In curing my slice...

...I seem to have developed a new problem

Let me explain. In recognising that my slice largely came from swinging the club on an out-to-in path, I have been able to largely remove this from my game by having a mental point of taking the club face 'away' from the ball on a slightly inside path, rather than thinking about lifting it 'up and away' more steeply.

One way of doing this is, as I take the club away, I also drop my left shoulder a little. This stops me playing the out-to-in shot.

However, I've started topping the ball much more than I used to, and though I'm hitting it vastly straighter, I'm hitting more duffed shots. Is this due to dropping the shoulder? Can anyone suggest an improvement?

Check whether you are dipping your left shoulder and creating a reverse pivot. This will create duffed and thinned shots. Look at this picture and see if it's what you are doing? If so work more on a one piece takeaway.

The above images may be pertinent. However, dropping the shoulder could well be the source of your problems. Because of the natural spine angle in set up, it seems as if your left shoulder 'drops' under your chin. In fact, it's just a consequence of rotation - the level of your left shoulder in relation to, say, your hips should remain about the same.

If you are forcing your left shoulder down, the likelihood is that you're then raising the left shoulder in order to help clear the left side. Unless you time this perfectly, you will either clunk or top a lot of shots.

What has probably cured your slice is a greater arc on the backswing. When you sliced, did you feel 'cramped' through the ball. This would happen with a very compact (i.e. too narrow) backswing as you then try to generate power on the downswing. You probably came too steep into the ball with the hands well ahead of an open club face and no real 'space' in which to release the club naturally.