Curing A Golf Slice

Along with some adjustments in your set up, your stance, and your golf grip, the final element in curing your golf slice is understanding and probably recreating your golf swing itself a bit.

Along with some adjustments in your set up, your stance, and your golf grip, the final element in curing your golf slice is understanding and probably recreating your golf swing itself a bit.

Once you’ve completed your setup over the golf ball the golf swing begins with the take away.

Now that you have yourself properly aligned your take away should follow the line you have established with your stance, hips and shoulders.

In other words your takeaway should track right down your target line.

Your takeaway should start smoothly with your hands, arms, and shoulders working together to get the golf club properly started back on the correct line all in one smooth motion.

Note the full extension on the takeaway to the right (no lifting with the hands or premature wrist cock) with the golf club still on a line straight back and down the target line.

With the proper swing mechanics your golf swing will arrive at the top of your swing arc in a smooth natural fashion with very little hand activity.

Oddly enough, from the top of your golf swing, the downward march toward the golf ball should begin with your foot action and weight shift.

With proper foot action and weight shift your hips and torso will begin to naturally rotate and as a result the last action taking place is your hands and club moving toward the impact zone.

Now note the picture of the that golfer to your left.

The picture of Tiger to the left is an excellent example of what I explain in the next paragraph.

Look at the full extension of the his arms and club down the target line while his head remains down and behind the spot of where the ball was.

This type of excellent extension is set up by a full extension on the takeaway.

With hand action staying out of the shot until they are actually called upon naturally by good golf swing mechanics, your head will stay behind shot (which is a good thing) and allow your arms, hands, and golf club to not only stay online and on path; but also allow for them to fully extend through the impact zone and track further down the target line without coming across the golf ball from the top of your swing and producing an ugly, frustrating, golf slice shot.

Golf Slice-The Golf Grip

OK…

Now that we have ourselves properly aligned we need now to put the golf club in our hands and discuss the golf grip and what role it plays when it comes to getting rid of your golf slice that you have.

The traditional type of golf grip will have the thumb of your left had down the shaft of the club.

The area between your left index finger and your left thumb that forms a ‘V’ shape should have the point of the ‘V’ pointed back up toward your right shoulder.

Your right hand should wrap over your left with your left thumb coming to rest in the palm of your right hand. The ‘V’ created with your right thumb and index finger should also be pointing toward your right shoulder.

Essentially, with this grip, if someone is standing directly across from you they would be able to see the first two knuckles of your left hand (your index finger and your middle finger knuckle).

In the picture to the right, the student’s right hand is rolled under slightly out of the way to demonstrate the two knuckles of the left hand golf grip.

As far as golf grip pressure goes, probably the best description of proper golf grip pressure that I have ever heard (from one of the best – Sam Snead) was to hold the golf club as though you were holding a small bird. Firm enough that bird cannot fly away, yet not so firm as to harm the bird. A good analogy.

I don’t know if that is helpful for you, but I have always remembered it and thought it was a good way to describe your golf grip pressure.

When it comes to the grip and curing your golf slice the common mistake with the grip is to have what is termed as a weak grip.

By that, I am not referring to the pressure of your grip, rather the positioning of your hands.

A weaker grip will have your left hand rotated in a manner that has the ‘V’ we discussed pointing more toward your left shoulder instead of your right.

The illustration to the left is a bit of an over exaggeration just to show you the direction of the rotation of the hands and hence where the ‘V’s’ are pointing more toward the right shoulder.

When your grip is set up this way a couple of things occur during the execution of your golf swing.

First the club face will have a tendency to open at contact and secondly as you contact the ball you will not be able to get as much rotation of your hands which will have the affect of not getting the club face to begin to close as you pass through the golf shot. This causes not only to impart a slice spin upon the ball but if your swing path hasn’t compensated for this you’ll get the direction going right with the arc flight of the ball taking it even further to the right.

Let’s talk about putting your golf stance, and your golf grip, together with some basic swing mechanics and get that golf slice under control with your golf swing mechanics next.

Fixing A Golf Slice

For the majority of us golfers one of the first major undertakings of our golf game once we consistently are getting the ball air born is correcting a golf slice.

We all seem to be blessed with this natural ability when we first begin learning about the golf swing.

For some it may be a runaway hook, but for most (and for the purpose of this article) we’ll discuss correcting a golf slice.

Slicing the golf shot for many is a ritual in frustration for many golfers simply because they don’t know what in their golf swing and mechanics causes it.

They only know that it continues to happen.

