Tuesday 21 July 2015

Slice Control - Sometimes the best way to cure a slice is to embrace it



 Hitting a slice isn't all bad. If you can minimize it, then control it, a slice is actually one of the most repeatable shots you can hit. A "fade," which is also known as a slice that still finds the fairway, can produce a long drive that has just enough backspin to prevent the ball from rolling away from you and into the rough. Let's take a look at how to turn your slice into a fade with a few simple steps.

CRISS-CROSSED
BELOW LEFT: If you're crooked at the start, you're likely to be crooked at impact, as well. In this photo, my lower body is aimed right (in an effort to prevent coming across the ball—or so I think), but my upper body is still way to the left. This setup position is typical of most slicers who tend to have a big, ballooning slice that starts right and slices even farther to the right. Also typical are reverse pivots caused by little room for the hips and lower body to rotate through impact with the ball.

TOO OPEN
BELOW RIGHT: The obvious slice fix is to aim farther to the left, right? Not so. If you're a slicer, the more you aim to the left, the more pronounced your slice will be. As you can see here, my upper body and lower body are, in fact, aligned, but my clubface is still facing the fairway. This means I'm going to cut across the ball and make my slice bigger. Also, when you open up too much and don't reposition the golf ball relative to your stance, the ball effectively moves back, making the slice even worse.



Reference Resource: http://www.golftipsmag.com/instruction/slicing/lessons/slice-control-2014.html

Friday 10 July 2015

Be The (Middle) ball - Here's a drill that will help you get better at making contact in the center of the



A very important variable to better ballstriking is "centeredness of contact." It doesn't matter how dialed in your swing becomes, if you're missing the center of the clubface at impact, you're going to have trouble controlling your distances and hitting the ball in your intended direction. Hitting it on the "sweet spot" not only feels pure, it will also help you to maximize your distance.

Here's a drill that will help you get better at making contact in the center of the clubface. Simply set up with three golf balls, and place each ball a few inches apart, with the middle ball being the ball you intend to hit. Make sure the three balls form a line perpendicular to your target line. Leave just enough room for the clubhead to pass through without hitting the two outside balls.

If this is too easy for you, here's a variation of the drill. From the original drill, move the ball closest to you forward approximately 2 inches and the ball farthest from you away approximately 2 inches. Leave just enough room for the clubhead to pass through without hitting the two outside balls. This aligns the three golf balls diagonally, which now forces you to not only make centered contact with the middle ball, but it discourages you from coming over the top and hitting the ball from too outside-in the target line and encourages you to swing the club with an inside path on the downswing. Either variation drill will help you hit the ball more in the center of the face.
 
Reference Resource: http://www.golftipsmag.com/instruction/iron-play/quick-tips/be-the-middle-ball-best-of-2014.html