an improper grip. With the wrong grip, centrifugal force and inertia pull their shoulders, elbows and wrists into their natural alignment at impact and the clubface into an undesirable position. Trying to fight these forces and square the clubface causes all sorts of compensations and a swing that relies solely on timing. Again, the ball is on the clubface for .004 seconds. It’s just not possible to time something out that happens that quickly. Instead, get your grip on correctly and allow the forces generated in the swing to help square the face.

1. With a club in your right hand only, start by bending forward from the hips and letting your left arm hang in front of you. Your hand should be turning in somewhat depending on your build and posture. (Photo 9A) Keeping this hand position turned in, curl your fingers in slightly to form a channel for the club to sit in. Now, slip the grip of the club into the channel in your fingers (Photo 9B). This is your new left hand grip. You should see at least two to three knuckles on your left hand and maybe all four depending on your natural posture. The more rounded your back is — someone who sits in an office all day, travels a lot, has a long commute — will most likely have this type of posture and need his left hand grip to be turned more to the right on the club. Make sure the meaty pad of the left hand is over the top of the center of the grip.

2. Make sure the grip is in the fingers of the right hand (Photo 10A) and not in the palm (Photo 10B). The line formed by the right hand thumb and index finger should point to the right shoulder.

The thumbs and index fingers of both hands should feel as if you were creating a channel for a pool cue as if playing pool. (Photo 11)

Check your clubface position at the top of your backswing. At the top, the clubface should be parallel to your left forearm plane (Photo 12). If the face is hanging more toward the ground it is in an open position, and if it’s pointed toward the sky it is in a closed position. You can slice it from either position depending on how you turn the club over as you swing into impact.

3. Typically speaking, if your arms are relaxed and you don’t artificially manipulate the club, the correct grip should allow your arms to naturally turn over as you swing through impact. Make a couple of swings as if you are hitting a ball from a tee that is waist high (Photos 13A through F). Feel how your arms naturally turn over. This feel is what you want when making a normal swing.

4. Make swings with only your left hand on the club. Place your right hand behind your back or in your right pocket and then swing using only your left arm (Photo 14). Most of you will keep the clubface pointing to the sky after impact thus slicing the ball (Photo 15). If you rotate your left arm correctly, the clubface will point more toward the ground and behind you and your left elbow will fold and point down to the ground, not toward the sky. (Photo 16)

5. If you are still slicing the ball and leaving it to the right of the target, make a very short swing from waist high to waist high. On the follow through, when the club reaches waist high, stop the clubhead and see if you can make the club face point to the ground at this point (Photo 17). This encourages the feel of starting the rotation sooner in your downswing and over rotating it at a slower swing pace. When you add length and speed to the swing you will not be able to rotate it as much nor as soon.

STOP YOUR SLICE SWING PATH

To hit a true draw, a ball that starts to the right of the target and curves back to the target, one of the requirements is a club path that is directed to the right of the target or “inside-out” at impact. It’s important to understand that the ball curves away from the path, so to get a ball to curve to the left, we have to swing the club head to the right of the target. If you are swinging to the left or “over-the-top” you are going to continue to slice. Here are a few of my favorite drills to stop slicing by correcting your club path:

1. At Set-up: point your sternum on inch behind the ball. This set up position will help you make a better turn and help you swing the club more from the inside on the downswing. (Photo 18)

2. Take your driver and make swings where you try to make a divot that points 90 degrees to the right of your target. It’s ok if you hit the ground behind where the ball would be teed up. Just focus on what you need to do to make a divot that points as far to the right as possible. Don’t worry about your backswing either; if you feel as if you need to take the club back on the inside to make a divot that points right, that’s ok. (Photos 19 A-E) Once you have this feel and are allowing the club to turn over as described above, try to hit a ball with this type of club path. The golfers I’ve tested with this drill all swear that they are swinging way to the right of the target, but when measured with TrackMan or FlightScope the data shows that they are swinging ever so slightly to the right of the target. Remember, golf is the one sport where what you feel like you are doing and what is actually happening can be polar opposites. So, feel as if you are swinging 90 degrees to the right just so that you can get the club approaching the ball a few degrees from the inside.

3. Use pool noodles as illustrated to promote a draw swing path. Swing below the back pool noodle and above the front noodle. This promotes a swing direction and path that is to the right of the target. (Photos 20 A-C)

4. A typical slice starts the downswing by spinning his hips, throwing his hands out toward the ball and backing up with his weight. (Photo 21) I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen this move and how much power loss, inaccuracy and inconsistency this move causes. To transition correctly and to allow the club room to drop to the inside, there should be a lateral component to the downswing and then a rotary movement. Just as in tennis where you step and shift your weight to hit a forehand or in baseball where you step and then shift your lower body to throw or hit, we need the same type of shift with our lower bodies to create the room for our arms and club to drop into the “slot.” Practice shifting from the top of the backswing to the downswing where your pelvis shifts toward the target but your belt buckle remains pointing toward your right foot. As you shift in this manner, allow your arms to drop down to waist high so that now your hips and club shaft are pointed in the same direction, approximately 45 degrees to the right of the target. (Photo 22, with an alignment rod through my belt loops to show proper hip position). This shifting motion promotes the desired inside-out swing direction or rightward club path that will help you hit a draw. It may feel weird at first, but stick with it and see if you can overdo it to the point where you are hitting hooks. If you can hit a hook, you can turn up the speed to your swing and straighten out the ball flight.

