Slice no more

Keys to preventing the dreaded right hook

Slicing the ball is one of the most common problems for the average golfer. But, believe it or not, there are steps you can take to avoid this defect in your game.

Chris Costa

Seventy percent of your golf swings starts when you put your hands on the club. It’s important to consider both grip pressure and grip position. Your grip pressure should be light. Hold the handle of the club as if it were a small bird. You don’t want to crush the bird, but you also want to hold it tight enough so that it won’t fly away, as seen in the picture on the right.

Place the club in your fingers, not in your palms. Keep the grip pressure light and constant. The left shoulder (for right-handers) should be turned slightly in towards the right shoulder. When setting up for your shot, you should start with the feet at shoulder-width-length apart, bending forward slightly from the waist and allowing your arms to hang freely under your shoulders. Your weight should be on the balls of your feet. This will allow you to swing the club freely around your body on your back-swing and then, once again, freely around your body while swinging forward, helping you finish with good balance.

In order to ensure proper alignment, you want to set up your body so that you can swing the club right down the target line and to the inside. You should imagine “rails and tracks,” with the right track (for right-handers) for the club aimed at the target and the left track for the shoulders, hips and feet, aimed parallel left, down the target.

Think of the golf swing as a baseball swing, in which you swing around your body and then forward and around your body again. For a quick drill, take your position with your arms extended in front of you, waist high (See Picture A). Swing the club out and over your right shoulder, cocking your wrists (Picture B). Swing the club forward, allowing the toe of the club to pass the heel of the club as soon as you start your forward swing (See Picture C). It’s important that your grip pressure does not become too tight and that you do not rotate the club with the upper portion of your body. Your hands and forearms should be doing the majority of the work. The knuckles of your left hand will face the ground; your palms should face up with your left arm extended lightly.

Another drill to perform is what I like to call a “target drill.” If you’re a flexible person, turn your back 90 degrees to the target (45 degrees if you’re not flexible) with the club aiming toward the target (Picture D). Swing the club up and over your right shoulder, without turning your body (Picture E). Your body is already turned. Swing the club forward and finish with the knuckles of your left hand facing the ground and your palm facing up (Picture F). The golf ball flight path should start lightly out to the right and then curve forward to the left, producing a slight hook, not a slice!

Work with these drills on the practice range and before long you won’t have to suffer the consequences of that dreaded slice ever again.