Brian Manzella
Administrator
Never Slice Again
By Brian Manzella
Do you slice? Most golfers do. Even some people who hit the ball right-to-left are just slicers with enough compensation to turn the ball the other way. Believe it or not, fixing a slice is usually pretty easy. Often, one can make a permanent improvement in the first lesson. It’s easy, because there is only one thing that must be done correctly to correct the problem. Most golfers have no idea what it is or how to do it.
Why do you think you slice, because you come ‘over-the-top’? Reverse Pivot? Cut across the ball? ‘Hang back’ on your back foot, etc.?
Nope. You may do one or all of the above, but these ‘flaws’ don’t cause the slice, you do them because you slice.
You slice, because the clubface is too open. Period. Fix the clubface, and the slice goes bye-bye forever. The compensations will often also go away quickly when they are no longer needed.
The first step is to take any compensation out of your grip. You want a classic neutral grip (see AutoSuccess Magazine Sept. 03). Once this is done, you want to learn the all-important motion of the right wrist. Holding the club out in front of you, with the shaft level to the ground and the score lines vertical to the ground (PIC 1),
move the clubhead backward by bending the right wrist straight back while you bend the right elbow toward you. Your hands should stay directly in front of you as you do this (PIC 2).
If you do this correctly, the shaft will stay parallel to the ground, and the clubface will remain vertical to the ground. This is exactly the motion your hands should do during the backswing.
Most golfers incorrectly ‘cock’ their right wrist, which immediately bends the left wrist (PIC 3).
This ‘double wristcock’ puts the clubface in a toe down position at the top, with a bent left wrist and a flat right wrist (PIC 4),
the exact opposite of the correct hand conditions at impact.
By bending the right wrist and twisting the clubface away from you as you swing the club to about chest high on the backswing (PIC 5),
you put the clubface in a far less open position. The completed backswing should have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist, with the clubface ‘matching’ the angle of the left wrist and arm (PIC 6).
Often, this ‘twist-away’, results in a slightly arched left wrist at the top. But that’s not a bad position to be in as you learn to make your hands do the opposite of what they were doing before.
A key element to this slice cure is to ‘hold the twist’ into the downswing. The clubface should look away from you halfway down, just as it did halfway back.
Often, these adjustments will fix the slice by themselves. But, most golfers need the further ‘insurance’ of a proper swivel of the hands as the club travels to the finish after impact. Through impact your left wrist needs to remain flat and your right wrist bent (PIC 7).
The clubface needs to turn toward the ground past the ball on the way to pointing toward the target. This swivel position should consist of a still flat left wrist and a ‘fully rolled’ whole left arm (PIC 8).
As the club nears the finish the left thumb should be under the club, and the left forearm should point straight toward the ground.
After making these adjustments, most slicers will be ex-slicers who need an improved impact position to keep from hitting the ball too right to left, a problem that most slicers would love to have.
Next month, we will learn to lag the clubhead and really compress the ball through impact, just like the pros.
Brian Manzella is a PGA Teaching Professional. He can be contacted at 866.873.0036, or visit www.brianmanzella.com.
By Brian Manzella
Do you slice? Most golfers do. Even some people who hit the ball right-to-left are just slicers with enough compensation to turn the ball the other way. Believe it or not, fixing a slice is usually pretty easy. Often, one can make a permanent improvement in the first lesson. It’s easy, because there is only one thing that must be done correctly to correct the problem. Most golfers have no idea what it is or how to do it.
Why do you think you slice, because you come ‘over-the-top’? Reverse Pivot? Cut across the ball? ‘Hang back’ on your back foot, etc.?
Nope. You may do one or all of the above, but these ‘flaws’ don’t cause the slice, you do them because you slice.
You slice, because the clubface is too open. Period. Fix the clubface, and the slice goes bye-bye forever. The compensations will often also go away quickly when they are no longer needed.
The first step is to take any compensation out of your grip. You want a classic neutral grip (see AutoSuccess Magazine Sept. 03). Once this is done, you want to learn the all-important motion of the right wrist. Holding the club out in front of you, with the shaft level to the ground and the score lines vertical to the ground (PIC 1),
move the clubhead backward by bending the right wrist straight back while you bend the right elbow toward you. Your hands should stay directly in front of you as you do this (PIC 2).
If you do this correctly, the shaft will stay parallel to the ground, and the clubface will remain vertical to the ground. This is exactly the motion your hands should do during the backswing.
Most golfers incorrectly ‘cock’ their right wrist, which immediately bends the left wrist (PIC 3).
This ‘double wristcock’ puts the clubface in a toe down position at the top, with a bent left wrist and a flat right wrist (PIC 4),
the exact opposite of the correct hand conditions at impact.
By bending the right wrist and twisting the clubface away from you as you swing the club to about chest high on the backswing (PIC 5),
you put the clubface in a far less open position. The completed backswing should have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist, with the clubface ‘matching’ the angle of the left wrist and arm (PIC 6).
Often, this ‘twist-away’, results in a slightly arched left wrist at the top. But that’s not a bad position to be in as you learn to make your hands do the opposite of what they were doing before.
A key element to this slice cure is to ‘hold the twist’ into the downswing. The clubface should look away from you halfway down, just as it did halfway back.
Often, these adjustments will fix the slice by themselves. But, most golfers need the further ‘insurance’ of a proper swivel of the hands as the club travels to the finish after impact. Through impact your left wrist needs to remain flat and your right wrist bent (PIC 7).
The clubface needs to turn toward the ground past the ball on the way to pointing toward the target. This swivel position should consist of a still flat left wrist and a ‘fully rolled’ whole left arm (PIC 8).
As the club nears the finish the left thumb should be under the club, and the left forearm should point straight toward the ground.
After making these adjustments, most slicers will be ex-slicers who need an improved impact position to keep from hitting the ball too right to left, a problem that most slicers would love to have.
Next month, we will learn to lag the clubhead and really compress the ball through impact, just like the pros.
Brian Manzella is a PGA Teaching Professional. He can be contacted at 866.873.0036, or visit www.brianmanzella.com.
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