Golf Slice

Alignment to the intended line of flight is paramount in great shot making. I see many people walk up to the ball without a pre-shot routine, and just draw back on the bow and let it go mentality. It's important to take a moment to realize your alignment has a dramatic effect on the direction of the ball, so make it a part of your routine, to check your alignment and you'll eliminate strokes from the score card. To the left, I use a piece of PVC pipe, as an alignment guide, to give my eyes a visual, to where my knees point in relation to my target line. I will proceed up to the hips and chest, to get a mental picture of what my body looks like at a proper address position. Do this with your golf club on the practice range frequently, so while on the golf course, you'll know instantly when you are aligned properly, just from the feel of all that practice.

From the waist or hip area, it's pretty easy to see the knees and toe line of my golf shoes line up with the pipe. I use the PVC pipe, because it is easier to line the body up as one level piece and easier to see in the picture for you. You can see the line in the grass, where the pipe was lying, which represents my intended line of flight, so I have aligned my toe line, knees and hips to that line in the grass. This is only after I have squared my club face behind the ball first to that target line in the grass. Then I proceed through the alignment process, squaring my body to the clubs leading edge. The leading edge must be pointing directly down that target line, before I commit to my setup. The next photo will be the last reference point of our alignment.

From the chest area is an overall check to see the toe line, knees, hips and shoulders are pointing down the fairway, all parallel to that one target line you see in the grass. It won't be difficult to visualize all this posture and alignment, once you have trained your eye to see it in practice. Never be shy or embarrassed, to use any training aids at the practice range… that's what and where you're suppose to use them. Some minimal practice really gets your eye trained to be aware of how and where you're standing in relation to the ball and target line. I might add that you should practice all of these positions, because it's not difficult to have your shoulders square to the target, but your feet and hips open left of the target. You'll know when you're square to the target by using this particular format in alignment at a few practice sessions. Remember to maintain a 35 degree tilt at the hips.

The proper alignment is one key to a proper set-up and this picture shows a good posture and balance at address. I will always hold my stance a little tall, in order to keep the club from sitting down into the heavy grass. Why allow the club to rest where it ends up below the ball in an already semi-difficult lie. The point of this photo is to demonstrate a good set-up and that you should concentrate on focusing to make a good turn from the ball. If the club rests deep in the ruff, it can snag in the grass causing you to hesitate and lose your focus during take away. Just when the time comes to pull the trigger, I'm going to allow my weight to gentle settle another inch down, then rotate back allowing the right hand, forearm and elbow to pull back to lead the rotation towards the top of my swing. This is when you really feel the upper back muscle group, right calf and thigh tighten up with power.

Now that you have made a tight turn to the top, this is the time to remember from all that practice time, drills and using the swing training aid that you remember to dig in with that right foot to push off to start the hip rotation. Some golfers use the right knee, by kicking it towards the ball as a trigger mechanism. I personally lightly squat down on that right foot's arch to really create a powerful hip rotation. Either way, you must start the downswing by rotating your hips in a half-circle motion, so they can lead the shoulders through impact. Your left rear pocket needs to find the position, pointing behind you to be in balance and to release the power you just created. This is a good indicator of proper hip rotation and weight transfer to the left side. Think of your hips and legs rotating left in a half-circle below you while you're trying to reach to your right the opposite direction. That is what helps to create maximum club head speed.

Once you begin the hip rotation to start the down swing, you won't see too much other than ball and feel the shoulders unwinding. This photo here shows that I have already made a big hip rotation and yet my shoulders are just beginning to show alignment with my target line. If you observe my left hip and left buttocks area, it shows that I have already cleared my hips to the left, which allows me to swing freely. This position is generating an inside-to-out swing, which produces a straight shot down the fairway adding a little draw. These three photos have demonstrated the proper set-up balance — take away, down swing and proper hip rotation. You won't slice from these positions. Practice these moves — use the swing trainer and the orange mallet.

Now that you observed the proper alignment setup and swing, let's look at what happens to a move in the take away with a poor shoulder movement. I think you get a good idea here what happens frequently to people when they lose focus. The photo left shows a shoulder tilt rather than rotation. It will push the hands outward before going up, resulting in an outside to in return. This return to the ball almost always cuts across the ball with the club face open and that's what gives you the golf slice. The rotation can only be a movement that resembles a turning of your hips, torso and shoulder, like they were in a barrel. Hips and legs should remain somewhat quiet, as they will rotate and shift naturally from the torque of the upper body. This is why you hear me talk about the right hand, forearm and elbow leading the turn.

With club in hand, you really begin to see the trouble you start to get into with this push or outside the target line take away. By the time my hands reach the back foot, my club head is a good two feet right of where it needs to be and simply won't make it back in time at the top of the swing, to do anything close to making an inside out path back to the ball. It just takes to much adjustment to attempt to re-route the club. The tilting of my shoulders has also allowed my left shoulder to dip down and this changes the swing plane. These two flaws in the take away, will force me to start my down swing by first turning my shoulder to the left. Once again, the Medicus Swing Trainer is very effective in teaching you the correct swing through mechanical feel and this is part of how you need to learn these basics.

