Nobody likes a slice. Yet it’s one of the most common shots in golf. So what is a slice and why does it happen? In this post we take a closer look at why we slice the ball and I’ll share four simple proven steps to stop your slice with proven success.
First, we need to talk about SET UP starting with the ideal set up for a straight shot.
Ideal body position to stop your slice
Stand up now and do a quick check of your set up posture and position.
When you first stand over the ball, you want to set the centre of your club face square to the target line. To achieve this, move your feet, top of your thighs, hips and shoulders into your set up making sure they are all symmetrically in line. If you look down, you have created a perfect vertical drop through both sides of the body.Most people who slice the ball notice they have an open to target set up. This is where we will see a difference in the position of all four body parts feet, thighs, hips and shoulders.
A slice set up is when some or all our body parts are OPEN to the to target line. We can also explain this as lining up too far to the left side of the target for a right hander and too far to the right for a left hander.
If you notice you are lining up OPEN to your target – that’s ok. This just means you are one step closer to understanding and changing that incorrect habit.
Let’s try it again. Set your club face to target then line your feet parallel to target. Now get your thighs in the same position over your feet as one another. Now your hips and shoulders creating the same line creating our new perfectly vertical drop. This is the ideal body position to get your swing path coming back neutral to the target line – which is a crucial ingredient to stopping that slice.
Ideal golf grip to stop your slice
While we’re talking about set up, we also need to talk about what our hands are doing. Let’s use the best in the world for our example of the ideal grip.
This is a neutral grip. Neutral means both hands complement each other. We see the best in the world having a golf grip with both thumbs pointing straight down the club or slightly lapping over the grip.
Grab a golf club for me now, when you sit the club face flat on the ground, pointing the centre of the club face directly to your target and look at your hands. You should be able to see the same number of knuckles (your grip should be left hand up top for right handers and right hand up top for left handers).
Look down at your knuckles. You will be able to see your index knuckle on your top hand. Let’s also make sure you can see the index knuckle for your bottom hand. Moving on to your middle finger knuckle. Can you see all of it or just half? Try to match your bottom hand with what your top hand is doing. Both hands need to be doing the same amount of work at set up is because they control the golf club grip, which controls the club face.
I want you to be confident with your new neutral grip so you can return to the same position when you are hitting through the ball. Take some time to practice without a ball – around the house is perfect. Just keep holding your club and looking back at those photos until it starts to feel more natural.
Coming up next:
Now you have the information you need to create the perfect set up for hitting the ball straighter, we can move on to the next steps that will help you to stop that slice.