If you are frustrated by the constant golf slice, then you also know that if you are ever going to develop any consistency in lowering your golf score, you know the slice must be cured.

So, let’s take a look at few tips and techniques to get you started on the road to recovery.

First and foremost is you alignment to your target. Your golf stance. The width of your stance should be about that of your shoulders.

The alignment of your shoulders and hips should be one of pointing straight down your target line.

Your feet should be in line with your shoulders and hips with your toes just slightly pointed outward (duck footed) allowing for an easier full hip and upper body rotation.

This slight outwardly point of your feet will allow for an easier rotation of your torso. In other words, once you are setup in your golf stance, your nose should be pointing a perpendicular line to that of your target.

From a position of proper alignment is where all of your practicing should begin. Don’t give in to any old habits over what you know is a proper alignment.

Getting comfortable with you golf stance will take some time and some pretty ugly looking golf shots. But, this is what the range is for. I can’t over emphasis this enough… stick with proper alignment.

Getting used to properly aligning yourself to the target not only will take some time getting used to physically, but mentally as well.

Even as your body gets used to this new golf stance and set up, your visual perception of your target will change, and so will you mental perception as you execute your golf swing. Both of these perceptions will seem uncomfortable and out of sync for a while, but again give it time.

Your golf stance and setup are the foundation from which you give your swing to work from, let’s make a solid one.

Up next on correcting the golf slice, let’s discuss your golf grip and what causes what.

Buy Golf Clubs

The marketing of the game of golf (getting you to buy golf clubs for example) to regular golfers is an interesting phenomenon.

I can’t think of another sport that puts so much credence on how the golf equipment can improve or make and break your game.

If someone landed here from some foreign galaxy, they would be led to think by much of the marketing that all they would have to do to be proficient at the game would be to buy golf clubs… and wa-lah…

No matter the swing the golf clubs will compensate. Of course we know this not to be true, however, choosing the right golf clubs for your game and swing is important enough to consider. But, with all the golf club marketing out there going on, what’s a golfer to do?

Well, let’s take a look at a few points worth considering when you’re in the process of choosing and buying golf clubs.

First of all, know your skill level. If you are just starting out, picking out golf clubs that are designed for an expert or a more advanced golfer will only hinder your progress.

More advanced levels of golf clubs are basically less corrective in their design. This is because more advanced players don’t want the design to the club to be attempting to always correct the flight of the ball. Advanced golfers want to control this themselves so they will play with ‘less forgiving’ clubs than you should if you are just beginning.

Don’t blow your bank account. As mentioned in the very first paragraph, all lot about golf clubs and golf equipment is marketing. Combine this with being honest with your skill level and choose your golf clubs accordingly.

• Are you a weekend golfer?
• Barely occasional?
• Do play golf regularly?
• Do you play competitively?
• Is your goal to play more and play competitively?

All questions to consider. If you don’t golf all that regularly now but are definitely going to golf more in the near future and work seriously on you game then you may want push the upside of your budget more if not and you only occasionally get out with your friends, then there is no need to go high end with the golf clubs. The key is to be very honest when you answer these questions.

Finally, don’t buy golf clubs for yourself that you haven’t had the opportunity to test drive. These days there are all sorts of opportunities to demo the various types and manufacturer’s golf clubs in order to get a good idea of how the clubs fit your game.

Cheap Golf Balls

When it comes to golf equipment and for the purposes of this article, the golf ball, the amount you pay for your golf balls will (and should) reflect to some degree the level of your game.

When I say buying good cheap golf balls, I’m referring to a good price with good quality for your game.

In a previous discussion on discount golf balls, we talked about the different layers of golf balls and how the more layers you opt for the more you will generally pay for the golf balls.

For the vast majority of golfers, a good quality cheap golf ball is the best (and least expensive way) to proceed around the golf course.

For example, just by clicking on the image just to the left you can score on a 50 pack (onion sack) of recycled golf balls at Austad’s golf… go ahead and pick up a bag… I’ll wait here.

Also, for most, we will want our golf balls to last more than one round of golf (assuming we don’t manually lose it with a less than desirable shot). So, let’s take a look at the different types of covers that manufacturers provide for you.

Essentially, as it relates to the durability of the golf ball the cover of the ball is its main defense. Covers come in primarily three different types; Surlyn, Balata, and Elastomer.

Surlyn: is the most common type out there. This is your best bet for durability, all round play and price.

Balata: is a softer cover that golfers with lower handicaps tend to favor for reasons such as feel, spin, and controllability. This type of cover will cost you more.

