Incurable slice with the driver... help!

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By Johnny B

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  • 15 Replies
  1. Johnny B

    Johnny B
    Durham, 0

    hi everyone,

    Since getting my 910D2 8.5, Project X 8A4 x-stiff shaft, I have had one good round with it where I couldn't miss a fairway and I was hitting it long... since then 80% of drives are slicing high right and killing my game.

    I have tried adjusting the sure fit to all kinds of setting and even the swing weight but getting the same result and a nice tee mark stating the obvious slice.

    I am a fairly short golfer at just over 5'7 but very athletic build and strong (play all kinds of sports and hit the gym) diver is standard length. I hit all my other clubs fairly well and even have a natural draw... just the driver is ruining my game.

    any advice, will be greatly appreciated. thanks.

  2. Quintin H

    Quintin H
    Morehead, KY

    Here's the problem I see with an adjustable club. One day you hit the club long and straight, the next you don't............adjust the club

    It isn't the club.

    Put the club back to its original setting, then figure out why you are slicing.

    It could be that you are setting up with your shoulders level, then swinging up and your front shoulder is higher than the back, this will open the clubface.

    Another common problem after hitting the ball long and straight.......is the desire to hit it even longer, and in that quest you develop a big OTT move.

  3. Vincent a

    Vincent a
    New York, NY

    Johnny B, In most cases it is not the club it is the player. If you originally were driving the ball well I would say it is not the club but you. In your case it sounds like you altered your swing. Generally the cause of such misshaps is our tendency to look up so we can see how well we just hit the ball. When you look up your whole body moves forward and to the left of your target leaving the club head open at contact. the result is either a pull hook or a slice or a push slice. Suggest you set your club at the original setting, go to the range, and hit balls trying to keep your eye on the ball at time of contact. Just a few comments. Vincent A
  4. Ryan Crysler

    Ryan Crysler
    West Palm Beach, FL

    I would experiment gripping down on the club, in affect making it shorter.  Grip down as much as you want to and see if the slice is minimized.  Since it is the longest club in the bag, the driver swing fundamentals are different than the irons swing, pitching swing, etc.  Perhaps a "shorter driver" can help by gripping down.

  5. Johnny B

    Johnny B
    Durham, 0

    cheers for the tips guys, will take them all on board when I hit the range. Big round next week so hopefully get it sorted. 

    thanks.

  6. Todd L

    Todd L
    Albany, NY

    I got back into the game last August after a 30 year break. I was shooting low to mid 80's at 16. Never hit a driver all that well, but I used to absolutely crush a persimmon 2 wood. It took me a year but I'm hitting low to mid 80's again. The driver is killing me though. I'm very inconsistant with it. It's a 10.5 909D3 and it's a great club, but I can't get over how long the shafts on today's drivers are. I'm used to the club sitting flat at address, not seeing the toe up. I can sometimes see my swing path coming over when I take practice swings. I don't seem to have that problem with my fairway woods though. I'm half tempted to get a 909F3 13 and hit that off the tee. Anyhow, time's running out on golf season here in NY but I like your idea about gripping down and I'm going to give it a try.
  7. Quintin H

    Quintin H
    Morehead, KY

    Hey Todd

    Going to a 2W could be a good idea, I do sometimes with a 906f2 13*.

    If you go thru the current and archives, the lie angles of drivers are more upright than the 3W. It works, don't know why, longer shaft, ball setting up on a tee, you'd think it would be 2-3-4 degrees flatter than 3W.

    Anyway, you might want to take a look at the 910Fd, made to perform off the tee.

  8. Todd L

    Todd L
    Albany, NY

    Hey Q, That's a good point about the lie. Seems like the only way I can hit the D3 is if I stay steep with a very upright posture, but that feels unnatural and isn't particularly repeatable for me. At address, the club is flat on the ground. I can't seem to hit it well at all if I set up like the rest of the world seems to, with the toe up a little bit and more of a normal posture. I have absolutely no idea how to make that work. I like the 910Fd but I'm not convinced that it's $100 better than a 909F3 would be. The 909F3 15* & 18* are already in my bag and I'm very happy with them.
  9. Quintin H

