Call it over-the-top or outside-in — the path your club traces when it moves from the top to impact and then left of your target line must be corrected, or you will always slice.
Ideally, your clubhead should approach the ball on a path that's slightly inside ofyour target line. You may be guilty of over-rotating your shoulders from the top or stopping your rotation too early, causing your arms to fling across the line. Either way, the following drills will help you turn that slice-causing swipe into a powerful hit.
Drop your right foot
Drop your right foot back 10 inches at address. Force yourself to swing along your toes (in-out), and then adopt that swing to your normal stance.
What It Does:
It exaggerates an in-to-out path, and aggressive measures are needed to break bad habits.
Stay Connected
The Drill:
Swing an impact bag (or any weighted object that won't break when dropped) behind you, then toss it forward.
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What It Does:
It grooves an anti-cut motion. Keep your left arm connected to your chest as you swing back, and maintain that connection until you release the bag to the right of the target line.
Hit a Home Run
The Drill:
Address a ball in the middle of your stance, then leaving your right foot in place move your left foot back until your feet touch. Swing to the top and on the way down move your left foot back to its original position. Make contact with both feet on the ground.
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What It Does:
This baseball-type swing forces you to begin your downswing with your lower body, which sets up an inside-out sequence (lower body, shoulders, arms, hands and then clubhead).
The Drill:
Place three balls diagonally as shown and swing. Try to contact only the center ball. The only way to do this is to swing on an inside-out path. If you come over the top, you'll definitely hit the ball on the left, and maybe even all three balls.
What It Does:
The "gate" created by the three balls is excellent for seeing what inside-out looks like through impact, and seeing is believing.
Hit the Wall
The Drill:
Bring a club to the top of your swing so the clubhead touches a wall directly behind you. Then, bring your arms down to the mid-downswing position and make sure the clubhead is still touching the wall.
Slicers turn their shoulders too aggressively to start the downswing. The wall drill helps you "slot" the club by sliding your left arm down and across your chest while keeping your club on plane.
How to Think Away Your Slice
Avoid the mental pitfalls of the left-to-right shot
By Richard Coop, Ph.D.,
GOLF Magazine's mental-game and performance consultant.
Fixing a major swing flaw is generally not an option once you tee off-it usually just makes matters worse. If your slice is out of control during your round, however, here are your best bets for reeling it in.
Adjust your mindset
If you're sure your next shot is headed right, then trying to make pars is going to get disheartening. So change your personal par for that round. Mentally play for bogey-or even double-on every hole, and you'll start to feel rewarded when you avoid those triples and Xs.
Don't force shots
If you've got 150 yards to the pin, and you normally hit a 7-iron, take a 6-iron, or even a 5, and swing at 75 percent. Throttling back will not only lessen the effects of your swing flaw, it will also relax you and allow you to work your way methodically from tee to green.
Forget the hole
Make getting your ball on the green your goal-everything else is gravy. Aim for the left half of the green (or the center of the green if there's trouble on the left) and let your putter do the rest.
Rediscover tempo
Forget your mechanics for now-they're already on the fritz. Instead, concentrate on making a smooth, pendulum swing on every shot. You may find that when you stop paying attention, your mechanics will find their way back.
