BALL FLIGHT AND YOUR SWING - PART 3

How to Fix Your Push Slice

When you put curve on the ball it’s due to side spin produced when the clubface looks in one direction while the clubhead path looks in another. For example for a right hander when the path of the club is pointing to the right of the target at impact and the face of the club aims to the right of where the path is pointing, then the ball starts to the right and spins or curves even father right - its called a push slice and its one of the worst errors you can have.

Please note that the actual path of your clubhead and the target line at impact are not always the same. If you think you are swinging along the target line but you are actually swinging across it from inside-to-out then your mis-understanding will make it difficult to choose the correct fix.

Ball Flight:  Push Slice

Some ball flight mistakes are ‘better’ than others - like the push hook where the ball ends up moving back toward the target. But the push slice is the one of the worst errors in golf, [right along side the dreaded pull hook] because the spin carries the ball away from the target. With the push slice if your clubface is 30 yards off line and the slice spin carries the shot another 40 yards off line then the combined error is 70 yards. This is the infamous right-to-right shot that few golf courses can contain  -- especially when the wind blows making the error even greater.

Where to Begin

You have two problems with the push slice i.e. [1] the path of your club is too much inside-to-out and [2] the clubface is open to the path. There are far too many causes of path and face problems to deal with them all here, but below is an example of how to proceed.

Fixing the path: Delay or slow your body turn during the downswing to give your clubhead the time it needs to move out from behind you and onto the target line. One way to do this is to make a setup change by increasing the flare in both feet. The more flare, the more hip turn and more hip turn makes your hips "effectively" slower because they have to travel farther.

Once the path is repaired its time to focus on the face using match ups that affect release. A video tape or a friend is handy to check if your clubface is open [toe pointing towards the ground] at the top of your swing. If it is, strengthen your top hand grip until you can swing to the top with the face pointing between the horizon and the sky [a square face]. If your face is correct and you are still slicing increase the amount of forearm rotation through impact – a little at first and then more if needed. And lighten your grip pressure a bit to make sure you’re letting your forearms rotate as they should.