If there's one thing that haunts most golfers more than missing a 3-foot putt, it has to be slicing the ball off the tee. So this week I have written 2-different articles - the first being 52 Ways to Stop Your Slice and the second being If You Understand What Causes A Slice You Wouldn't Need 52 Ways To Stop A Slice! So consider this a bonus section to Golf Improvement Weekly.
Part 1 - Fixing your slice can be a complicated task or it can be a Simple solution - the choice is up to you. Now the average person reading this will say - "Well Marc, I want the Simple Solution." Yet, when we go to work on getting rid of your slice using these Simple Solutions, the average Golfer says - "Yeah but, what about working on an inside to out swing path, what about turning my wrist over at impact, isn't my swing too flat, shouldn't I work on getting my elbow down to my side to get the club in the correct position on the downswing?" Because of the Golf Instruction Experts or Guru's that we hear from each week on Television or Magazines or Internet Chat Rooms - we assume that the solutions to simple things such as Slicing the Ball Off The Tee have to have complicated corrections and that there always has to be swing changes made to your swings.
And I actually enjoy hearing how complicated you think it is to fix your golf swing because to see your faces when you're able to Stop Slicing the Ball by just using some of our drills is fascinating.
Fascinating? Why Fascintating?
Because for most Golfers we see, there is so much going on in your heads during each swing you make - I'm surprised your still playing golf. Too many Golfers make this game hard work. It's like the Monkey said - "A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work!" I'll believe that one when I see it. I guess I haven't worked in an office enviroment enough, but I can't imagine people banging their mouse's on the ground and yelling the expletives they do on the golf course in the middle of the office. Or telling everybody in earshot how bad they messed up on getting an important assignment done - you'd get fired right on the spot if you acted that way in the office.
Yet on the golf course we see clubs banged against the ground - I learn more "salty" language than I did during High School - and I constantly hear how badly everyone's playing, even after they've just played 2-holes. "Oh man, this is the worst golf I've ever played!" Hey don't get down on yourself, you've only played 2-holes. "Yeah but I've never played this bad in my entire life." I don't understand, you've never double bogied 2-holes in a row in all the years you've played golf? "Well yes, I have. But, I just don't feel comfortable right now with my swing. I just feel off and I'm not having fun!" Didn't you just tell me that A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work?
If that's the case, your job must really stink!
So the first way to Stop a Slice is to not get so upset at yourself that you start to hold the club as if it were a $1,000,000 bill. You must realize that when you hold the club so tightly the tightness doesn't stop at your hands - it works its way up your arms through your shoulders, right up your neck and into your brain. And when all this tension is pulsating through your body - your swing gets "Stuck" and when you're "Stuck", you need to find a way to become "Unstuck" and that usually means you're going to have to Compensate some where in your swing to make up for being "Stuck" and that Compensation will lead to some act of Inconsistency which includes Slicing the Ball off the Tee. (How's that for a run-on sentence Robert Z?)
The Monkey says "I read that if I Slice Off The Tee that I should tee my ball up on the right-side of the tee box (for a righty Golfer - left side for a lefty Golfer) and aim to the left to allow my ball to have more room to Slice." I don't know about that one - Why is that going to help you to not Slice Off The Tee? "Well, it won't stop me from Slicing Off The Tee, but it'll allow me more room to allow the ball to Slice." I guess you're correct, it would give you more room to play the Slice Off The Tee and if you know you're going to Slice - that would be a good PLAN to have. Yet I believe that the reason that most Golfers Slice Off The Tee is caused by bad Aim and having your Aim so far to the left, can't be helping.
If your Aim is off, you'll have to Compensate somewhere in your swing to make up for that fact.
The reason that you'll need to Compensate is that if your Aim is bad and you do make a good swing, the ball won't go where you think it should be go. Yet the majority of Monkeys will start trying to figure out what went wrong with their golf swing as opposed to fixing their Aim. So then on your next swing, instead of fixing the Aim, you feel as though you need to fix your swing instead - so in the middle of your swing you Compensate for the bad Aim and that Compensation will lead to some act of Inconsistency which includes Slicing the Ball off the Tee.
Oh my goodness, I have 50-more Ways To Stop Your Slice to go.
Ok, the next 50 Ways To Stop Your Slice - if you're looking for Golf Tips that you think will improve your Score, this isn't the place to be looking for them. We don't work with Golf Tips, Golf Made Simple works with Reality! Please don't think of us like you think of other Golf Instructors you've worked with or heard talking or read about. Our approach is totally different than what is already out there. Yes, we help you to hit the golf ball better and to eliminate your Slice Off The Tee (we have 100's of Testimonials, Returning Golfers and Referrals to prove it) - but we don't use the ineffective approach that is employed by 9.9 out of 10 Instructors out there. While they're teaching you what Positions you need to be in along with overwhelming you with their "Theories and Assumptions" about swing path, swing plane, grip, etc, etc, etc -
We're allowing you to Feel the motion of your golf swing in a way you've never felt it before.
