How To Fix A Slice
[Becoming a Better Golfer]
A slice happens when side spin is placed on the ball at impact. Since they are pretty difficult to control and lead to lost distance, a slice is one of the least desirable ball shapes in the game of golf.
Knowing how to fix a slice is critical to becoming a better golfer. If you’re able to conquer the slice and straighten your shot out, you’ll be rewarded with added distance and more fairways and greens hit.
A slice is not pretty, is a difficult shot shape to get away from, and comes at the cost of accuracy and distance. We’re going to walk through some key areas to pay attention to if you are dealing with a slice.
But, before we jump into How To Fix A Slice, let’s make sure you know exactly what a slice is. We break down a few different shot shapes that work away from your body below.
How To Fix A Slice
Understanding slices, fades, pushes, and cuts
Slices, fades, pushes, and cuts are all different.
- A slice is a ball that starts out straight, before being overtaken by side spin and goes off on an uncontrollable trajectory.
- A fade is closely related to a slice but the side spin is much more minimal and the ball tails off just at the end.
- A cut begins going left for a right-handed golfer and moves right in a controlled fashion, finishing nearly straight away from where the golfer was standing.
- A push is a bit different. This ball shape is simply a shot that was straight, but was “pushed” in the wrong direction, away from the golfer.
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Takeaway
As you stand over the ball, your hands start to move backward to begin your swing. As you move your arms, you will need to break your wrists and start turning them to get all the way back.
Once your arms and hands get above your waist you can start turning your wrists. By waiting any longer than this it will make your clubface open at impact. When this happens you are all but guaranteed to add side spin and slice the ball.
Even if it takes you longer to finish your backswing to get this right, it is well worth it. By making sure you are in the right place as you finish your backswing, it means reducing or eliminating your slice. The first piece of a good swing is the takeaway and you will be able to keep the clubface square at impact by moving your hands and wrists in coordination.
Hands at top
This is the piece that sets you up for a good impact. Everyone has a slightly different stop point in their swing, but hand positioning is more consistent. Make sure to turn your wrists so that your club is about parallel with the ground at the furthest point back in your swing.
If your club is pointing too far into the air, you are not activating your wrists. When this happens, you are unlikely to finish in a good position and will sweep across the ball generating the side spin that causes a slice.
Your top hand arm begins the downswing (left arm for a righty, right arm for a lefty). You want to pull down with the leading arm, but have it supported by the trailing arm. Without the support of the bottom hand and ensuing wrist turn at impact, you will be slicing the ball.
If you are having trouble squaring your clubface up at impact, make sure that you are using your arms and wrists together at the bottom of your swing. Without the coordinated wrist turn, you are allowing your arms to lag behind and slice the ball.
Hands at impact
When learning how to fix a slice, take a look at your hands before you start your swing. This is pretty much what your hands should look like when you come through and make impact with the golf ball. If you’re slicing the ball, take a slow-motion practice swing and see where your hands are.
If your hands are the exact same, you are pulling away from the ball as you come through. If your hands are open, you will need to find a way to add more wrist at the bottom or turn your hips more as you come through the ball.
The ideal position for your hands at impact is the back of your top hand pointing directly at your target. When you are slicing the ball based on hand positioning, it’s pretty easy to tell. Instead of pointing straight at the target, the back of your top hand will be pointing away from the target, further away from your body. To correct this, turn your hips without moving your body forward or turn your wrists more to square up.
Clubface at impact
Your clubface should be square and pointed straight at your target as you make impact with the ball. An open or closed clubface puts unwanted spin on the ball and sends it in an errant direction.
Be sure to make impact at the center of the clubface and hit the ball with a squared clubface. An open clubface or contact at the heel of the club makes it nearly impossible to avoid a slice. Even if it means standing an inch or two further away that you’re used to, making contact at center and even toe will pay off big time as you shrink that slice and work towards a straighter ball flight.
With a slice, clubface is important, but how you make the impact is even more important. Slices happen because of spin. When you have an open clubface and sweep from the outside to in, it creates side spin that leads to a slice. As long as you come through straight on, an open clubface won’t affect you as much. Now it is ideal to square up at impact, but as long as you come directly from behind and attack straight through, you can afford to be a little open at impact.
Where to finish
Make sure to finish in a balanced fashion. Golfers who slice the ball tend to put too much weight on their back foot and finish leaning back.
If this is the case for you, make sure to keep your front shoulder down and drive the ball. By avoiding pulling out too early, it will help avoid adding spin and keep your ball more on target.
Final Thoughts
When learning how to fix a slice, there are many factors to consider which we have outlined throughout this article. Fixing your slice might require more than one of these changes. Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all solution when learning how to fix a slice. We recommend trying several different techniques until you find something that you’re comfortable with.
We hope this article has been helpful in teaching you how to fix a slice. If you enjoyed this article, please check out our complete guide on How To Hit A Draw.
– GOLF MAMBA OUT
