Why does my ball slice?

["Richard"]

What makes my ball slice? I'm so scared to use my 3 wood when I go golfing because its usually a pretty bad slice. (70-100 yards right of centre) and its usually in a tree or water... whatever may be the case. Its not so bad at the range but its out of control at the course. What should I do?

[beatnik58]

Do some research on an "over the top" move or "casting" or "reverse pivot". These are the most common explanations, especially if you are new to the game.

IMHO. Take some lessons before these tendencies become habits. It will shorten your learning curve and get you hitting the ball straight much faster than if you try to correct your swing faults yourself.

["Richard"]

yeah, i guess I will book something at kevin haime. How many lessons should I take?

[Big Johnny69]

Unless anyone here sees your swing it will be tough to diagnose your slice issue. I have a fade, sometimes slice, and I know it is because I hit the ball with an open club face. But for another it could be they are coming over the top and across the ball. Some people slice because their shaft is too stiff. So it could be many reasons. The only way to determine the cause would be to have a very good experienced player or CPGA pro look at your swing. Hope this helps.

[gronker]

I think Kevin Haime's offers packages of 3. I try to do this every year. That way, you get together with the pro, work on improving some fundamentals. Then you go out and golf and work on things and then book your next lesson about 2-3 weeks later. then go back and work on more things etc. Just my 2 cents...

[mberube]

yeah, i guess I will book something at kevin haime. How many lessons should I take?

If you take lessons make sure you are willing to practice your hart out. The best way to spend money for nothing is to take three lessons in 6 weeks unless you practice everyday. Take a lesson and practice what he tells you to do until it becomes natural to you. Don’t go back until it does.

The worst thing amateurs do is work on too many things. They don’t stick to what they are trying to learn. Keep it simple. Stay focused on one or two thing max.

Second, take notes of what the pro tells you. Take notes of every lesson. You will eventually need to remember your first lesson. You paid for the lesson why not make a scrapbook out of it.

A GOOD Pro will hate noticing that you did not do your homework. Your first lesson will be overwhelming so don’t be afraid to ask questions and take notes.

[Andru]

On the road again,....
I just can't wait to get on the road again......
Seeing things that I may never see again....
Oh I can't wait to get on the road again.....

Like this song everything should be so simple. I've sent you a PM with everything you'll ever need. Ask Mberube if I'm lying.

Cheers

[mberube]

On the road again,....
I just can't wait to get on the road again......
Seeing things that I may never see again....
Oh I can't wait to get on the road again.....

Like this song everything should be so simple. I've sent you a PM with everything you'll ever need. Ask Mberube if I'm lying.

Cheers

It depends! I need to see the PM!

[Andru]

It depends! I need to see the PM!

You know exactkly what i'm talking about it's probably the only thing we agree on

I'm working on Program TWO I know I'm moving slow but the book says to progress only when you're absolutely perfect. My game has gone to a new level of consistency in the last 2 weeks. I use to hit 100 balls a day. Now I spend less than 15 min hitting balls. Which is great because I can spend more time working on my short game now.

[mberube]

You know exactkly what i'm talking about it's probably the only thing we agree on

I'm working on Program TWO I know I'm moving slow but the book says to progress only when you're absolutely perfect. My game has gone to a new level of consistency in the last 2 weeks. I use to hit 100 balls a day. Now I spend less than 15 min hitting balls. Which is great because I can spend more time working on my short game now.

I stopped the program cause I hurt my foot sparring in TaeKwonDo this winter. I am starting program 1 again next week.

[HiG4s]

Do some research on an "over the top" move or "casting" or "reverse pivot". These are the most common explanations, especially if you are new to the game.

IMHO. Take some lessons before these tendencies become habits. It will shorten your learning curve and get you hitting the ball straight much faster than if you try to correct your swing faults yourself.

I must agree, I played for 20 years before I took a lesson, just living with the slice and aiming left all the time.. It has taken 8 years and three sets of lessons to get rid of it, and still, when having a bad day I will occasionally fall back to the old swing. I wish I would have corrected it in the begining.

To paraphrase something W C Fields said about Bobby Jones..

Tiger Woods doesn't impress me, it's easy to shoot low with his swing, I'd like to see him try it with mine.

[broken27]

What makes my ball slice? I'm so scared to use my 3 wood when I go golfing because its usually a pretty bad slice. (70-100 yards right of centre) and its usually in a tree or water... whatever may be the case. Its not so bad at the range but its out of control at the course. What should I do?

What you describe here happens to me quite often. I'll hit a pre-round bucket, with maybe 5-10 bad balls in the whole thing. Then, I spend my entire round scratching my head wondering "WTF is up???"

It's not range balls that make the difference, it's attitude. I find I increase my "swing effort" level by about 10% when playing in a game situation. It's because I get excited. At the range, I get bored, and thus am very able to keep myself in control.

On the course, there's targets, and yardage signs, and a scorecard in my pocket that make me want to hit it farther than I realistically can. I overswing, and get slice. And we're not talking a little over-exaggerated fade, we're talking full out banana shots.

This year I've been calm, and approach golf more as a zen thing (corny, but it works), and I've been scoring consistently much lower than last season.

Dan

["Richard"]

Dan, I'm going out again tomorrow (yes the canadian again) and I'm going to try that. I swing right out of my shoes so instead of an 8 iron at 155 I'm going to use a 7 iron and give it a nice regular swing. I'l do that with my 3 wood as well

[broken27]

Dan, I'm going out again tomorrow (yes the canadian again) and I'm going to try that. I swing right out of my shoes so instead of an 8 iron at 155 I'm going to use a 7 iron and give it a nice regular swing. I'l do that with my 3 wood as well

I'd be willing to bet that you'll have a lot more fun and achieve better scores if you stick to this idea... But it's still fun to take the Barry Bonds swing every once in a while...

Dan

["Richard"]

It worked, I played par golf over 5 holes. I had a boogie, par, par birdie boogie (+1). instead of using a gap wedge from 105 I used my Pitch instead and put it right next to the hole. Its so much easier to play golf when you aren't swinging so hard shot a 42 on the back 9... best score this year (front nine was BRUTAL)