How to lose your slice

By: Golf Guru

Most golfers slice. I've yet to meet a golfer that enjoyed slicing the ball because a slice feels ugly and looks ugly. That jarring feeling you get at impact tells you even before you look up that the ball is going to slide weakly off to the right. It doesn't go very far and it usually ends up in a part of the course you don't want to be.
You may have had the experience when you have hit the ball out of the sweet spot. You'll know why it is called sweet.You look up and see the ball fly straight and true 25 plus yards further than the sideways slider you normally hit.If you have had this experince it will have happened by accident. You can't find the sweet spot of the club face with a slicer's grip! It just doesn't happen.

OK – I am not going to promise you that you will hit every shot sweet and straight but I can assure you that if you work through the two stage “cure” below you will hit the ball better and slice it less often.

Before we get to the first stage here's what you need to understand first of all.

It is your grip that is the most probable cause of your slice. I have watched thousands of golfers over 40 years of playing and teaching and I would say 95% of golfers who slice have a grip problem.
More specifically it is the golfer's left hand that is the culprit.Open the left hand of a slicer and you will probably see the grip lies ACROSS the palm. The butt end of it is up near their wrist. When they take their grip their left wrist aligns either directly over the club or to the left of the left of the club. The club has to be held this way because of where it is held in the golfer's palm. And it means they will swing the club back and through to impact with the club face pointing to the right of where the club head is swinging. That means they will slice. The slice is programmed into their swing because of their grip. I have stood in front of thousands of golfers, looked at their grip and thought, “ They are going to slice.” I am not right all the time but I 'd score 19/20.

So now you are ready for stage 1 of the cure.

The first thing to change is where the club is positioned in your palm. When you do that you will be able to align your hand correctly with the club. In turn this will mean you can swing back and through returning the club face squarely to the ball at impact. That means you won't slice the ball. It will mean you can find the sweet spot in the club face. With a slicers grip you can't. It is that simple.

Start by holding the club with your right hand up in front of you at waist height
Turn your left hand palm up. Make a hook with your forefinger and wrap it round the club.Position the grip across that fleshy pad at the base of your fingers and then wrap your fingers around the club. There is a test you can now apply – you should see that there is a fleshy pad at the base of you palm sitting ON TOP of the club. The club is wedged under it and you are holding it there with your fingers. If you leave your forefinger round the club but take the other three fingers off the club you should find the club is still wedged under that fleshy pad. Your thumb is positioned on the grip to the right of centre.
Now look down at your wrist joint. The right side of the joint is on the right of the club and the joint runs diagonally across the grip. If you are holding the club up directly in fron of you you should see that the line made by your thumb and forefinger is pointing to the right side of your head.
There is another test to find if the club is held in the right part of your palm and if your hand is correctly aligend to the club.
You should find you can lever the club up and down with ease. With a slicers grip you would not be able to do this.
For your right hand the club should be held at the base of your fingers. Cover your left thumb with the life line of your right hand. See that the line made by your thumb and forefinger is pointing up your right arm to your shoulder and that it is parallel to the thumb - forefinger line of your left hand.

What I've just described is the ideal – a perfect hold on the club. If it feels and looks different to what you are used to you will need to spend up to a month taking this 'new' grip until it feels natural. That will seem a long time and will take a considerable amount of patience and discipline on your behalf but the end result will be worth it. You won't slice – isn't that worth the time and effort?

Now for stage two. I am going to describe a drill, an exercise in which you train your arms and hands to “behave” in a certain way. With your old slicers grip you would struggle to be able to do this because your hands would literally not be able to do it.
The drill is an old one but it will give you immediate feedback for how your arms and hands should move as you swing.
Take your new left hand grip. Then take your right hand grip but with your hands apart so that there is an inch between them. Make some slow motion swings back and through paying particular attention to how your hands and arms move through impact. Your should feel your right arm is rotating over your left as the club moves through and past where a ball would be. Swing slowly enough and you should see it happen. I am sure for most of you this movement will feel unusual and rather awkward at first. If you can, hit some 7 iron shots with the split hand grip but only at half your normal swing speed. If you find the ball flies straight and true you will be encouraged. Build up speed so you reach three quarter speed. I am sure you will notice a difference in the contact with the ball and also how the ball flies when it gets airborne.
For this drill to change the way you swing the club I would recommend you get into a daily workout of 50 swings with the split hand grip. As soon as it feels natural you should cut back to 25 swings a day. By then your slice will be how you USED to hit the ball. You will have a grip that will allow you to hit the ball squarely out of the sweet spot and then all you will have to do is figure out how much further you hit the ball.
And that won't be such a bad thing – will it?

Article Source: http://www.bettergolfarticles.com

My name is Paul Hartstone. I am a member of the NZPGA. I think the grip is by far the most important fundamental. I have seen so many golfers try to play golf with a poor grip - quite frankly they are wasting their time. It's the reason I designed and developed the Griperfect gloves. The gloves guide the golfer so they can take the same perfect grip again and again. Go to www.aagolf.net to get yourself a pair. The conform to USGA rules The R and A have deemed they do not breach the rules.

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