Work on all of these positions and drills through the rest of the year and beyond, and you’ll leave that nasty slice behind. For good.

A.J. Bonar’s instructions on curing your slice.

10 Best Tips

Editor’s Note: Back in 2009, former Golf Tips editor Ryan Noll got together with renowned Southern California-based teaching pro A.J. Bonar, who has long been known for his unique approach to golf instruction. The 10 tips you’ll discover in the following pages will help shave strokes off your scorecard in places you might not have thought of. We hope you’ll find that it’s the perfect spring tune-up prescription to have more fun and think of the game in new ways. — Vic Williams

If you’ve ever received a lesson, or better yet, a series of lessons, it’s likely you’ve been told to do the same thing more than once. Golf instruction is often plagued with repetition, which, if you’re an astute student of the game, you’d know is a necessary directive for helping you improve. But it also can be a bit tedious to be told the same thing over and over. So instead of doing that, I’ve put together 10 of my favorite, lesser-known swing tips that will break you free from the monotony of typical golf instruction and help you not only lower you scores, but also have a whole lot more fun in the process. Turn the page and get started on improving your game, the atypical way.

1. HIT THE DRIVER FROM THE BUNKER

It’s not uncommon to see PGA Tour players occasionally hitting the driver off the fairway, but what would you say if I said it was possible to hit the driver from the bunker? You can!

Hitting a driver from the sand is actually doable, so long as you follow a few simple guidelines. First, the ball needs to be sitting up on a clean lie. Second, the sand should be on the firmer side. Third, it helps to have a slight uphill lie. And fourth, make sure there isn’t a big lip between the ball and the target.

If your shot passes those four variables, here’s what else you need to know. Play the ball as you normally would, with the ball positioned forward in your stance. As for your swing, try not to swing at 100 percent; instead swing as hard as you can without your feet sliding around. Finally, unlike your normal driver swing, which requires you to shift your weight forward, it’s okay to hang back a little and let the club swing out in front of you. Hitting it fat isn’t likely, mainly because the driver has such a flat, wide sole, making it easier to slide across and bounce off the sand instead of digging down into it.

Control A Slice And Embrace A Fade

Hitting a slice isn’t all bad. If you can minimize it, then control it, a slice is actually one of the most repeatable shots you can hit. A “fade,” which is also known as a slice that still finds the fairway, can produce a long drive that has just enough backspin to prevent the ball from rolling away from you and into the rough. Let’s take a look at how to control a slice —to turn it into a fade with a few simple steps.

CRISS-CROSSED

BELOW LEFT: If you’re crooked at the start, you’re likely to be crooked at impact, as well. In this photo, my lower body is aimed right (in an effort to prevent coming across the ball–or so I think), but my upper body is still way to the left. This setup position is typical of most slicers who tend to have a big, ballooning slice that starts right and slices even farther to the right. Also typical are reverse pivots caused by little room for the hips and lower body to rotate through impact with the ball.

TOO OPEN

BELOW RIGHT: The obvious slice fix is to aim farther to the left, right? Not so. If you’re a slicer, the more you aim to the left, the more pronounced your slice will be. As you can see here, my upper body and lower body are, in fact, aligned, but my clubface is still facing the fairway. This means I’m going to cut across the ball and make my slice bigger. Also, when you open up too much and don’t reposition the golf ball relative to your stance, the ball effectively moves back, making the slice even worse.

FIX YOUR ALIGNMENT

When all else fails, square up the ball in a parallel fashion with the toes aligned with the shoulders and the hips square at address. In the photo, I’m still aiming slightly to the left to accommodate a fade, but being in a squared position will lessen my fade and help me hit more consistent tee shots. With practice, I can get a better feel for picking the targets with which to align my body and allow the ball to fade gently away from it.

GREAT SLICERS

“You can talk to a fade, but a hook won’t listen,” says Lee Trevino, whose reliance on what he dubbed a “power fade” helped the Merry Mex win six majors, not to mention nearly 90 professional events. His fade was manipulated by a thorough rotation of his body–a necessary move, considering his stronger-than-normal grip. Other great players known for hitting fades include Fred Couples (who, like Trevino, also had a strong grip), Ben Hogan, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods, each of whom has used the controlled slice (fade) to win majors. Reason being, fades generally are easier to control because they roll back into the fairway and not away from it. Of note, Hogan spent years perfecting the fade in an attempt to literally block out half of every hole he played (the left side). What happened? He won nine majors and 64 PGA Tour events.

MOVE THE BALL FORWARD

If you struggle with slicing too much and want to reduce it to a fade, consider moving the ball farther forward in your stance. This will help you take advantage of a clubface that isn’t as open as it is earlier in the downswing; hence, it should slice less. Just remember, as you swing through the ball, allow your hands to release and let your ungloved hand cross over your gloved hand after you’ve made contact.