Elastomer: covered golf balls are a choice that offers spin without sacrificing a great deal of durability.

Other types of golf ball terminology that you might run into are:

Dimples: The number of dimples on a golf ball will vary by gall and manufacturer. The physics of dimples are that the number, size, and depth will determine the flight characteristics of the ball. A golf ball without dimples would not travel as far, but more dimples also increase the golf ball’s ability to hook and slice.

Compression: The most common ratings are 80, 90, and 100. This is essentially how tightly the ball is wound. The lower number represents the softest. The softer the compression the more the ball will cave and recover off the club for a trampoline effect which will provide more distance for those who don’t generate high swing speeds.

A 90 compression golf ball is the most common and most widely used offering a good median between the high and lower compression and controllability.

A 100 compression ball is used by those with harder faster golf swings with more club head speed.

For most golfers, a 90 compression ball with a Surlyn cover fits the bill quite nicely because of the durability, affordability, and the distance you’ll get. Beginners and novice players should always shop around and find good quality cheap golf balls to play with. If or until your game reaches a higher level of sophistication and lower handicap there is no need to be putting your money into the more expensive golf balls.

Cheap golf balls can fit your game for a long time to come.

Buying Used Golf Clubs

Buying yourself a good quality set of used golf clubs can certainly be the way to go for many golfers these days.

If you are a beginning golfer of one whom perhaps hasn’t fully immersed their self in the game of golf but still very much enjoys playing, and you certainly are quite ready for such a large investment in the top name brand clubs, then you should buy yourself a set of good quality used golf clubs.

In the past, used golf clubs may have conjured up thoughts of old worn out and dinged up clubs that someone was going to otherwise toss out. But that isn’t the case these days at all.

You can even get yourself a great set of used clubs from a top manufacturer such as Callaway Golf. And at the Calloway Golf Pre-Owned golf club website you can even pick from different levels of condition that will save you even more money on a great set of clubs. I can assure you.

Don’t let the fact that these clubs are used deter your thinking. These Callaway Golf Pre-Owned Clubs are top notch reconditioned golf clubs from a name in the golf industry you can trust. So if you budget is limited, this is the way to go.

Pinemeadow Golf.com is another good and reputable online golf shop. Pinemeadow Golf has a used, returned, and refurbished area at their online shop. This is certainly worth a look, and where you can find good bargains used golf clubs.

The internet has many places that you can find and buy used golf clubs. I mention the two above because I have dealt with both the Callaway Golf Pre-Owned and the folks and Pinemeadow Golf and recommend you give them a visit. No matter you choice, just make sure that you get a gracious return policy and an inspection or trial period for your clubs.

Stay away from stores that don’t offer these. No online purchase of used golf clubs should be final until you have had a reasonable time period to inspect and accept the purchase. And if you are not satisfied a full refund should also be part of their guarantee.

The question now that remains is; how do you know which used golf clubs are right for you and your golf swing?

Golf Wedges-How To Buy

Golf wedges over the past several years have become quite the tool for the golf bag.

New and creative designs and lofts have been the focus of many a golfer looking for that precision golf club to attack the flag.

Many players are riding their bags of the longer more difficult to hit irons in favor of a more specialty situation golf wedge.

And golf club manufacturers have obliged with an array of wedge designs tailored to fit just about any scenario within striking distance of the green.

Essentially wedges come in some basic flavors known as the pitching wedge, gap wedges, sand wedges, and lob wedges.

The more familiar are the pitching and sand wedges, the other types mentioned are sometimes referred to by their loft rather than by a specific name. For example, a lob wedge is often referred to a 60 degree wedge.

Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics and make up of the wedges to give you a bit more familiarity with them.

Before we do this however, I would suggest that if you are just taking up the game don’t worry much about acquiring specialty wedges outside of your pitching wedge, and a sand wedge. Generally when you buy a set of golf irons the package will include a pitching wedge.

A term that you may run across as you look at buying a golf wedge is the ‘bounce’ or the ‘bounce angle’ of the wedge. To give you an idea of this you will need to hold the wedge’s head up to eye level and note how the trailing edge of the club is lower than the leading edge of the blade. The angle formed by these as they relate to the ground or a flat surface is known as the bounce angle. This may seem insignificant to you, but it is this angle that allows the wedge to ‘bounce’ out of the sand or the heavy rough without having the blade dig into the surface.

Golf Wedge Characteristics

The basic Pitching Wedge will come with a loft of 45 to 49 degrees. The pitching wedge is used for ‘pitch’ shots around the green as well as a bit longer approach shots out to just over some 100yds. Of course, the maximum distance is only a general estimate.