    Quintin H
    Morehead, KY

    Just had a look at the 909F2-3, appears f3 is same concept as Fd

    Might have to look into them

  10. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Same as Todd. I took up golf in 2006 again after not playing 3 years and very little between 1977-2003. I used to tee off with a 3 wood because I could hit it farther and lower than a driver. I played with laminated and persimmon woods and used to CRUSH them (record drive was 325 with a laminated wood in 1973 and 290 with a persimmon in 1988). I do agree that the modern graphite shafted woods are just way too long! A 3 wood has the same length as an old driver (43"-43.5") and I find them very hard to hit. I found that 45" for a driver and 41.5-42" for a fairway wood are good lengths. I found out I get my best power and they go dead straight with a slightly closed stance. I hit a square stance with hybrid and irons. The "over the top" causes a slice and this is because people try to hit it too hard (this was a tip from Revolution Golf). Too short of a club can also cause a rightward shot (left for lefties) because the toe is down and compensating with a flat swing causes a hook. Also what exaggerates a slice is too low of a loft on a driver (10.5 is recommended). A lot of pros recommend and use a driver between 44-45" (Don Trahan "the Swing Surgeon" even recommends going to 43 1/2"). These newfangled 46 1/2 inch multi-adjustable drivers are just way too hard to hit and control.
  11. Carlo Angelo

    Carlo Angelo
    Rancho Cucamonga, CA

    i can relate johnny... same problem here. I had my setting on A1 all season long. Its only now that I am experimenting further on the other settings. Just trying to find a consistent ball flight. 

    But the best way to cure a slice is going to a professional. I've been taking lessons all season long, and it has helped my game. Work on getting the clubface square at impact. For us slicers, the clubface is still open on impact. A good drill for this is to try to hit the ball with the toe of clubhead first, the face being very closed. They call this "spearing the bag". 

  12. michael w

    michael w
    bethpage, NY

    its all in your swing plane try to take the club back on the inside then focus on hitting the inside portion of the golf ball to a full finish remember the ball will turn corresponding to the type of spin you put on it so if it spins left to right it will go that way so you need to impart right to left spin in order to draw it

  13. JIMMY T

    JIMMY T
    MYRTLE BEACH, SC

    could be swing path if the ball starts left and cuts back..or a lack of release if it starts out to the right and cuts...assuming you are righ handed.  if i don't release, i will lose them high and wide right.  might get someone to use a cell phone or a camera and see if you see something

  14. eagle3

    eagle3
    Fairfax, IA

    I don't know if this will help, but recently I began to slice the ball off my driver and it was driving me crazy. I discovered that I was actually swinging inside out and not keeping my elbows in. this was noted by one of the Pros where I golf. I started to concentrate on where my elbows were and my swing plane in relation to that. As a result, as long as I remember to keep those elbows in, my drives are much improved and the fairway is hit 9 out of ten times.

  15. Joe D

    Joe D
    Boulder, CO

    you are most likley coming over the top or opening the club face pick a spot at adress that is about two feet in front of the ball and a tad right try to swing from inside your body to outside your body this is how you will hit a draw.

    Joe

  16. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Paul Wilson of Revolution Golf has a whole series of videos related to curing a slice. His biggest tip is to swing easy instead of trying to swing too hard - the latter is what causes the "over the top" motion because the arms and shoulders are starting the downswing instead of the hips. The bottom line in any case is that the clubface is open at impact. Either way, you're not releasing the club. The outside-in swing path causes it to start left and go right. The inside-out causes it to start right and continue right. Jim McClean (Golf Channel and now Revolution Golf) has a nifty book called "The Three Scoring Clubs". One of his tips is to extend the arms slightly at address to have an unrestricted swing path. The other is a checkpoint at waist height, both on the backswing and downswing. The club should be perpendicular to the ground at those points. Martin Hall (the funny British guy who had been Morgan Pressel's golf coach in her childhood and also the Professor at Michael Breed's School of Golf) has a drill called "shut your face". Variants include wearing a wrist watch and having the dial point at the target line. Taking the club too far inside causes a slice (or at least a blocked shot). The hips turn too far, the back foot gets stuck. Also, in one of Paul's tips, one of the tests of being fully torqued at the top of the backswing is the inability to talk without straining your voice. Joe D is correct in that you should be swinging at a spot a couple feet in front of the ball. That way you hit THROUGH the ball. I have an outside-in swing path by Mother Nature on the driver and longer fairway woods. I take a slightly closed stance and stand just a tad further from the ball; my driver and 4 wood are draw clubs. My 7 wood is a neutral club but I still take a slightly closed stance. Chi Chi Rodriguez uses a closed stance on his woods (I noticed that on a few episodes of "Playing Lessons From The Pros" on Golf Channel). I can hit a slight draw and I have hit my 7 wood 225 and my driver (which is a 13* club) 270. I normally expect about 220-240 with the driver and 180 with the 7 wood on a dead straight shot. My worst drive MIGHT end up slightly on the right edge of the fairway (that is if I get a bit overanxious and try to knock the snot out of it).

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