CLOSE IT, THEN GRIP IT

LEFT: A quick way to lessen a slice is to grip the club with a closed clubface. The key is to do this the right way by following these easy steps.
CENTER: Hold the grip with your ungloved hand and rotate the clubface a few degrees closed before you make your grip with the gloved hand.
RIGHT: Now that the face is closed, take your grip with both hands. Follow this sequence and avoid twisting the hands before you make your grip.

WRONG WAY

LEFT: Watch what happens here, and see if you’re guilty of it. In the above photo, I’ve made my normal grip with a squared clubface.
CENTER: While still holding the club, I’ve begun to close the face, effectively weakening my grip and changing my hand positions.
RIGHT: Now, my clubface is closed, but check out how weak my gloved hand is. I’m probably still going to slice, even with a closed clubface.

TO FADE OR NOT?

Play The Fade
If your natural ballflight is left to right, try not to feel as though you need to manipulate your ballflight on dogleg holes that curve the opposite direction (from right to left). Even if you miss the fairway slightly to the right, take your medicine and move on. Trying to force a draw when you’re a natural slicer is a recipe for disaster.

MAKE A FULL TURN TO THE LEFT

The last insight on hitting an effective fade is to remember that although the ball eventually will curve to the right, you still have to make an effort to rotate the body fully to the left. What does that mean? Well, if you look at the ghosted sequence, you can see that turning to the left also means turning down and to the left. If you don’t turn down, you’ll come over the top of the ball. But if you do swing down, the lower body will rotate while your arms and hands drop to create an outside-in swing path to produce the desired fade. If you master this fundamental, as well as the others in this article, that once-hated slice will turn into a go-to fade.

Derek Nannen, PGA, is the Director of Instruction at the Eagle Mountain Golf Academy in Fountain Hills, Ariz. For more information visit eaglemtn.com.

A.J. Bonar’s instructions on curing your slice.

Beat The Golf Slice With A Tennis Racket

When was the last time you hit a tennis ball with a racket? Whether it has been a while or you happen to play tennis regularly, I’m willing to bet you do a few things without even thinking about it that can help you beat the golf slice. I’ll bet you instinctively try and hit the ball over the net by hitting the ball with your elbow pointing down when the racket meets the ball. Now, if that’s hard to visualize, go ahead and grab a tube of tennis balls and a racket, then hit a few balls up and away from you as though you need to get the ball over the net. Try and hit the ball so it clears the net just barely. You don’t want to lob it way in the air.

For me, when I hit a forehand in tennis correctly, I don’t hit the ball with my right elbow flaring out or away from my body. If anything, my elbow is pointed down and close to my side, and I rotate my body through to add more power and control through the hit. Check out the pictures above to see what I mean.

How can this motion of a forehand in tennis be so helpful to you? Well, the overwhelming majority of golfers slice the golf ball to the right, losing distance and accuracy. Without having the knowledge of the proper adjustments needed to correct their slice, a golfer’s most common attempt to compensate for their slice is to bring their hands, arms and elbows well away from their body on the downswing and swing their clubpath too far to the left on the followthrough. This is commonly referred to as the “over the top move.” All this does is produce even bigger slices to the right and big pulls to the left, depending on the direction the clubface is pointed at impact.

Now back to our forehand in tennis. To transition this feel into your golf swing, as a drill, take your golf club in your right hand (right-handers) and hold it a little bit above the ground. Imagine a ball is coming at you, and hit a forehand! Let your instincts take over. Make several swings like this until you can really feel that forehand hit.

You’ll begin to notice that you’re keeping your right elbow close to your side and pointed down on the downswing and into impact. Remember, good tennis players hit the ball with their whole body, not just their arms, and they do it by rotating through the hit. Do the same in your golf swing, and let your instincts take over.

If you’re struggling with big slices and pulls to the left, try this drill the next time you practice, and think of every ball you hit as though you’re hitting a forehand in tennis. This will take your mind off your golf swing and, hopefully, help you hit better shots with improved mechanics.

Boyd Summerhays, PGA, is a former PGA Tour player and the Director of Instruction of the McDowell Mountain Learning Center at the McDowell Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. To contact Boyd or for more information, go to summerhaysgolf.com.

A.J. Bonar’s instructions on curing your slice.

Slice No More

Editor’s Note: This story was updated May 10, 2017

Hitting a big, weak slice is never any fun. Not only do they rarely travel very far, but they’re impossible to control, especially when there’s the slightest breeze or you’re playing in fast and firm conditions. It’s the number one bugaboo of most amateur players. And when they attempt to cure their slice, it often gets worse because they haven’t the proper know-how to manage the movement of the ball and start hitting straighter tee shots. In this article, I want to put an end to complicated, tedious anti-slice advice and help you get rid of that pesky banana ball once and for all. Read on, follow these easy tips, and slice no more!

Aim Straight!

