Why Can't I Slice the Ball!

[APowell1990]

Right now when I try to slice the ball or hit it straight, I push the ball to the left.(left handed)My normal ball flight is a draw, but I really need to change it to a fade or maybe even just a straight ball. Any tips on how to do this?

[Davebud]

Bend you left knee just a little more, raising the right hip slightly. Keep your shoulders level though. Thats how I hit a draw, so your welcome to try that.

[DouginGA]

A fellow southpaw!! always wonder how many lefties are on here.

How I do it( and I aint saying it is right, but seems to work on occasion)
the fade- address and line up aim in the direction you want the ball to start out. move back foot forward a bit (2-3"). think "fade" . swing with aim at the line you want the ball to start out. pray to the golf gods.

my thinking is that by moving the back foot forward you create an out to in swing that should spin the ball properly. reverse for draw.

[dave.]

A pro needs to advise you,there are several ways of doing this dependant on where you are at swing wise.

personally,all I do is hit against the left hand (right hander),this is commonly called a hold off,you simply hold onto the release

[ezra76]

I do it by setting up square and then opening my stance a bit. The manufactures the out to in path. Then the turnover of the forearms plays a big role. To fade it I just hold off through impact, to hit a huge fade I actually do a reverse turnover, the inside of my wrist is pointing straight up through the finish. BTW a fade should be no different for lefties, just going the opposite way.

[cypressperch]

Line up the way you want the ball to fly INITIALLY. Open your club face, and then do what many fail to do which is REGRIP THE CLUB! If you open the face and then swing before regripping you likely have done nothing. As far as how much to open the face, it usually works out to have the club face pointing at the landing area. Thus if you want to slice a ball around an obstacle that is close at hand, the face is very open. To put a slight fade on the ball, the amount of openning the face will be small. It takes considerable practice to use your new shot with confidence.

Another way to fade is to line the club face at the target and then open your stance and now swing along the line your feet, shoulders, etc. are lined up on.

You end up about the same with these two methods, but I prefer the first. The reason is that I like to line up every shot from behind the ball and pick a target a foot or two in front of the ball to line up on, the intermediate target. This is done easiest with the first method. If for some reason a person had a lot of trouble figuring out how much to open the face by changing the grip, perhaps they could more easily control how much they open their stance and the second method would work for them.

To hit a draw, it is easier to release the club if you grip more loosely. With a fade, you resist or delay the release by firming up the grip a bit.

I like thinking about the heel and the toe of the club when shaping shots. Let the toe pass the heel, the face is closed and you get right to left curvature. Keep the toe from catching up to the heel, the club face is opened, and you get let to right curvature. The greater the difference between the heel and toe at impact, the more curvature. If heel and toe arive at impact simultaneously, there is square contact and a straight ball flight. If clubhead path is the same as the target line, your ball goes straight at the target.

It may very well be that your decision to become a fader is a good one. Many slicers would love to be able to draw the ball. Many say the straight ball is too difficult to hit, so play a draw or fade. That way, in theory, you have taken the left or right rough out of play. I would argue that if you aim at the middle and try to hit it straight you can error on either side of center and still be in the fairway or on the green or whatever. I absolutely agree that you should go with whatever shot you have the most confidence in, but I would also argue that it is a very valuable skill to be able to shape shots. There are holes that absolutely require a fade, a draw, or even a straight shot. Be readdy for anything!

The best of luck to you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch

[ezra76]

That was a good description of the toe ahead, heel ahead. I also like to think fade, come back in for it, draw, go out and get it. I'll have to read more of your posts CP, only problem is I get a little ADD reading that much.

[Vision.Pro]

An easy way to play a fade is to sqaure up your feet at set up, but open up up your shoulders so when you take your swing you have to come across your body which in effect causes an out to in swing and will give the ball alot of side spin.

[warbirdlover]

You can't slice the ball because you haven't taken lessons from me!!

[David B]

I almost didn't post, so that warbird could continue his 'thread killer' complex, but I figured "what the heck"...

I have kind of a 'stupid' way to either slice or hook the ball... rather than line the clubface up square, I either address the ball with an open or closed clubface (depending on what you want to do), and I can get the ball to slice or hook at will.

However, my main problem is hitting the damn ball straight, since my normal swing slices or hooks the ball in a random fashion.

[chollyred]

Recently I've developed a bad snap hook. One of the suggestions to correct it was to use a tighter grip with my right hand (play right handed) to quiet down my left. For you, it would be your left hand. This would be a lot simpler than trying to make swing or alignment changes.

[warbirdlover]

I can slice or draw the ball simply by my right hand position (I'm right handed). If I want to draw I roll my right hand more to the left (over the top) which makes me come through quicker with my right hand. Opposite to slice or fade. Looser grip also for draw, tighter for slice or fade.