Look at the difference of this shoulder turn verses the two prior photos. The golf shot is dramatic as well. This shoulder turn is a strong 90 degree turn with a strong knee flex. My feet are still planted firm to the ground, I'm in balance at the peak of the turn and have a good visual of where my ball is, because I'm looking over my left shoulder at the ball. The only thing left to execute here is to turn the hips left and let the power loose on the ball. I might want to grab a club as well, but I think you finally see the difference already. The point of this photo is to show you that turning your shoulders away from the ball is the only way to be consistent on swinging inside to out, which is how you are going to eliminate that ugly slice once and for all and for good.

The difference at the top is indicative of what we had with the pipe in our take away example. I'm in the same position here as before, except now I have the club. My shoulders are again at a 90 degree turn and the club shaft is on a good plane, inline with my two shoulders. The result of this position will produce the desired inside out swing path towards the ball and not cut across the ball. It will send the ball straight towards my pre-determined target — and that's the name of the game. You can practice at home with a broom across your chest to get used to making a solid shoulder turn. I like to warm up this way before heading to the golf course, alternating with the broom handle behind my back and under the arm pits. Hold on to the handle as far down the broom each side you can and just rotate the shoulders right then back left easy… this stretches the muscles and reinforces the big turn.

I have explained throughout my articles, to begin your take away or back swing, use a hammering effect which forces you to make the big shoulder turn and that helps you to drive the nail. This picture is the best as I can use to simplify that move. Practice as if you were going to actually hit a ball. Don't skimp on set-up, posture and balance as if it didn't matter. It's all part of the muscle memory process, which means it all has purpose. Set-up to a tree, telephone pole or any post, as you would to a golf ball, and use a hammer or mallet, as shown. The left arm is out of the drill, but the back of the hand needs to rest comfortably against the post. It will help you to maintain good swing posture. Use the back of that hand to push against the post while turning your shoulders away from the post. This helps your turn.

Here again my posture is where it needs to be, the hammer is level with my shoulders and my balance is secure with both feet still flat on the ground. I have demonstrated the big shoulder turn, which is the purpose of the drill. Before the down swing occurs, you want to know that your weight has transferred to the right foot's instep and you have the feeling you can push off it like it was in a starting block. This provides a powerful turn to the left and keeps you in control through muscle memory. The left hip will lead the downswing and zero turning from this top position is acceptable at this point in the swing. You should notice my right elbow is close to my side and pointing downward. When it flies out next to you, you're in a casting position which is one more reason, why you create another golf slice.

The down swing begins with that lower rotation of the hips and legs. You can see that once the hip has led the way back to the post or golf ball, I can now swing and finish the shot. At impact you will see my left rear pocket has turned and is now facing behind me as well as the hips. This is optimum for proper shot making from the outside in swing path. This drill will give you great mental imagery when your not able to go to the practice range, and don't forget to back it up with the use of the house broom. Practice… Practice… Practice is how we all eliminate the slice from our golf game and after a couple weeks of using these drills, you should see some real improvement in the score card in addition to a boost in your confidence.

This is a great drill while on the driving range or you can practice on the lawn out in the yard. The purpose of this drill is to develop a sensation to how it feels to have your weight transfer from one side to the other. It's not complicated and shouldn't be, of course. You simply want to step on the right foot and swing the club back to 8 or 9 o'clock. Then step onto the left foot and swing through. That's not a difficult drill, but what it does do is to help you with timing, balance and hand-eye coordination. It can show you the pieces of the puzzle you thought made this game so difficult. It will show you that while doing this, you are not turning your shoulders, so now the coordination begins to develop the timing to accomplish the entire puzzle.

You really won't get the complete 100% of your weight on the right foot at impact. Practicing is different than actually playing. The average you'll get is actually around 75% to 80%. You want to get into this position while still being in balance. It's not about just step and swing. Balance and timing are everything in every sport and this one is no different. My center of gravity is over the ball where it needs to be, hands are slightly ahead of the ball at impact, making for clean contact with the ball. Your wrists should roll over each other at impact closing the club face. Remember, this is a drill to promote weight shifting from left to right — it is very important to practice weight transfer at any skill level. Timing, balance and a good shoulder turns are the results of these drills and a good foundation towards better golf.

Another swing thought you should remember is you need to maintain the sternum or center of your chest over the ball at impact. This photo illustrates balance, weight shift and center of gravity all on the same swing. The PVC pipe simply shows where the chest position is and not out in front of the ball. As you focus more and more on this drill, you begin to see that there are several sections of the body that need to be in sync in order to execute each type of shot properly. If the sternum is too far back, you'll hit fat behind the ball and slice to the right. If you're too far forward at impact, you don't get the hands turned over and usually dig in behind the ball and chunk so bad you'll rattle your skeleton. Center represents good balance, and weight transfer is what creates a powerful inside out swing with no slices in sight.