As Graham Nicholson recently said at one of our classes - "Usually when you go to a Golf School you're worried about pounding 1000's of golf balls and tearing up your hands. On our 2nd day at Golf Made Simple we hit maybe 80 to 90 golf balls and I got more out of that session than I could've dreamed of. And that translated into hitting the golf ball better than I ever have before. It was truly more about quality than quantity!"
To Stop A Slice Off The Tee - everything in your swing has to be moving together to produce a straight club face at impact. That's it! That's the answer! Yet, to get your body to do that, you need to learn to get everything moving together using drills like - The Symetrical Drill, Parallel Hands, Riding Hands, The Stepping Drill, The Swoosh Drill, The Belly Swing, The Modified Belly Swing (MBS), The Toliet Paper Drill, Eyes Closed, The Grass Cutter and Tire Drill, The Ace Bandage Drill, The Baseball Drill, etc, etc, etc.
Which Drill is best for you?
We won't know till we work with you to see which fits your Golf Swing. But you can be assured that these Drills will give you a feel for your Golf Swing - and that is critical because 7 out of 10 Golfers can't feel their golf swing and 9 out of 10 Golfers don't know what they should be feeling. Yet, although most Golfers are having trouble feeling their swing, all the Golf Instruction you hear about is trying to get the club in this Position or that Position. Getting the club in certain Positions is not about Feel - it's more about giving you more to think about on every golf swing and turning you into a Robot over the golf ball. Who wants more to think about when you're hitting off the 1st Tee with 16-other Golfers watching you?
The Golf Tips that you're hearing from the Monkeys (other Golfers and Golf Professionals) are all Compensations to try to fix other Compensations you've developed because you were told to use those Compensations to fix other Compensations. So pretty soon there is no way you can have Confidence in your Golf Swing when you have 52-Compensations To Stop Your Slice on your mind everytime you walk-up to the Tee to hit your Driver. Why is it that Kids have the smoothest, best looking swings in the world? What do you think they're thinking about on every golf swing? Probably - "I hope that Adult doesn't come over here and try to teach me what they're struggling to do!"
The Kids are Feeling their golf swings and are truly having Fun and hitting the ball more Consistent than you are because they're just swinging the club. The average Golfer isn't happy with their Golf swing and they get less happy everytime they go to the Driving Range to practice because they're practicing Positions as opposed to Feeling their swing!
I'd believe the Kid that says "A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at School!"
9 out of 10 Golfers aren't happy with their Golf Game - yet you say "A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work!" Man, your job must really stink! Yet, those 9 out of 10 Golfers that aren't happy with their Golf Game continue to use Golf Tips (or I should say "Theories and Assumptions" that are really nothing more than Compensations) to improve your game. Please realize that all those Golf Tips that you've tried in the past and might try in the future aren't going to just suddenly leave your swing when you realize they didn't work. Like it or not, those Swing Tips are etched in your golf swing forever - even after you say you're not going to think about that Tip anymore - that swing thought will be there forever. Your swing is made up of everything you've thought of in the past - even the things you tried during just one practice session in the past.
So basically your swing is made up of one Compensating Manuever piled on top of another and another and another.
And the good news is that when all those Compensations work together - you hit a good golf shot. Yet, when they're not working - you hit Inconsistent shots. So my question to you is - "Are your Compensations usually working together to produce Consistent shots?
Part 2 - What causes a Slice? For a Righty - Side Spin to the right. For a Lefty - Side Spin to the left.
What causes a Golfer to say I need to read an article that's going to give me 52-Reasons How To Stop A Slice? Listening to the Monkeys and so called Guru's handing Tip after Tip after Tip to you. Or should I say Compensation after Compensation after Compensation to you. And you know what Compensation equates to? Inconsistency! If you built your home like you built your golf swing - The Big Bad Wolf would be able to "Huff and Puff and blow your house down!" Though if you start with a solid foundation and continue to use that foundation to build your golf swing based on Feeling your swing, you won't have to rely on Golf Tips or should I say Compensations to stop your Slice.
It's not too late to get away from a swing that is built on Compensations! What Do You Think?
Regards,
Marc - Your Instructor for Life
The nationally recognized PGA professional, Marc Solomon and his staff, lead four person classes for a customized experience. Students can take 3, 5 and 7-day classes in St. Augustine, FL, Amelia Island, FL and Santa Barbara, CA. Their Instructor For Life program guarantees that each student can always contact their instructor for free customized advice, tips, drills and exercises - for life. It's Golf Made Simple.
For more information, or to read Golf Improvement Weekly (the world's most read golf improvement newsletter), please visit http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com