One of the most common mistakes I see from amateurs who struggle with slicing is improper aim and alignment. The first and most important key to getting rid of a slice is to stop opening your stance (as you can see in the photo on the opposite page). Doing this will force a swing path that cuts across the ball from outside to inside the target line, adding more slice spin. The solution? Square your shoulders so they’re parallel to the target. As for your feet, they should be square, or even slightly closed (also opposite page) to encourage an inside-to-outside the target line path.

Why does aiming left cause you to slice? In most cases, it’s because many slicers think they’re aiming to the left, when in actuality they aren’t. When you set up and then open your stance, you’re actually moving the ball back in your stance. Also, when you do this, and you don’t close the clubface as well, you’re in position to hit an even bigger slice!

Get A Good Grip

When it comes to your grip, again, things may seem a bit counterintuitive. To help avoid slicing, the more you turn your hands to the right, the more inclined you’ll be to start hitting your shots straight, or even a little to the left. This is what’s sometimes referred to as a “strong grip.” But I think that’s a bit of a misnomer. I prefer to call it an “active grip,” since many think a strong grip means gripping the club firmly, with a lot of pressure. However, the firmer you grip it, the less your wrists will roll and close the face through impact, so don’t do that! Position your hands as you see here, and maintain a firm, but supple, grip pressure. Don’t tense up; instead, let the position of your hands do its job and get the hands more active during the swing. I’ll bet you see fewer slices right away.

Tilt Your Shoulders!

A great way to combat a slice is to swing the club on a path that swings from inside the target line to outside the target line. In other words, swing from in to out.

To do this, make an adjustment in your setup by tilting your shoulders away from the target. See how my right shoulder, and even my right hip is slightly lower than my left at address? This tilt will encourage my body to take the club back and to the inside. If I set up with my shoulders level to the ground, I’ll be more inclined to swing along or away from the target line, thus forcing me to swing from the outside in, causing me to swipe across the ball and impart a lot of slice spin.

Finally, once you get the tilt at address ready to go, hold it all the way through impact!

Avoid The Chicken Wing

We cover the chicken wing a lot in Golf Tips. And in case you’re wondering why, it’s because we instructors see a lot of them, especially with those who slice the golf ball. Just look at the clubface in the above photo. It’s wide open, facing to the right! Now, to stop the chicken wing, and to let the hands roll over through the hit, try using a credit card as I’m doing here. Slide it just below your left underarm and practice swinging without dropping it. This will force you to roll your hands and not lift your left elbow up and out of the proper position.

Split Your Hands

I love this drill for eliminating the slice. It’s also super simple. Just grab your driver as you normally would with your left hand, and with your right hand, grip all the way down past the grip and directly onto the golf shaft. Now, go ahead and make a few three-quarter swings. As you do this, because of the separation you have between your hands, you’ll really feel the clubhead turning over as you move your way through the downswing. This drill will effectively do its job of activating your hands so they release more effectively and help prevent hitting the ball with an open face.

Practice this drill often, and watch that slice start to disappear.

Also, as a bonus, this is a great drill for just about every club in the bag. Try it with your irons and wedges. It’s a great way to get loose before a round.

Face Down!

Getting rid of a slice sometimes requires you to not only think about the right positions of the body before you hit the ball, but also be aware of where you end up after you make contact. I like to encourage my students to imagine where the clubhead is after they make contact. And in this case, to really reduce or eliminate a slice, the clubface should be facing down toward the ground. In the photo on the opposite page, you can see I’ve done just that, with the clubface facing the ground. This is a great indicator of the proper hand rotation as well as body rotation through the shot.

The next time you find yourself struggling with a slice, concentrate on where the clubhead is after impact, not before impact. This will help you swing more freely and keep your hands rotating all the way through the shot. In the photo, notice the extension of my arms through the shot, and how they’re positioned directly in front of my chest. The more you can keep your arms and the club in front of your chest, the easier it is to rotate the hands and clubface and put an end to slicing the golf ball. Also if you can point the clubhead down after impact, as demonstrated here, you’ll put an end to sliced shots.

Follow these easy tips for curing a slice and I’ll bet, in no time, you’ll start hitting straighter and longer shots!

Longtime Golf Tips contributor Barry Goldstein is regarded as one of the country’s leading golf instructors. He currently teaches at Inverrary CC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as well as the Maine Golf & Tennis Academy in Belgrade, Maine. For more information, email him at drforgolf@aol.com.

A.J. Bonar’s instructions on curing your slice.

Why You Can’t…

One of the great things about the game of golf is that, on occasion, all of us, even the highest handicapper, will hit a shot like a pro. It might be a well-struck drive, hitting a par-5 in two or holing out a bunker shot. Whatever the case, once in a while, the stars align, and for a brief moment, we pull off a Tour-quality shot.

Having been around Tour pros for many years, I can tell you that one thing is certain, however: There are things they consistently do on the golf course that you and I can’t. That’s why they’re the game’s greatest.

And yet, of course, you’re an expert in your respective field. Whether you’re a doctor, a chef or a real estate agent, in your work, you’re a Tour pro. There are things you know that most of us don’t.

Like you, Tour pros are good at their jobs, and there are shots they hit that we can’t always pull off when we play. That’s reality. But let’s look at what they do well and try to learn from them so we can improve our games.

