8 Reasons You Slice The Ball… & How to Fix It

These Tips Are Guaranteed To Fix Your Slice!

If you slice the ball & have tried EVERYTHING to stop it but you can’t seem to figure out how, here are 8 common faults that I see from golfers who struggle with a slice, & how to fix them.

At the end, I’ll I’ve also added links to 2 great drills to help you turn that slice, into a draw!

1. SETUP

Slicers will typically setup to the ball with the head & sternum in front of the ball & the pelvis behind the ball. From a DTL position this opens the shoulders & forces the trail arm to sit too far on top of the lead arm

Work on setting up with the head slightly behind the ball & the sternum on top of the ball. From the DTL view allow the trail arm to soften & square the shoulders

2. ALIGNMENT

Alignment can be tricky. Slicers typically aim left of target to allow for the ball to move left to right. BUT, if you close your stance too much, you run the risk of having to come far over the top to start the ball on target.

I would try to aim as square as possible to your target. If you are going to close the stance, just close it a little bit, not a lot.

3. BALL POSITION

Golfers who slice the ball can often have their ball position too far forward in their stance. The more forward the ball position is, the later you are hitting it in the arc. The club is now moving to the left, which is why golfers slice the ball.

Place the ball in the middle of your stance or even slightly back (with an iron) & when using a driver, have the ball position inside the lead heel.

4. GRIP

Golfers who slice the ball will typically have a “weak” grip. A weak grip is when the lead hand sits too much underneath the grip, and the trail hand sits too much on top.

Work on having a stronger lead hand & a more neutral/strong trail hand. This will help the face close through impact.

5. WRIST ANGLES

Golfers who slice the ball typically have a “cupped” lead wrist at the top of the swing. This wrist angle OPENS the face.

Work on having the lead wrist “flat” or even “flexed” at the top of the swing to keep the club in a stronger position. This will help the face square or even close at impact.

6. ROTATION

A common theme for golfers who slice the ball is a lack of body rotation in the backswing. If the body is under-rotated, it makes it hard to bring the golf club down from the inside.

As a rule of thumb, try to have the upper body turn 90 deg & the lower body 45 deg. This will give you enough body rotation to ensure you have sufficient arm depth at the top of the swing.

7 ARM LENGTH

Slicers often lack arm depth at the top of the swing. This can be due to a lack of body rotation or just simply a LIFT of the arms in the backswing.

Work on increasing body rotation & allow the lead arm to move more around the body. Ideally at the top of the swing, you want your lead arm matching your shoulder plane. If you draw a line down the butt end of the club, it should be on your heel or ankle line.

8. DOWNSWING

If all the above is in place, the final step is to make sure the club is traveling from the inside during the downswing & ultimately into impact. To stop a slice, we need a path that s “In To Out” & a face that is closed to that path.

From the top, feel as though the body remains closed in the early downswing and allow the club to drop behind you. Once the club has reached parallel to the ground, you are free to rotate in order to get the club back to the ball.

I hope you all enjoyed the explanation of these common faults. You may have one, some or ALL of these issues so it’s important to find the one that you suffer from & work on fixing that.

Each of the drills, and much, much more is available in the Academy. If you are a member just click on the drills above to go straight to the videos. If you are not a member, join over 100 other members today.