The Gap Wedge gets its name as it fills the gap between a full pitching wedge shot and a full sand wedge shot. The loft of the gap wedge (49 to 54 degrees) gives the golfer the ability to hit a ‘full’ shot at a distance too long for the sand wedge and inside the distance of a full pitching wedge. This full shot capability at this distance gives the golfer the ability to put a good backspin on the ball and stop it cold near the flag with excellent accuracy.

The sand wedge normally has around 55 to 57 degrees of loft. The sand wedge is heavily weighted along the lower portion of the blade to help it maintain its forward momentum as it enters the sand. With a high bounce angle design the sand wedge is perfectly suited to slip through the sand and under the ball without the face digging into sand.

The lob wedge or the 60 degree wedge is a specialty golf club that has become quite popular. Although a higher loft, the lob wedge doesn’t have as large of flange as the sand wedge so it is not as suited for sand play.

The lob wedge with its’ 60 degree loft is well suited for those shot one must produce quick altitude over trouble with not much green to work with on the other side of the trouble. A quick lift off with a short soft landing is the lob wedge’s claim to fame.

The key to (and the difficult part) of the mastery of a lob shot is to take a near full swing at the ball all the while trusting the lob wedge to do its job. Most people run into problems with the lob shot by decelerating the club at the last second due to insecurity with the shot.

As your game progresses you will no doubt want to experiment with and learn many of the different shots you can produce to assault the flag stick with different golf wedges.

Remember though as you become more confident with your golf wedges… there is a 14 club limit to your bag!

The good folks over at Austad’s golf have a great selection (and great prices and sales) on wedges. You should take a minute to stop by and see what they’ve got and if they have a sale going on. Here’s a quick link to their golf wedges selection.

Golf Drivers-Your New Pal II

I rambled on a bit last time with getting you set up to the notion of using your driver and hopefully get you on a faster path to becoming good friends with your driver.

Let’s finish up.

Along with the low and slow take-away and not lifting the golf driver or cocking your wrists before they do so as a part of the natural motion of a correct golf swing, the must be some coordination and cooperation with your upper body and your hips.

You want these to parts of your body and your golf swing to work in harmony. So, as you begin your low and slow take-away you want to rotate your hips and your upper body in unison.

When your hips reach their maximum rotation away from the ball they’ll be at only about 45 degrees of what your ultimate shoulder turn will end up as. The key is (and I see this with so many that I work with) that you don’t want your upper body to get too far ahead of your hips or your hips not turn much at all.

If you don’t get your hips involved with the one piece take-away… they are going to eventually get in the way of the swing… force the club over the top of the swing path… and … well… bad things will happen.

Once you get to the top of your backswing your upper back will be coming close to actually facing your target… everyone’s flexibility is different… but the concept is you’ll create a natural torque between you feet, hips, and shoulders.

From the top of your swing you want to initiate the transition to the downswing by beginning your weight transfer with your feet and your leg drive from the inside of your back foot’s instep toward your front foot. Not… I repeat… NOT with your hands and arms.

The concept of making good contact with the golf ball with your golf driver is to think about sweeping the ball off the tee… not whacking at it. Remember in our lesson on golf swing help, I mentioned that with the driver, you will actually contact the ball on the slight upswing of your swing path.

If you’ve made a good transition with your weight from the top of your backswing and not fired the hands at the ball… you swing path approaching the ball will be on the same plane as your take-away.

Also, if you’ve accomplished the harmony of the one piece take-away and rotation of the hips and upper body, as you come into the hitting zone you’ll feel as though your body is behind the ball; your hips have rotated or cleared out of the way allowing the sweeping motion to take place.

Experiment when you are practicing with how high you tee up the ball.

I have found that when I work with people that if I tee the ball up higher than normal it at least makes them conscious of the fact that they are not going to be able to hit the ball with a descending blow… it’s tee’d too high! So, if nothing else if forces them to try to make contact with a sweeping motion instead of a ‘hitting’ motion.

Try it yourself on the range. If you’ve been hitting ‘at’ the ball, you’ll find this a bit awkward; but please stay with this concept until practice make permanent, and you’ll soon find a new friend in your golf driver.

Many times is the case that my friends over at Austad’s golf have great discounts and sales going on that really offer great value. You might want to take a quick minute to check and see what they have going on in terms of sales and discounts. Here’s a direct link to their golf drivers for ya.

