KPJ’s Game Improvement Program
I was in Boston all weekend, dishing out tips and advice at the annual Boston Golf Expo. I would like to thank all the participants by providing them with a recap of my presentations. All the week, I will post tips and drills that I demonstrated at Golf Expo.
Monday-Shape Your Body Trim Your Score
Today-Tuesday-How to Cure Your Slice
Wednesday-Golf-Specific Exercises
Thursday-How to Groove a Consistent Golf Swing
Friday-The New Golf Swing
How to Cure Your Slice
The Slice is about as frurstrating as the common cold. There are so many different strands of the slice virus, that you may have to try a lot of things before you find something that works for you. Today I want to give you a few fixes for you to try to get your swing technique back on track and fix your slice. Even if you don’t slice, these are good drills and tips for you to practice to perfect your technique.
Drills are a good way to practice because they help you get some feel without a lot of thought. Simply repeating a drill a few times can help you groove a new move or feel. I will even do an entire practice session just doing drills to get my swing back on track or when I have played or practiced in a while. The drills that I am going to show you today are specifically for a slice, but also they are to help you improve your swing technique. When your swing technique improves your bad shots actually get better and you start to minimize your mistakes. Here are a couple drills specifically for slicing.
The Slot Drill-
There are a lot of ways you can cure your slice, but one of my favorites is to focus on the right elbow—moving it into the “slot” on the downswing. The slot is a position just in front of the right hip, where the right elbow sits under the left, the club swinging on a shallow inside-out arc.
Think of how you would swing a baseball bat at a pitch that comes in chest high. You instinctively know to drop the right elbow under the left. The same holds true for hitting a golf ball. What makes it more difficult is that in baseball your body and the bat swing on the same horizontal plane, but when you bend at the hips to hit a golf shot, the shoulders, arms, hips and club all must move on different planes.
That’s why focusing on your right elbow position is a great thought for slotting the club on the correct plane. This position will soon turn your slice into a draw.
The right elbow drops into the slot
Right Palm Drill-
The goal of any good golf swing is to deliver the clubface square at impact. But few amateurs know how to do that consistently. Learn to do it, and you control the ball.
Here’s a visual concept that will help you: Take your normal grip with your driver and address a ball on a tee. Now open your right hand and rest it along the shaft so the palm is facing the target and your fingers are pointed down. Notice how the palm mirrors the angle of the clubface.
When you take the club back, let the palm go for a ride in that position, resting against the shaft. If you let the clubface rotate naturally, the palm moves underneath the shaft as you swing the club to the top. On the way down, the palm gradually rotates back to impact, occupying the same position it held at address. Keep in mind, the right palm mirrors the clubface: Square up the hand, and you’ll square up the face. Rehearse this a few times, keeping an eye on the palm.
Understanding the relationship between the right palm and the clubface is a great way to fix a slice—it encourages the club to come down inside on a shallower plane, helping to produce a draw.
Think of your right palm as controlling the clubface
Stop Hanging Back Drill-
If you have too much weight on your back foot at impact — two signs that you do are slicing and hitting behind the ball — practice swinging on a downslope.
Gravity will pull you down the hill as you swing through, so you’ll naturally shift to your front foot.
Swinging downhill should also improve your swing path. Players who hang back tend to cut across the ball because their arms pull inward or flip the club to the left. With your weight moving toward the target, your arms are free to extend down the line (right).
So find a downslope — the front of the practice tee or when you walk off a tee box — and groove that forward shift. You’ll start hitting all your shots more solidly.
Hitting shots on a downhill slope will help you shift your weight
On-Course Exercise
Commit to warming up before play or practice. Throughout this program, I will give you several warm up routines to help you prepare for your round and help you prevent injury. Watch this short video to see how you can incorporate Pilates into your game. Click here to watch a short video
Off-Course Exercise
Complete the Pre-Swing Muscle and Joint Warm Up chapter from the Cardiogolf DVD. To order your own copy of Cardiogolf visit cardiogolf
Email me your questions and comments to kpj@swingbladegolf.com
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