WHAT IS A SLICE IN GOLF?
A slice in golf is the most common miss for amateur golfers. For a right-handed golfer, it is simply a shot that flies with a curvature to the trail side. Let's look a little more closely at this and the most common golf swing fault that most associate with a slice.
OVER THE TOP SLICE IN GOLF
Most amateur golfers have a swing plane that is horizontally shifted toward the lead side of the target line with a swing path that is working out to in at impact. That's the wordy definition of an over the top slice in golf, let's visualize what is happening through impact using the capture from my launch monitor below.
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Overhead view of the anatomy of a slice in golf. Click image to enlarge it.
Club face angle and path are what are most important here. The path of the golf club is traveling 2 degrees toward the lead side, or what is commonly referred to as "out to in" or "over the top". The club face angle at impact is 5.1 degrees open. This is effectively "cutting across the ball" with an open club face which causes the golf ball spin axis to tilt toward the trail side. Tools like the AI swing analyzer can measure your exact path and face angle numbers instantly, so you know precisely what you're dealing with.
GOLF BALL SPIN AXIS
The ball only spins in one direction and it spins around its axis. Many golfers believe that a ball has both backspin and sidespin, but this is simply not possible.
In the case of a slice, the spin axis will be tilted toward the trail side as can be seen below:
The spin axis of a golf ball that slices is titled to the right for a right handed golfer.
On this shot, the golf ball was spinning on an axis that was tilted 9.8 degrees toward the trail side. The spin axis is represented by the blue line. The more severe the slice in golf, the more this axis will be tilted. Understanding this relationship between face-to-path relationship and spin axis is fundamental to diagnosing your ball flight.
HOW TO FIX A GOLF SLICE
Step 1: Fix the Swing Plane
While the club face angle at impact is predominantly responsible for whether or not you slice the golf ball, fixing the club face angle alone won't help you fix your slice if your swing path is out to in.
If you have an over the top golf swing and square your clubface up to match your swing path, you will simply hit a big pull and end up miles toward the lead side of your target. Therefore, the process should be to fix your swing path and plane first. The GOAT Drill system specifically addresses the body sequencing patterns that create proper swing plane and eliminate out-to-in path tendencies at their root cause.
Once you fix your swing plane, fixing a slice in golf comes down to just one more thing - the club face.
Step 2: Fix the Club Face Angle
Once you have your swing path and plane straightened out, literally, you need to square up the club face angle to your path.
Learning how to control the club face can be done through multiple drills, depending on what your exact golf swing fault is.
How to fix a slice in golf comes down to just two things, plane and path.
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Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
