Another 'slicing driver' thread

[Ian_S]

With my irons I tend to hit a slight draw, and my usual miss is a push. As I understand it, that means I hit with an in-to-out swing path.

When I take my driver though, I seem to be hitting push-slices. Again, what I know of ball flight tells me my clubface is open relative to my in-out swingpath. Obviously, straightening my swingpath out will help but I still need to get that face squared up.

Any hints/tips to help me get that clubface square? I know what I need to do, but don't seem to be able to do it.

 

[JustOne]

When I take my driver though, I seem to be hitting push-slices. Again, what I know of ball flight tells me my clubface is open relative to my in-out swingpath. Obviously, straightening my swingpath out will help but I still need to get that face squared up.

You lost me there.....

If you straighten your swingpath the ball will slice MORE as the face is already open... you need to swing OUT more or close the face a little.

 

[Ian_S]

You lost me there.....

If you straighten your swingpath the ball will slice MORE as the face is already open... you need to swing OUT more or close the face a little.

I'm assuming (rightly or wrongly) that if I do nothing about the clubface that I'll keep the same or similar path-face difference.

 

[JustOne]

Ok... you said you are hitting push-slices, we could call them big push-fades if you like

....so as it's a PUSH then the ball is starting to the right so the clubface must be pointing that way as you impact the ball.

If your path was swinging out as much as the face then the ball would fly straight right... if your path was more out than the face then the ball would draw, and if your path was more in (or left) of the face then the ball is going to fade or slice....

So a perfectly straight swingpath with a slightly open face is going to fade or slice. so you have 3 choices, change the face a little, the path a little, or a bit of both.

If you close the face a bit it (keeping the path as is) will slice less until you get to a point where you're hitting hooks!

If you swing out more (keeping the face as is) then you'll straighten out your slice but you will still be hitting the ball to the right as that's where your face is pointing.... you'd need to start swinging out quite a bit more than you are in order to get the ball to draw with an open clubface.

So ideally (making sure your alignment is correct first) you would close the face a fraction so it's not pointing so far right and then work on getting your path a little more OUT.

does that make sense?

working on your path often isn't easy... so the quickest 'fix' is to close the face a bit so there isn't such a big differential between the path and the face at impact ( = less curvature spin imparted = less slice)

 

[Heidi]

video please!
no idea what your doing wrong!!

 

[Ian_S]

So ideally (making sure your alignment is correct first) you would close the face a fraction so it's not pointing so far right and then work on getting your path a little more OUT.

does that make sense?

Yep, so far, so sensible. Now, how do I do that?

EDIT: Just to make clear, I know 'closing the face' is, in theory, easy, my hands seem to open the face regardless of how I set-up. It could even be my hands are closing the club but are behind the rest of my swing so at impact the face is open.

 

[JustOne]

Now, how do I do that?

I added this to my last reply...


Working on your path often isn't easy... so the quickest 'fix' is to close the face a bit so there isn't such a big differential between the path and the face at impact ( = less curvature spin imparted = less slice)

if you close the face a little the ball will start a little more left (as it's now pointing a bit more left) but it also SHOULDN'T slice as much because you've narrowed the difference between the path and face.

if you start hitting the ball dead straight but a little left then you've overdone the 'clubface closing'.

if you're worried about the path then the quickest fix is to close your stance a little (whilst keeping the face where it is) or at least check that your shoulders aren't sitting waaaay open.

I understand your point about the hands feeling like they're staying open but that's where an element of trust in your swing and the driving range comes into play

 

[Foxholer]

While all this path analysis is great, there is no substitute for seeing a swing - and a Driver swing is often quite different from iron ones.

Are you swing 'out of your shoes' or 'within yourself'. How stiff is the shaft; compared to iron stiffness? Is it a high or low torque shaft?

 

[DappaDonDave]

Right thumb over the grip not alongside it