Here's an Easy Way to Add 20 Yards
Sunday, 07.01.2007, 01:43pm (GMT)
Here's a really good tip that may help you to get rid of your slice.
Best of all, it's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it, and
understand why it's being used.
Chances are that you have battled with a slice at some point in your
golfing days. To be completely direct with you, dealing with a slice
really sinks. It hurts your golf game in ways.
Luckily, it's fairly easy to fix. I cannot claim that this small tip
will completely cure your slice, but there's a good chance that it
will, and I hope it does.
When you come into the impact zone, there are really only 2 factors that can determine the "shape" of ball flight.
1. The angle of the club face at impact.
2. The Path the club is taking at impact.
Here are a few things you should concentrate on:
Try to keep your leading shoulder "down" on the ball through impact.
This is called staying strong through impact. Lots of times the leading
shoulder (left shoulder if right handed) flies up before impact. Now
just for a minute, think about what that does to the club head when
it's in the impact zone.
Golf is all about thinking and analyzing your shots to get better. A
huge part of this game is understanding "why" you're getting a certain
result, and the physics behind that result. Thinking through your golf
swing will provide huge dividends if you're willing to invest the time
it takes.
Get up from the computer and actually go though the motions slowly. Let
your leading shoulder fly up as you approach impact and you'll actually
be able feel and see the clubface coming from an outside-in path. That
causes a slice every time.
So what can you do to correct it? Well, for starters, try to learn to
keep your leading shoulder strong. Keep that shoulder "down" on the
ball all the way through impact, even after the ball is gone and flying
straight down the fairway. So what do I mean when I say "leading
shoulder down"?
You have to envision yourself from the back looking down on the ball.
When I say "down", I mean that the leading shoulder and chest are still
facing the ball through impact.
So even though it may seem like the leading shoulder is higher than the
trailing shoulder, it's still facing the ball at impact. NOT TOWARDS
THIRD BASE in comparison to the ball. That would mean that you have let
the leading shoulder fly up.
Hand action is huge in this game. You must learn to release your hands
correctly through the ball. Meaning that you release the hands while
the leading shoulder is still "down", or facing the ball.
If you are currently playing with the conventional swing method, it's
really easy to let your body get ahead of the ball. You must learn how
to avoid that trap.
Keep the leading shoulder down and let your arms and hands release
through the ball and you will see the ball go farther and higher. This
will take a while to get used to.
The key is to let your arms release through the ball, while your left
shoulder is "Down" on the ball. To do this you will need to rotate your
forearms correctly, and use your leading ELBOW (not shoulder) as a
hinge. So another way to explain this movement would be that your hands
are still moving towards the target, but your leading elbow has almost
stopped.
Another way would be to initiate the downswing with your arms. I'm sure
that's the exact opposite of what you've heard before. Starting the
downswing with the arms is a tough thing to do.
You want the ball to go the maximum possible distance. So
subconsciously, many people have the problem of letting their body get
way ahead of their hands. That's the number one slice-producing move
among golfers today. It's probably the toughest one to fix, because
when you're at the top of your backswing, all you can think about is
crushing the ball.
Instead of thinking maximum distance, think minimize slice. Start the
downswing with your arms. Get to the top of your backswing, and then
the first move should be with the arms. Put this move together with
keeping the leading shoulder down, and it will do wonders for both your
woods and your irons.
If you look at any of the really good players, you will see that they
actually initiate the downswing by "pulling" the club down with their
arms. They do NOT start the downswing by twisting the chest towards the
target. That is a very important distinction to make.
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