Try these changes employed by one of my best students to get your clubface under control and get rid of that slice (Part 1)

Slicers come in all shapes and sizes: tall and lanky, medium and stocky, petite, etc. But they all share one common fault: an open clubface at impact, causing shot after shot to drift off to the right. When I first met my current student Courtney Dampolo, she was hitting a lot of short, crooked shots. The 21-year-old, who plays at Boston University, also played with a weak left-hand grip, and was swinging the club too much to the outside on the takeaway, forcing the shaft off-plane and setting the face wide open.

After putting in a lot of work correcting her grip and takeaway, Court­ney is not only able to draw the ball with regularity, but she’s increased her distance at least 30 yards off the tee. Here’s a closer look at what we did to address her common slicer flaws. These tips might be just what you need to finally get rid of that dreaded foul ball to right field.
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Then: Arms Disconnected

Before we take a look at the fixes, here’s how Court­ney’s takeaway looked previously. It’s clear the club­ head is well outside the target line (right), and there’s no evidence of any body movement—her hips still look to be square to the line. There’s a huge discon­nect between her arms and torso, which is why the shaft is so far off-plane. You’ll see this with a lot of slicers, because they’ve heard that the clubhead should swing back on a straight line. Not so: The golf swing is a circle; thus, the club must travel in a circle—
back, in, and up in a perfect blend of all three directions via the turn of the core.

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Now: Arms in Sync

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Notice how much closer her right arm is to the right side of her body, and how the clubhead is moving on a circular path (i.e., on-plane) slightly to the inside of the target line (below). This is because her core has started to turn and her arms and club shaft are moving more in unison with the pivot of her body. You can see the very top of her left thigh now, which is evidence that the hips are rotating and she’s in much better sequence with her arms, shaft and torso. To get to this ideal position, try to get the butt end of the club pointing toward the middle of your body early in the takeaway.

Photos by Russell Kirk/GOLFLINKS
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