Why do I slice my Driver but not woods irons or wedges?

[Tavery1]

I'm still a beginner but I hit the ball decent for a beginner as long as its not off the tee. I can take a full swing with my woods or irons of the tee perfectly straight and pretty long, as soon as I pull my driver out it turns into an adventure.

What I'm wondering is if I take a half swing could it possibly cure my slice? I'm willing to sacrifice distance off the tee as long as I don't go into the woods, I do have a slightly inside out swing plane on my down swing my back swing isn't horrible.

Any suggestions?

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Any suggestions?

It is because it is your longest club, it is also likely to long for the normal golfer and you may want to investigate and do searches on here about shortening the club. Or talk to a clubmaker about doing so. Simply put, if you are starting off, and bought it off the rack, and do not hit it well, you would likely benefit a great deal by cutting it down a bit. I say this mainly based on your comments, and not simply because you slice the ball.

Also what is the loft, it is also very common that people get too little loft in their driver you will not only gain consistency with more loft, but depending on your circumstances you could even gain distance.

...also a little more info. How does it start out (left, straight, right). How far right does it end up. How far do you hit the ball? How hard do you swing? Do you feel comfortable and balanced with your swing? Any time I would take less of a swing as you asked, it would normally lead to me leaving the clubface open and more of a slice unless you are certain you have a proper release.

 

[Tavery1]

It is because it is your longest club, it is also likely to long for the normal golfer and you may want to investigate and do searches on here about shortening the club. Or talk to a clubmaker about doing so. Simply put, if you are starting off, and bought it off the rack, and do not hit it well, you would likely benefit a great deal by cutting it down a bit. I say this mainly based on your comments, and not simply because you slice the ball.

Also what is the loft, it is also very common that people get too little loft in their driver you will not only gain consistency with more loft, but depending on your circumstances you could even gain distance.

...also a little more info. How does it start out (left, straight, right). How far right does it end up. How far do you hit the ball? How hard do you swing? Do you feel comfortable and balanced with your swing? Any time I would take less of a swing as you asked, it would normally lead to me leaving the clubface open and more of a slice unless you are certain you have a proper release.

My loft, not bad but very inconsistent, the ball starts straight and at about the end of its distance takes a sharp right turn anywhere from 175 to 225 yards is about where I average.

I do tend to get off balance and uncomfortable feeling which I think is because I over think my drives to much and I deffinitly can get erratic with my downswing.

When I do hit the ball straight and long I find myself taking a slightly shorter back swing breathing in deep as I pull my club back and exhaling and exploding through the ball.

 

[Nikonut]

welcome to golf...I have the same problem.
somehow, we are just not getting the club face back into the original address postion.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

My loft, not bad but very inconsistent, the ball starts straight and at about the end of its distance takes a sharp right turn anywhere from 175 to 225 yards is about where I average.

I do tend to get off balance and uncomfortable feeling which I think is because I over think my drives to much and I deffinitly can get erratic with my downswing.

When I do hit the ball straight and long I find myself taking a slightly shorter back swing breathing in deep as I pull my club back and exhaling and exploding through the ball.

When I started, that was the slice that I had. I would look into your release more than your clubpath. Try and visualize and work on having you left palm (right handed) facing the sky as if to catch raindrops. Read that in a magazine and it fixed my slice. If your ball is starting straight, your path is not likely to far outside~in. A shorter driver would also likely make this much easier, and again may be a big part of the problem. One of the reasons I mentioned that and asked the question. I thought that may be the answer because it didn't happen on your other woods. If you had a big outside~in swing, you would see it on your woods and possibly even your irons.

If your swing feels erratic, that is simply poor tempo. I could recommend a book Tour Tempo, but not sure I would try to work on to many things at once, or it will likely just make things worse. It does sound like you are over thinking things. Thinking about breathing during your swing just sounds like too much info going through your head. Just think about taking a nice fluent cut at the ball. I am not sure what I do breathing wise when I swing. I just know that when I get ready to swing I let out a good portion of my air.

There is actually an old joke or gimmick to mess up your opponent in a match, by asking them if they breath in or out when they finish their backswing. I would give that some serious thought.

If you are overthinking things, I would also recommend Rotellas-Golf is not a game of perfect. It may not help your slice, but it will drastically help the rest of your game. He is a sports psychologist that works with many pros, and his practices help my game considerably. Basically deals with the course not being the places to think of things to fix your game.

 

[Nikonut]

took my new driver out , did a couple of things that seem to be panning out.

1. played the ball directly in front of my left little toe (approx)
2. less wider stance, left foot pointed ala hogan.
3. kept the ball/tee height at "medium" not quite equater high.

I guess this must indicate either/both low point/face square in my driver swing.
got repetative ball flight.


and getting some lessons tommorow

 

[Tavery1]

Goin out tomorrow morning for a round gonna try some of those tips, hopefully the golf gods are with me on my bday and I don't turn into shankopotomus all day. Thanks for the tips

 

[SilverUberXeno]

The longest club takes the longest to come back around your body. Keep moving the ball closer to the target; i.e., forward, toward the target, closer to your left foot or even outside of it. Do that, and keep your shoulders square to the target line. It's going to feel like the ball is REALLY, REALLY far forward compared to what you're used to.