Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
Ever since I started playing golf, it seems like I’ve had a natural slice — or so I tell myself. In reality, I’ve just learned to control the slice as best I can, knowing that I’m always at risk of going way right if I overswing my driver.
The reason this happens is pretty common: My clubface is open through impact.
Ask 100 amateur players what they most want to fix with their game, and a high percentage would respond with “fixing my slice.” And while it may feel impossible to do, learning how to fix a slice in golf is actually quite simple — so long as you have the necessary tips to change a few things in your swing.
In today’s Play Smart lesson, instructor Steve Pratt reveals how to fix a slice in just three minutes, dishing out some easy adjustments that will lead to straighter drives in no time. Check out his tips below!
How to fix a slice in 3 minutes
Turn your grip far to the right
The first slice-fixer that Pratt mentions is reimagining the way you grip the golf club. This means rotating your hands and making sure your right hand is far enough to the right of the club handle, where it feels like “your left palm is down facing the ground, and your right palm is facing up to the sky.”
Adds Pratt, “this is going to give us more potential to bring the clubface around to straight.”
Practice going 180 degrees over the top
As Pratt mentions in the video, over 80 percent of the influence of the direction of the ball comes from the clubface position. This is why squaring the face at impact is so critical to hit straighter shots.
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One way to practice this is by taking the club with the new grip, and rotating back and forth 180 degrees over the top of your head.
“Hold the club at eye level, [one] palm straight down, [one] palm straight up,” says Pratt. “That’ll give you the proper grip … now we’re just going to practice going 180 degrees over the top.
“This is a way for you to feel the activation of the proper muscles that will square the clubface through impact.”
Apply these changes by taking easy half-swings
Finally, Pratt says it’s important not to immediately tee it up, grip it, and try to rip it — emphasizing that the new grip and swing adjustment will take some time to get used to.
“Take some easy half-swings, seeing if you can get the ball to go left,” he says. “Keep in mind that the forearm action is initiated back [behind the hip in the downswing].
“Don’t be surprised if your first several hook shots are kind of ugly; maybe [even] on the ground. Keep at it, and you’ll get better.”
Swing Arc