…hit it 300 yards on a rope consistently

To crush it, you must use all your power sources (correct wrist action, a controlled arm swing and a full body pivot) effectively.

Start your downswing by uncoiling your lower body first so your club swings around your body on plane. This will help you hit it in the center of the clubface and help you square the club at impact.

…control your distance with all clubs

Tour pros know not only how far they hit each of their clubs, but also the distance gaps between them. The key, though, is how they fill the gaps between each club: by adjusting the length and speed of their swings. This ability to dial in shots helps Tour players make tons of birdies.

To shrink your distance gaps, work on making half and three-quarter swings. You’ll find that the distances the ball travels and the trajectory you have with different-length swings will help you control your distances much better.

…spin the ball on command

When you see the pros hit the ball past the flag and then zip it back to the pin, it doesn’t happen because they got lucky.

Tour pros are great at making perfect contact with a descending blow into the ball, plus they use the right equipment. To spin your shots like a pro, use a soft-covered ball, keep your grooves sharp and make solid contact. Hitting into perfect turf on great greens doesn’t hurt either.

…curve the ball on command

If you want to move the ball from right to left, I suggest you strengthen your grip slightly at setup (see photograph at right). Turn both hands to the right a few degrees. The Vs created by your thumbs and forefingers should now be pointing toward your right shoulder. This stronger grip will encourage you to rotate your hands and wrists over through impact (see photograph at left), which will place a draw or hook spin on the ball and make it curve from right to left (for a right-handed player). If you’re a lefty, do the opposite.

To hit the ball from left to right, weaken your grip slightly. Turn both hands a few degrees to the left so that the Vs are pointing more toward your chin (see photo at left). This helps your hands and wrists hold off the club and keep the face open at impact (see photo at right). As a result, the ball will move from left to right. Make sure both hands match! For a slice, they both should rotate to your left; for a draw, they both should rotate to the right. This will help your hands and wrists work together.

…get out of trouble like Houdini

In the photo at left, you can see I’m stymied. Should I start the ball way left and slice it? Should I hit it over the tree? Can I fit it through the gap between the branches?


*SLICE*

Here’s how to hit all three:
To slice it, take a less lofted club (this will help you curve it), weaken your grip slightly and aim safely to the left to get the ball started away from the trouble. Try to actually swing down from outside to inside the target line and make sure to hold the clubface open at impact. Here, the ball started left of the tree, and I curved it 30 yards.

To hit the high shot, play the ball a bit forward in your stance and keep your head well back of the ball at impact. Make sure you hit the turf and don’t flip your wrists at impact. In both photos, notice how low my right shoulder is. I’m definitely behind the ball, and that produces a high ballflight.


*HIGH LAUNCH*		*PUNCH THROUGH*

To punch the ball (here, through the gap between the rocks and the large branch), lean your weight slightly forward and commit to making a swing down into the turf to promote a low ballflight. Here I hit an 8-iron, played the ball slightly back in my stance and made sure the hands stayed in front of the clubhead as I struck the turf.

…lag it close from anywhere

Learning to lag putts close is a great way to save shots during your round. There’s a stat on Tour called 3 Putt Avoidance, and trust me, nobody wants to be near the bottom of it.

If you’re going to be a good distance putter, I believe you need to do two things very well. First, you need to be a good green reader. As you approach the green and survey your putt, look for high and low points in the green complex. Imagine where water would flow if it were dumped on the green. Remember, all greens are built for drainage, so look for those spots, and they’ll tell you where your ball is going.

The second (and most crucial element), however, is distance control. It doesn’t matter how well you read your putt if you leave it 15 feet short. In the photo at left, I’m faced with an uphill putt over a small tier. It also appears as if the ball is going to move a little from left to right. To make sure I get the ball to the hole on this uphill putt, I visualize a pin 10 feet past the hole so I can make sure I hit my putt with enough pace.

…make it all day from 3 to 6 feet

The key to making tons of short putts is to develop a consistent putting stroke. In my opinion, the simplest type of stroke should give you the best chance to make those so-called 3-6 foot knee knockers.

Here you can see I’m working with a training aid made by Momentus called the Inside Down the Line Putting Track to help me groove a stroke. You can use either this type of aid or any other tracks that help you get the feeling of what a good putting stroke should feel like.

One thing to remember while practicing either with or without a training aid: Tour pros work incredibly hard on these putts, and while it’s not as much fun as hitting drivers on the practice range, the time you put in on the green will pay big dividends on the course.

…chip it off the tightest lies

For many players, tight lies are the kiss of death. When the grass is really closely mown, you need to trust that your technique will give you perfect contact (remember you always want to hit the ball first, then the turf), or all sorts of things can happen: fat contact, skulled shots across the green or, worse yet, the chip yips. When we watch Tour pros play these shots, they don’t seem like that big a deal, but they are.

Don’t tell your greenskeeper (or mine), but a great way to gain confidence when playing off tight grass is to hit a couple chips off the practice green. To begin, first lay a club down a couple feet in front of your ball. The goal is to hit the ball over the club. If you aren’t confident with this shot, you’ll probably try to lift the ball, your wrists will flip, and the ball will skid into the club (see below right).