Golf Drivers-Your New Pal

In our last discussion we talked about the tee shot and getting off to good start off. I may have this one a bit out of sequence for you… if so apologies… but today I want to discuss the golf driver and how to keep it as your friend.

First of all… and I speak with the folks I work with all the time… know when to use your driver off the tee. Tee box plus enough distance doesn’t always equal… pull my driver out of the bag and give it a rip.

Hey… even for all of us… sometimes your driver just refuses to show up. Remember… golf is a game of many parts and nuances… and it’s a game of scoring.

If you are not hitting off with your golf driver on a particular day… hit the club that gives you the best chance to put the ball in the fairway. This can be difficult I know… ego and all. But it’s the best decision for your game at that point in time.

Sure, hitting a good solid driver off the tee can set the tempo for the hole or even the day… but hitting bad drives off the tee with your driver can also set a different tempo and mood for the day as well.

Your goal with the any golf club off the tee is to get the shot in the proper location… the driver is no different. The goal of the driver is not unmitigated distance… we’ll work on your distance at another time. Getting the fundamentals of the driver and making consistent, solid contact that results in the ball landing in the fairway is the goal.

First of all, you must understand that since the driver is the club in your bag with the longest shaft it is going to be the most difficult to master. It’s just a physics thing… trust me. Knowing that the driver is the most difficult to and the most prone to error anyway will go a long way in keeping your frustration down. It’s tough club maintain a swing with… for everyone.

With the golf driver, you actually want to make contact with your golf ball on a slight upswing so as such you don’t want to do anything in your swing or mechanics that will promote hitting the golf ball with a descending blow.

With that in mind you want to position the ball just off the inside of your heel of your front foot. In other words, more forward in your stance than with your irons.

You backswing need to be low and slow… take the club back lower to the ground and maintain that low swing path until your arms begin the upswing naturally. Again, any type of lifting with hands or prematurely cocking of your wrist will only encourage a descending blow which is what we don’t want happening.

I can see that I’m getting a bit lengthy hear with the lesson, so what I am going to do is leave you with this thought process and mechanics and let you work on:

• Your approach to using your driver
• The set up to your ball
• The low and slow backswing with no premature lifting or wrist cocking

Let’s have you work on this and I want to next work with you on your hip and body turn and getting back to the hitting zone.

Befriending your driver conclusion next…

Driving A Golf Ball

Let’s talk about your tee shots and driving a golf ball. Next to putting, driving a golf ball is probably the most influential part of your golf game when it comes to how you score and your handicap.

First of all, remember this… your driver isn’t always the best club for you to hit. Now knowing this and being disciplined enough to keep the driver in the bag may be two different things. Don’t get me wrong…

If you’re driving the golf ball well, it’s the right choice. But don’t let your ego get involved in your score… here’s a few golf driving tips…

Approach each tee shot with a plan.

Pick out a spot where you want to play your next shot from then picture yourself hitting that spot. Remember, if you’re having an off day with your driver, hitting your 2nd shot from the fairway is much better than taking strokes to recover from a wayward drive. So, if you need to pick out a spot a club or two down from your driver then do so.

After you’ve stood behind your ball and picked out your target from the tee, then pick out a shorter intermediate target on your line that you can line yourself and your clubface up to. When you do this you accomplish a couple of positive things. Number one and most obvious is that you have confidence that your alignment is correct. And since you have been practicing your alignment you now have confidence in your perceived confidence!

Secondly, when it comes to driving a golf ball, there is a very beneficial side effect that picking out a shorter intermediate target has; it works for me and I continually see this work with those golfers I work with.

By picking an intermediate target you’ll find that you will take a lot of pressure off your swing. You won’t feel as though you have to ‘reach back for that little extra’ when driving a golf ball to get to your target. As such your rhythm and tempo will be better. You won’t have such a tendency to over swing; because you’re just trying to get your shot started down the line that you know is correct.

Rolled up, what all of this means is that you’ll provide the swing and let the club do the work instead of trying to get too much out both your swing and the club.

Remember the fairway is, over all, more important than extra distance.

The object here as we’ve discussed these tips is for you to stand on the tee box with a plan and with confidence. As part of your plan, you will pick out a target that coincides with where you want your tee shot to end up. This will trigger your focus and help eliminate other visual variables that the golf hole throws at you. Picking an intermediate target will help get you aligned and keep you swing within yourself know that the club will do good work when you allow it to do so.

Head off to practice now and continue on that rhythm and tempo thing… and just getting the ball started toward your target. You’ll soon find that you can have both good distance along with accuracy when driving a golf ball.

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