Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Just about every beginning golfer struggle with the same miss when they first start playing. That shot is, of course, a slice.
For whatever reason, when we first pick up a club and start swinging it, we tend to come way over the top. This, coupled with an open face, leads to big, banana slices.
Not only are slices ugly to look at, they also cost you tons of distance. And while you can easily play a fade or cut as your typical ball flight, a slice doesn’t give you that luxury.
Luckily, fixing a slice is easier than you may think. All you need to do is get your path a little closer to neutral and manage the face just a bit better. For more on the former, we look at a drill used by two-time major champ Xander Schauffele.
Xander’s anti-slice drill
As an accomplished PGA Tour pro, Schauffele obviously doesn’t struggle with a slice the way a 20-handicap does. But that doesn’t mean we can’t apply the principles of the drill he doing above to our own games.
As you can see in this video shared by Callaway Golf on X, Schauffele has placed a bucket of range balls in front of him just inside his target line. The goal of the drill is simple: avoid hitting the bucket.
By placing the bucket on the inside of his target line where he releases his club, Schauffele is making sure his path does not get too out-to-in. And when he avoids it, he knows he’s swinging from the inside and not coming over the top.
For all the slicers out there, this is a great drill to try. Start out slow at first (so you don’t hurt yourself if you do hit the bucket) and work your way up to full speed. This will teach you what it feels like to swing from the inside and keep you from that dreaded over-the-top move.
From there, all you need to do is make sure you have your clubface in the correct place. But fixing that will have to wait for another day.