*YES*	NO

If your technique is good (see below left), however, you can make a confident stroke, pick the ball right off the green and control its trajectory, distance and spin. To do this, make a small swing with your weight leaned slightly forward before and throughout the swing. Wrist action is the enemy in this shot, so keep the left wrist flat at impact, and good contact will occur.

…Perform at the highest level in front of spectators

Part of a Tour pro’s job is to play in front of large crowds while television cameras and thousands (at times millions) are trained on his or her every move.

Although professionals do get nervous during tournaments, the consistency they have in their games (and the confidence that breeds) allows them to focus on the shot at hand and continue to pull off great shots. They’re no different than elite athletes in any other sport.

Great athletes are so mentally tough and focused that they can (most of the time) put all the outside elements aside and focus on their jobs.

Keep in mind, if you feel nervous while playing, that’s a good thing. It means you’re playing well, and the more often you play well, the easier it’ll get to play under pressure. Embrace your nervousness and let it help you play your best.

…average under 70 for a year on the world’s most difficult courses

Tour pros’ games are rarely satisfied with the state of their games. That’s one of the reasons why they work so hard at improving. The time they put into their games pays off too: They hit long, straight drives and controlled approach shots and have accurate short games. It’s easy to see why the world’s best players average under 70.

While you may not play as well as Tour players, take a close look at your game to identify areas that need the most work. Then set some goals as to how best to improve your game. With quality practice, you’re sure to get better.

Steve Dahlby, PGA, is the director of instruction at The Golf Club Scottsdale and Forest Highlands Golf Club. He has taught numerous Tour players.

Slice Control

Hitting a slice isn’t all bad. If you can minimize it, then control it, a slice is actually one of the most repeatable shots you can hit. A fade, which is also known as a slice that still finds the fairway, can produce a long drive that has just enough backspin to prevent the ball from rolling away from you and into the rough. Let’s take a look at how to turn your slice into a fade with a few simple steps.

Criss-Crossed

Too-Open

Criss-Crossed
If you’re crooked at the start, you’re likely to be crooked at impact, as well. In this photo, my lower body is aimed right (in an effort to prevent coming across the ball–or so I think), but my upper body is still way to the left. This setup position is typical of most slicers who tend to have a big, bellowing slice that starts right and slices even farther to the right. Also typical are reverse pivots caused by little room for the hips and lower body to rotate through impact with the ball.

Too-Open
The obvious slice fix is to aim farther to the left, right? Not so. If you’re a slicer, the more you aim to the left, the more pronounced your slice will be. As you can see here, my upper body and lower body are, in fact, aligned, but my clubface is still facing the fairway. This means I’m going to cut across the ball and make my slice bigger. Also, when you open up too much and don’t reposition the golf ball relative to your stance, the ball effectively moves back, making the slice even worse.

Fix Your Alignment

Square
When all else fails, square up the ball in a parallel fashion with the toes aligned with the shoulders and the hips square at address. In the photo, I’m still aiming slightly to the left to accommodate a fade, but being in a squared position will lessen my fade and help me hit more consistent tee shots. With practice, I can get a better feel for picking the targets with which to align my body and allow the ball to fade gently away from it.

Great Slicers
You can talk to a fade, but a hook won’t listen, says Lee Trevino, whose reliance on what he dubbed a power fade helped the Merry Mex win six majors, not to mention nearly 90 professional events. His fade was manipulated by a thorough rotation of his body–a necessary move, considering his stronger-than-normal grip. Other great players known for hitting fades include Fred Couples (who, like Trevino, also had a strong grip), Ben Hogan, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods, each of whom has used the controlled slice (fade) to win majors. Reason being, fades generally are easier to control because they roll back into the fairway and not away from it. Of note, Hogan spent years perfecting the fade in an attempt to literally block out half of every hole he played (the left side). What happened? He won nine majors and 64 PGA Tour events.

Close it, then grip it

Proper Way

A quick way to lessen a slice is to grip the club with a closed clubface. The key is to do this the right way by following these easy steps.

Hold the grip with your ungloved hand and rotate the clubface a few degrees closed before you make your grip with the gloved hand.

Now that the face is closed, take your grip with both hands. By following this sequence, you avoid twisting the hands before you make your grip.

Wrong Way
Watch what happens here and see if you’re guilty of it. In the above photo, I’ve made my normal grip with a squared clubface.	While still holding the club, I’ve begun to close the face, effectively weakening my grip and changing my hand positions.	Now, my clubface is closed, but check out how weak my gloved hand is. I’m probably still going to slice, even with a closed clubface.

Move The Ball Forward
As the club enters the impact zone, and because we swing at an angle (from beside and above the ball), the clubface is continually closing relative to the target. So, if you struggle with slicing too much and want to reduce it to a fade, consider moving the ball farther forward in your stance. This will help you take advantage of a clubface that isn’t as open as it is earlier in the downswing; hence it should slice less. Just remember, as you swing through the ball, allow your hands to release and let your ungloved hand cross over your gloved hand after you’ve made contact.

