Slicing off the T

Hi all

I would say that 75% of my drives slice from the T, including my 3 and 5 woods also from the fairway.

I had a lesson and was told that my body is definately getting infront of my hands and that my downswing was too steep causing the out to in swing plane. Unfortunately i can not seem to cure this even tho i know whats wrong. Does anyone know of any good drills to perform to help ensure my downswing is in to out and to help my hands lead the downswing and not my body?

Many Thanks

I would suggest you concentrate on taking the club back straight (not to the inside) and keep it low for at least the first two feet of the back swing. A good way to achieve that is to push the club back with the left elbow. Make sure you make a full shoulder turn and, if possible, have someone look at you to make sure you don't lift your head. From there you may be able to forget everything and just let it happen. The downswing starts with the lower body but if you get into a good position at the top that is almost natural. Keep you head behind the ball!

Try doing the split grip drill. Basically just put your hands on the club and separate them so your left is at the stop of the drip and the right is at the bottom of the grip. Then just try and take the club back from that grip and it should naturally be on plane. Another thing I like to think of when I know my plane is off when driving is where the very tip of my driver (grip end) is pointing halfway through the backswing, if it points a little inside of the ball I know I'm on plane. So yeah, give those a whirl.

Agree with SinetBlue

My own view is that 75% of slicers do so not becuase they come OTT but because they take the club back too flat, in the misguided view they should swing the club around themselves like a baseball bat

Check the club when its parallel to the ground on the takeaway. The shaft should be parallel to the target line (i.e in front of your body) and your clubhead outside the hands. Then turn the shoulders 'up' so that at the top the shaft is above your shoulders. From there your arms wont get 'stuck' behind your hips on the downswing and you can have a free release to square the clubhead

If, like me, you had got used to taking the club inside, the backswing will feel way too steep, but stick with it

to get a more vertical swing plane, try swinging with the ball slightly below your feet
for a more horizontal swing plane, swing with the ball above your feet,
in both cases let the club swing "with" the inclination of the slope.
Ensure that you are not gripping too tightly on the tee also, this will prevent a proper release and cause your clubhead to come in open.

this drill seems to help me get on inside-out approach.


http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?mid=8&pid=623

hope that helps

Try the advice of KielJameson and hit a few balls with a split grip- try to separate them as much as possible on the grip. This is a good drill to teach you how to close the clubface and you'll find that you can't stop hooking the ball! If you still have trouble closing the clubface trough impact, try to hit the ball with the toe of the club (I'll bet you can't do it!).