A Slice is the most common mistake made by beginner golfers, but don’t worry. There are ways to fix your slice so you can spend more time on the fairway and less time in the woods.
The main reason the golf slice is so common is that it results from most beginners trying to accomplish something else with the golf ball, such as trying to hit the ball in the air but doing so improperly. The result is the dreaded golf slice.
The golf swing is a series of movements directly tied to each other. This chain reaction can either obtain your goal or send you into the woods looking for lost balls.
Once you learn the proper series of movements, however, you will hit the ball further and more consistently. Be prepared. Learning the proper swing takes practice, lots of practice.
Table of Contents
Two Main Reasons the Golf Ball Slices
- Hitting the golf ball with the club face open.
- Cutting across the ball from the outside, moving in.
These two faults are at the end of the golf swing but are not necessarily what you should focus on fixing. When fixing something within your golf swing, you can’t just focus on the final club face impact on the golf ball.
However, it is important to understand what you are doing wrong. You must focus on what you are doing multiple wrong steps back in your golf swing and let that fix the result.
Main Swing Faults Cause the Golf Ball to Slice
1. Scooping the ball
The first major swing fault committed by beginners, which causes a golf slice, is that scoop the ball off the ground rather than hitting down on the ball and letting the golf club’s loft do the work.
The golf ball should always be struck while the club head is still in its downward motion. The divot can best see this of Tiger Woods.
It starts after the golf ball has been struck.
2. Lunging at the golf ball
The second most common swing flaw that can cause you to slice the golf ball is lunging at it in an attempt to hit it further. While doing so, you move your head forward and ahead of the ball at impact, leaving the club face open.
To grasp this concept, stand in front of a golf ball and address it with your head well in front of the ball. This will clog you up at impact and force the golf ball to start and continue straight.
3. Weak grip
The third most common reason for slicing the golf ball is that your grip is too weak. The lines formed by your index and thumb on both hands point towards your chin.
You must recognize that your hands have neutral positions. To see this, stand up straight and let your hands naturally fall to your sides.
You should see the top side of your hands facing forward. Next, turn your hands to the left or right while relaxing them. Your hands should return to their natural or neutral position immediately.
This is why you hit the ball with an open club face when your grip is weak (your left hand is turned more left, and your right hand is turned more left). Your hands naturally want to open the face through the swing in those positions.
4. Swing from outside in
Lastly, the final major cause of the golf ball slicing may be the golfer swinging the club from the outside to the inside.
This means that the swing path is taking the golf club out and away from the golfer’s body on the backswing and then coming from the out towards the body on the downswing, which will cut across the ball causing a golf slice.