To Fade or not?

Play The Fade
If your natural ballflight is left to right, try not to feel as though you need to manipulate your ballflight on dogleg holes that curve the opposite direction (from right to left). Even if you miss the fairway slightly to the right, take your medicine and move on. Trying to force a draw when you’re a natural slicer is a recipe for disaster.

Make A Full Turn To The Left
The last insight on hitting an effective fade is to remember that although the ball eventually will curve to the right, you still have to make an effort to rotate the body fully to the left. What’s that mean? Well, if you look at the ghosted sequence, you can see that turning to the left also means turning down and to the left. If you don’t turn down, you’ll come over the top of the ball. But if you do swing down, the lower body will rotate while your arms and hands drop to create an outside-in swing path to produce the desired fade. If you master this fundamental as well as the others in this article, that once-hated slice will turn into a go-to fade.

Derek Nannen, PGA, is the director of instruction at the Eagle Mountain Golf Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, visit www.eaglemtn.com.

A.J. Bonar’s instructions on curing your slice.

How To Stop Slicing By Learning The Draw

How to stop slicing? That’s long been the biggest goal among golfers. Most of them slice. Worse, most golfers don’t know why, and don’t know how to stop.

The art of slice fixing is best approached not necessarily by trying to stop slicing, but rather by learning what it takes to hit a draw. By draw, I don’t mean a hook, since hooked shots often are the result of golf swings that aren’t that different from swings that produce slices. Hitting draw shots requires a different approach. As you can see by what I’m doing here, an effective draw means applying sidespin from right to left onto the ball.

With that basic understanding in mind, let’s look at a few ways to cure your slice and start hitting draws once and for all. You’ll see results immediately if you follow my simple steps outlined on the next pages.

HOW TO STOP SLICING: HANDIWORK

Hands forward, hands rotating. Take a look at this sequence, ordered from top left to bottom right. The shaft of my Truth club is black on one side and white on the other, with the parting line right down the center. As I move into the ball, notice how my hands remain in front of the clubhead well through the hitting area. That’s the first key. Second, look how the shaft is rotating from black to white. This rotation is critical, since it helps to square the club at impact, all the while imparting draw spin on the ball. Practice this “hands forward, hands rotating” technique to ingrain the proper “draw feel.”

HOW TO STOP SLICING: ADJUST YOUR GRIP 2 O’CLOCK TO 10 O’CLOCK

Go from 2 to 10 in a split second. Through the hitting area, the shaft of the club should point at 2 o’clock before impact (think as if you were standing in the center of a clock with 12 in front of you). Just past impact, the shaft should point to 10 o’clock. The key here is to consistently rotate the hands through the hit, even after you make contact with the ball. If you stop rotating your hands, you’ll slice — no matter what. Keep those hands turning!

HOW STOP SLICING: TOE DOWN

Toes up or down? If you’ve heard that you should have the toe of the club pointing up through the swing to help fix your slice, I’m afraid you’ve received some faulty instruction. Here’s why: To effectively square the clubface at impact, whether hitting a draw or not, you have to continually close the clubface, even past impact. If you’re trying to swing and hold the toe up through the hit, the body will have to aggressively rotate more to compensate–a move that most average golfers simply can’t do.

Here’s how we do it. Starting from in front of the ball until after you make contact, the act of closing the clubface is what you need to do to eradicate a slice. Slice fixing won’t come from an address position with a closed clubface and maintaining a shut face at impact. That’s what most slicers incorrectly try to do, despite how difficult that can be to pull off. Instead, it’s key to understand that the act of closing the clubface is what kills a slice, not the need to square the face at impact.

Hit a few 30-40% shots and emulate this position with the toe down, as you see here. The ball should go low and dribble off to the left. Once you do that consistently, dial up your speed. Keep swinging faster and concentrate on getting into this position. Soon your body will react differently, and that low, left dribbler will transform into a straight, or drawing, golf shot.

HOW TO STOP SLICING: OPEN FACE

The secret to straighter shots is to hit with an open face. If you followed the advice on the previous page, you know you need to rotate the clubface through impact. Now, it’s just a matter of dialing back your release to the point where the clubface, although still closing, hits the ball with a slightly open face. Why, you ask? Because the toe is moving faster than the heel, and the added momentum of the toe will, in turn, add draw spin upon contact with the face. In other words, the ball will compress more toward the toe, causing the ball to draw, even if the clubface is a hair open at impact.

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but my years of research prove this! Too many golfers are fixated on squaring the clubface through the shot, failing to realize that the only way to eradicate a slice is to continually rotate the clubhead through the ball. (If you try and hit the ball with a square face, you’re likely to hit a big hook.)

Practice making swings so you feel as though your hands are closing through the ball, and work on releasing the hands a little later than you’re maybe used to. It takes some trust, but as long as you’re steadily closing the face, that slightly open-face angle will produce a straight shot.

In addition, by releasing yourself and your mind from forcing your body to square the clubhead, you may find that this technique helps you swing more naturally and easily.

