Among the most common errors I see in teaching
at the PGA Tour Golf Academy are shots that curve
to the right for right-handed golfers. This so-called
"banana ball" ends up costing distance,
direction and the player's patience.
When I ask students what causes a slice, they
almost always say, "The clubface is open
at impact," which is correct. Ironically,
most players know what is causing their slice,
but they continue to hit more slices. Here are
two ideas to help you tone down that slice and
even turn your ball flight into a draw.
Grip
The first step to fixing the clubface angle at
impact is to correct your grip. I would recommend
making your grip stronger, which means both hands
are turned to the right for a right-handed golfer.
You will see the Vs formed between the thumb and
first finger point toward the right shoulder.
This grip change alone will make a big difference
in fixing your slice.
Left Hand
The second influence to the clubface angle is
the left hand. Take your left arm and extend it
in front of your body with your left hand positioned
as if holding the grip. Position your left hand
so that the back side of the hand is flat. Next,
take your left hand and rotate it to the right
so the knuckles are facing the sky. Now, go the
other way so that the left hand is turned left
so the knuckles are facing the ground. Of the
two, you will want to feel the knuckles rotating
toward the ground both during the backswing and
follow-through.
These two components will influence the clubface
to rotate faster during the swing and provide
a better chance of squaring up the face at impact.
Often when fixing the clubface, you will go from
a slice to a pull (shot starts left of the target
and continues in that direction). This is a good
sign, as the clubface is no longer open, but the
clubhead's path is moving from outside the
target line to inside. Remember, historically
the clubface has been open and over time you have
learned to swing down from the outside, pulling
the ball to the left. With the new square to closed
clubface, you are now ready to contact the ball
with the clubhead approaching from inside the
target line. Here's how to make this happen.
Tilt
At address take your spine and tilt it away from
the target. For a right-handed golfer, this means
the spine will tilt to the right. In doing this,
you move the hips slightly to the left as a counter
balance. This tilt in the spine will set the right
shoulder and hip slightly lower than the left.
Drive It To Right
Field
With the new clubface angle and a tilted spine
at address, you are ready to swing the clubhead
out toward right field on an imaginary baseball
diamond, with the ball sitting on home plate.
This will be a strange feeling since you have
been fearful of the right-hand side of the course
because of the open clubface. Remember, you now
have a new clubface angle and the luxury of using
a more powerful swing path to take advantage of
the new face angle.
When fixing a slice, it is usually better to
start by correcting the clubface first and then
the path. So focus on the grip and left-hand motion
first to eliminate the slice. Then when the slice
is gone, tilt the spine away from the target and
swing toward right field. If you do everything
as described, the shot will draw back nicely into
the middle of the fairway.
