The Slot??

I was playing a nice round of golf today (91 whoot!) and one of the guys I was playing with told me I was not useing the "Slot" in my down swing. What is this slot?? How do I know if am hitting it??

Wow - that's a pretty cryptic piece of advice to give without giving an explanation! A bit more advanced than the standard "Keep your head down" advice that my friends always dish out...

I'm not a pro - just a humble hacker, so I could be wrong, but he was probably talking about making the first move down from the top of your swing by dropping your right elbow towards your right hip (assuming you're a righty).

I think it was Harvey Penick (very famous golf instructor) who came up with this idea in his Little Red Book - if you think of putting your right elbow in your right pocket as the first move down from the top of your swing while moving your weight to the left, then it stops you from coming over the top and slicing the ball. You then complete your swing from this position - it enables you to hit a powerful shot from the inside.

I used to be a cronic slicer, but this piece of advice along with slowing down my backswing and transition turned me into a hooker!

I think Harvey Penick called it the "Magic Move". If you were slicing the ball that day, it's probably why the guy mentioned it...

The slot is not really a slot ... why the hell 'the slot' has become a golfing term, I have no idea. All and bloody sundry from the Sunday hackers to everyone's golfing buddy (including some teaching pros) talk about "the slot" and tell their mates say "drop the club into the slot" but they haven't a clue what the slot actually is and where it is. Next time... ask them to explain "the slot to you and how it changes through golfers and clubs."

But to answer your question, when you move the club down through the downswing there is an ideal path it should follow - that ideal path is what golfers call "the slot".

Now, problem being: every golfer has a different ideal swing path depending on their swing characteristics, physical characteristics and the shot they want to execute. Each club has a different "slot" ... and so on and so forth. There is no one "slot" and there's where the uknowledgeable become unstuck.

My advice: if anyone mentions the "slot" to you again, take your 3-iron and shove it down their throat and then ask them to explain "the slot" to you and how it changes from golfer to golfer and from club-to-club.

"The Slot" - as you can see is one of my pet peeves. It's one of those very complicated golfing motions many amateurs bunt around liberally without actually having a clue what they are talking about. (Most of the time! )

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

Well, this golfer of told me I was not hitting the slot shot a 99 and I a 91. I really don't care what the hell other people think of my golf swing. If it can get little white ball to little hole on the green then I am happy! But I love talking to all ya'll GTOers about golf and how to fix swing stuff.....I like it alot

I think the slot they talk about is for people who use a two plane golf swing. once they have finished their one peice takeaway about hip high their club goes to a higher plane, their hands finish just above their right shoulder. If they don't drop their hands to the lower hip to hip plane they will have an outside to in swing path, which causes slices and pulls. The slot for these players is where they drop their arms down to the hip to hip plane, from there they can power through the impact zone with everything they got and not leave the plane.

For people who use a one swing plane, they don't have a slot, they don't need to drop the club down to the hip to hip plane. They never leave it. Their hands at the top of the swing will be outside their right shoulders. I use a one swing plane, i concertrate on up the line, then down the line swing. no slots to worry about.

Touchy about that one I see Graham

Just to add fuel to the fire my coach talked about the slot. It was the correct position at the top of your backswing.
What you explained as the slot to me is called the groove. The correct swing plane (in the groove).
Wonder what other terminology is different country to country/coach to coach

Absolutely - nothing better when someone starts telling you about your swing faults than to beat them by 8 strokes! You should have turned to him at the end and said "so which slot should I use to score a 99?!?!"