HOW TO STOP SLICING: SHAFT TO THE RIGHT

Point the shaft to the right. Now that you’ve learned to close the clubface continuously and how straight shots can come from a slightly open face, you need to take that hook and turn it into a draw. The simplest swing thought you can have is to try to point the shaft to the right of the target in your followthrough. This will help you swing more from inside the target line to outside the target line, further enhancing the effects of a right-to-left ball spin. Notice that, as I emulate this position, I haven’t neglected the importance of rotating my body to the left as well as shifting my weight onto my forward leg. These two things help me to swing from inside-out, again, a critical move if you want to get rid of pull slices (and pull hooks) and start hitting straighter, or more drawing golf shots.

Don’t neglect a solid stance. When I teach, I try to make the golf swing as simple as I can so that all golfers can become better players. When it comes to having a good stance, it’s something anyone can do, and it sets the stage for the right sequence of motions to take place. Stand so your arms hang naturally below your chin, your knees are flexed, and your back is straight, but not overly rigid. Some golfers like to hover the clubhead over the ground, as I’m doing here, which makes starting the swing an easy task.

HOW TO STOP SLICING: IMPACT VS. SETUP

Impact vs. setup. If you’re trying to return to your setup position at impact, you first need to realize the similarities and differences in the two positions. As for similarities, my spine angle, head position and plane are the same. But the rest of my body is drastically different. At impact, my hips and shoulders have opened, my hands are ahead of the ball, and my left foot is raised to indicate most of my weight is on my forward leg. Remember what should be similar, and what should be different. That’s key here.

QUICK TIP!

Today’s adjustable driver heads are the real deal, and with a few clicks of a wrench, you can close the clubface. This makes it even easier to eliminate a slice.

Better rotation will lead to a better extension. Finally, if you follow my keys for fixing your slice, the last element you should work on is your ability to extend through the hitting area. By properly releasing the club, you’ll find that your body is in a more rotated position, making it easier to extend your arms, as I’m doing here. If you release too soon, the chances of your followthrough collapsing are greater than if you rotate the club and body more effectively. By keeping your arms in front of your chest, extending the arms is a piece of cake.

Now, get out there and try these tips, in the order in which I presented them. Your slice won’t disappear instantly, but it will diminish the more you practice and stay determined!

Based in Southern California, A.J. Bonar is one of America’s top teachers. He hosts several golf schools each year. For more information, visit www.ajgolf.com

More on how to stop that slice forever

Watch The Face

The simple cause of slicing is an open clubface. The simple cure for slicing is to get the clubface square through the impact zone on a consistent basis. To accomplish this, you must learn to properly rotate your lead arm in a counterclockwise direction.

Most players who slice only have a vague idea of why they do so. Some think it’s due to their swing path or their release, and some even blame their equipment. The angle of the clubface is an element they often overlook. However, the simple fact is that if a shot moves left to right, you can be sure the clubface is open at impact. A great way to make sure the clubface isn’t open at the moment of truth is to get your left forearm to rotate through impact.

To see the correct rotation, try this simple drill using your watch. Turn your watch so the face is on the underside of the wrist of your lead arm (the left arm for right-handed golfers, the right arm for left-handed golfers).

Keep your lead elbow a couple of inches from your side and rotate your forearm so you can see the entire face of the watch. The left wrist should be flat. This should help you visualize the proper rotation in your swing and also prevent you from flipping the club with your wrists at impact.

If you don’t rotate the clubface at all, the face of the watch remains pointed at the ground. During your swing, this incorrect movement results in the open clubface that causes a slice. If you try to rotate with your wrist and not your forearm, you won’t see the entire face.

Do this drill with your lead arm alone before practicing with both hands on the club. Continue to work on this movement until you see the watch face consistently, and your slicing woes will disappear for good.

Nick Kumpis, PGA, teaches at Pelican Hill GC in Newport Coast, Calif.

A.J. Bonar’s instructions on curing your slice.

1. Align & Visualize

STOP YOUR SLICE BACKSWING

STOP YOUR SLICE FAKE TURN

STOP YOUR SLICE CLUB FACE

STOP YOUR SLICE SWING PATH

1. HIT THE DRIVER FROM THE BUNKER

CRISS-CROSSED

TOO OPEN

FIX YOUR ALIGNMENT

GREAT SLICERS

MOVE THE BALL FORWARD

CLOSE IT, THEN GRIP IT

WRONG WAY

TO FADE OR NOT?

MAKE A FULL TURN TO THE LEFT

Aim Straight!

Get A Good Grip

Tilt Your Shoulders!

Avoid The Chicken Wing

Split Your Hands

Face Down!

HOW TO STOP SLICING: HANDIWORK

HOW TO STOP SLICING: ADJUST YOUR GRIP 2 O’CLOCK TO 10 O’CLOCK

HOW STOP SLICING: TOE DOWN

HOW TO STOP SLICING: OPEN FACE

HOW TO STOP SLICING: SHAFT TO THE RIGHT

HOW TO STOP SLICING: IMPACT VS. SETUP

QUICK TIP!

In Case you missed it