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I am a beginning golfer and I seem to have developed a terrible slice. How do I cure my golf slice?

I am right-handed, relatively athletic, and have done well at different sports such as soccer and tennis. Also when I started golfing I seemed to hit the ball straighter than I do know. I need to fix my slice, but am not sure what to do. Help!

The reason you are slicing the ball is because your club face is ‘open’ at impact. This means the club face is pointing slightly away from your body when you bring it through the golf ball. What happens then is that this open club face, as it comes through the ball, creates left-to-right or clockwise spin on the ball. The result is a ball flight that may begin straight, but that veers towards your right. Since you are a right-handed golder this is what is causing your slice.

To cure your golf slice you need to make sure that the club face is ’square’ with the golf ball at impact. There are a number of ways you can do this. Start your swing with the club face ’square’ to the golf ball and begin by not taking a full backswing. The shorter your backswing the less room for error as you bring the club back to the ball. Practice this swing beginning with a very short backswing and getting it progressively longer. The result will be more solid control when your club face impacts the golf ball. Usually, the slower, more controlled backswing drill helps many of my students fix their slice.

Hopefully it will work for you too!