Fixing a Golf Slice: Stance

There is one thing that all golfers have in common: we would all like to find golf tips that could help improve our golf game. And while most golfers who are professionals tend to concentrate on the most minute and slight adjustments to their golf mechanics, the rest of us are happy to settle for simple changes to our golf swing. And with that simple approach in mind, I decided that one single golfing error constantly nags at a good many of us: golf slices. And with that, I have created this entire site around a single theme: to help golfers correct their slices. In this article I want to talk about how stance can affect your overall golf swing and eventual slice.

The natural inclination and reaction for a those golfers who are slicing the golf ball is to adjust their stance. Usually we tend to aim more to the left in order to compensate for the ending position of the ball. After all, if it is landing twenty yards to the right now and we aim twenty yards to the left, then the golf ball should land right in the middle of the fairway. This is an easy enough and logical step. Or, at least it seems logical.

If you have wondered how to correct your golf slice and have experienced this natural reaction, then you know the drill: tee the ball up and then aim far to the left, predicting that the ball will arc it's way back into a playable position. This approach works sometimes, but for the most part it causes the curving slice motion of the ball to increase, and then bend even more to the right than before. Assume that you tee up the ball and there is an imaginary arrow running through your ball and pointed right down the center of the fairway; this is the hoped for path of the ball. Let's leave intentional draws and cuts out of the equation for a second. The reason behind this puzzle is that when you already have a right to left swing and you aim even more to the left, the ball spins even more than before because your swing arc is now more outside to inside. Imagine the birds eye view of your swing, a slice would show that your club head cuts from outside to inside, or from over the center line of the idea trajectory arrow of the ball to below that center line.

Those of you who are wanting to fix your slice also know that the usual advice is to aim even more to the left or to adjust the hips. This can work with some of you since we all have different mechanics to our swing, but for the majority of folks this will not correct our slicing problem.

Instead, adjusting your golf stance may help smooth out your slice, and the adjustment may surprise you: try not aiming to the left at all; instead aim right down the middle or maybe even slightly to the right. Take care to not to pull your feet all the way around. What I mean by this is that when you set up over the ball, try to aim your club down the center or slightly to the right but keep your feet aimed directly down the center of the fairway.

This motion will feel extremely awkward at first but give it a chance -- remember, fixing a slice means reversing years and years of a repeated motion that your body is accustomed to, and so it will come as somewhat of a shock to the system to adjust your golf stance back to straight. Try taking as many practice swings as possible in an effort to a familiarize your body, hands, and head to the new swinging motion. Again, you are attempting to aim the intended trajectory arrow of the ball slightly to the right, perhaps only 3 to 5 degrees, while keeping your feet aimed down the center.

In order to effect this swing, you can lay a club on the ground pointing directly down the center of the imaginary fairway. Practice swinging inside to out, pulling your right elbow down closer to your torso. Aim the ball to the right while keeping your stance positioned directly centered.

This solution to fixing your slice can also be reversed for those of you who are left handed and face the same problem of trying to correct your slice.

What Causes A Slice?

A slice is one of the most annoying things in all of golf. We learn the grip, the swing, get the right clubs, pay all that money for the green fees and cart, got the shirt, the hat, and we get up to the tee and jack one into the woods. Frustrating, but fixing a slice is not really all that complicated. You must first understand how a slice is affected and what causes it.

The dimples on the golf ball causes the ball to react to the spin and it causes the air to push the ball in whatever direction the ball is spinning, just like a fan blade. The dimples act like the fan blades, or like cups (similar to when you cup your hands when you swim) and they are pushed along based on the overall rotation of the ball.

If your golf ball slices, then it must be spinning clockwise at an extremely fast rate. It does not always have to be spinning exactly parallel to the ground, the spin center of rotation might be off center, but this appears cloaked because of the lift forced by the club head. Nonetheless, if the overall or dominant push of the ball is a clockwise spinning rotation, then your ball will begin to push to the right. Have you ever noticed that the harder you seem to swing the more the ball slices? This is simply because of the rate of the rotation of the ball -- the faster that it spins, then the more it will 'cut' through the wind in the direction of that spin.

Okay, it is caused when the ball spins basically clockwise, so how do I fix a golf slice? The obvious answer is that the spin has to be eliminated. Not completely eliminated because many golfers use a small cut as part of their overall arsenal of shots. So, let's work on reducing the velocity of that spin down to a more useful rate. First step is to identify the cause of the spin.

In this website we will be examining your grip, your swing arc and your posture. All of these are the most basic causes and therefore can accept slight adjustments easily. Keep in mind that their are several possible reasons why you might be spinning the golf ball, and one particular answer is not always the one that will apply to or help you. The best advice for fixing a golf slice is often times the easiest, most basic adjustments. Normally, it is recommended that you attempt only one adjustment at a time, because if you attempt multiple changes then you will not be isolating the root cause of the problem and you will only be introducing more variables.

Fix A Golf Slice : Grip

Grip is one of the most common causes of a golf slice but also one of the easiest adjustments to make. The good thing is that it can be the adjustment can be made instantly, on the fly so to speak, and without a lot of practice. Another advantage of solving your golf slice by adjusting your grip is that you don't necessarily have to be on the golf course to do it. You can mentally practice it right in your garage or office until you become satisfied with the technique.

Now before getting into the specifics of fixing a golf slice, I want to warn the lefties out there that they need to reverse the advice here in the opposite direction of the one given. If I say rotate right, you rotate left, etc. We certainly don't want to make your golf slice worse.

Most golf slices can be broken down into one of three categories: the grip, the swing arc, or the posture. The grip is the one that is the most common, so you should consider starting with this adjustment in order to fix your golf slice. If this does not help, then you can readjust your grip back to the previous one and easily move on to the next category.


Fixing a golf slice by rotating your right hand grip to the left.

Start by grabbing your driver and gripping it. I recommend the driver because that seems to be the club that most people have a severe slice with. Your slice may be consistent with all your clubs, but most likely it is more pronounced with your driver simply because of the force and distance indicative of a the club. Notice your hands position on the driver shaft. Can you see your fingertips? How about the fingertips of your right hand? If you can then try to rotate your grip a bit to the left so that your right hand's fingertips show less. Do this by moving the fat thumb muscle of your right hand into to the left and closer to the left hand. Do not rotate it so much that your left wrist is pointing directly upward. As a matter of fact, you probably don't need to rotate your left hand at all. Just move your right hand 1/2 inch.

Many people over rotate the hands on the shaft because it feels more powerful, sort of like having the forearm straight on as though you were going to throw a punch or swing a bat. Ideally, you should be able to look straight down at your grip and see as few fingers as possible. The professionals can grip the shaft, look down and see no fingers at all. Fix your golf slice by trying the grip adjustment first. Everyone has different swings and different arcs so if this does work then move on to part two.

The golf swing will feel funny for the first few but after several dozen swings you will feel more in control