Correcting A Golf Slice On The Practice Range

Correcting a golf slice on course is not easy since the pressure of hitting the fairway or the green is too great to enable you to relax and work it out. The practice range is the best place to correct your slice since you can try out several small adjustments till you get it just right.

Most golfers slice the ball sometimes, and when it happens you shouldn’t panic. Just keep in mind what causes it and you should be able to resolve it, given time. If you start to slice during a round you can get by through a slight adjustment, such as strengthening your grip by holding the club slightly more clockwise than normal. This will do temporarily, and if this doesn’t work, try aiming further left.

Sometimes you Have to Break the Rules

“What? You’re not supposed to do that!”, I can hear you yell. But hold on just a minute. This is emergency time. You are in the middle of a round with no time to practice and you have just tried a stronger grip without success. “Needs must when the devil drives” or so they say, and a very appropriate saying that is. It means do what is necessary to solve the problem, no matter how wrong it seems.

After your round, correct your slice properly on the practice range. Check your stance. It should be as wide as your shoulders, but feel comfortable. Your shoulders themselves should be lined up towards the target as should your hands. You grip is important in ensuring that you don’t slice. The back of your left hand should point at the target with the back of the right hand in the opposite direction.

Practice and Adjust – then Practice Again

Play a few practice shots and if you are still slicing adjust your grip slightly around the club. When you are hitting the ball either the club face has not quite turned enough to be square to the ball, or it is square and you are hitting across the ball. The adjustments you make to correct the slice are designed to resolve either of these two problems.

Hence, if you grip the club slightly more clockwise than normal, you will turn the club face round to the left slightly so that it is squarer to the ball when you hit it. Adjusting your stance simple by moving your feet more in the direction of the target should stop you from hitting across the ball.

Watch Your Shoulders

Another problem that can cause you to swing across the ball is lifting your left shoulder during the swing This will pull your swing across the ball, as would rotating your chest past the ball before you hit it. These are all problems that you can work at on the practice range. There is little you can do about such faults during your round.

If you can visualize what is happening when you slice the ball you will recognize the two situations whereby the club face can impart clockwise spin on ball, and the various faults in your grip, stance and swing mechanics that can create these situations. Correcting a golf slice is simply a matter of correcting these faults, and this is best done on the driving range where you can test a number of adjustments to your stance, grip and swing.