Jessica Korda won the LPGA Tour’s season opener last weekend, fending off a charge from her younger sister, Nelly, and surviving a playoff with superstar Danielle Kang. It was an impressive display of firepower as the trio dueled to open 2021 and earned Korda her first win in nearly three years.
The win was a culmination of countless practice sessions and hours on the range, and just a week before her victory, Korda posted a video on Instagram giving us a glimpse into one of those grind sessions. Check it out below.
The video shows her set up on the range with a pool noodle attached to an alignment stick just behind her. The aid is one that promotes the proper swing plane coming into impact, as it does not allow the 5-foot-11 Korda to get too steep coming into the ball. This drill was obviously beneficial for her, but it can be of some use to you, too.
If you struggle with slicing the ball, Korda’s drill can help alleviate that miss. First, it’s necessary to explain why players slice the ball. Usually, a slicing ball flight is the result of a player coming into the ball too steep and cutting across it at impact. This will cause the ball to start left of your target line and quickly dart to the right (for a right-handed player).
In order to teach yourself how to come into the ball at a shallower angle of attack, set up a training aid like the one Korda used in her video. This should force you to shallow out during your downswing and hit the ball from the inside, eliminating the slice. If you try to make your typical swing, you will hit the aid and not be able to complete the swing.
If you don’t have an alignment stick, you can replicate the effect by putting a club through an upside-down range bucket. As long as it keeps you from coming over the top, it should work out fine. Just make sure you don’t hit your club too hard or you might be looking for a replacement shaft.
Try this drill next time you’re at the range and you should have no issues straightening out your slice.
