Golf Slice | Cure A Slice Best Online Golf Instruction Resource Available Getting back to the golf side of things, let’s discuss briefly how a slice and a hook come to be. Where does that spin originate? Obviously you know that the only contact your club has with the ball is at impact, correct? And the only time you can impart spin on the ball is at that impact point. So the problem lies in the angle in which your club face strikes the ball and the direction in which your club is swinging (inside or outside) through the ball. Let’s first start with the “outside-in” swing path. You’re most accustomed to this anyway if you’ve read this far. But let’s define what we mean by inside and outside so that we’re all in understanding. When you address the ball, the space between yourself and the ball is referred to as the inside, while the space on the opposite side of the ball from yourself is labeled the outside. And if you were to draw a line directly from the ball to your target and extend that line in the opposite direction behind the ball, this will determine whether you’re on the inside or the outside of the ball.

On the “outside-in” path, you can probably imagine that your club head during your downswing toward the ball is on the outside of that imaginary line we drew and then strikes the ball and then your club head finishes through the impact zon e on the inside of the ball. This seems like the correct remedy to hit the ball to the left doesn’t it? Most golfers believe that. But most golfers don’t understand the physics and the science of the golf swing. Contrary to what most golfers who slice the ball believe, by hitting the ball with this approach, this ultimately sends the ball to the right. It may seem that by cutting across the ball (another term that is used in conjunction with slicing or the “outside-in” swing) you will hit the ball to the left. Many of you are able to start the ball toward the left, but the spin that is on the ball ultimately curves the ball to the right leaving you with a shot that is short and in the rough on the right side. On the golf hook page on this site, I illustrate just how spin is put on the golf ball at impact, and the factors that go into making the ball spin the way it does, to the left or the right.

You can also go to the swing drill page that I talk about weight transfer to see how the lack of weight shift from your right to left side at impact and follow through will keep your ball slicing and never have a chance to turn over to the left. In order to hit the ball straight, or with a draw, you have to be committed to the swing. You have to complete the entire swing. The swing can't stop or get lazy at impact. I notice that happening with a number of people that I get paired up with when I go out and play. They are almost wishing the ball to go left. Golf swings that are tentative and scared will consistently have trouble with hitting the ball with a slice. You can't go just half way and hit and hope. You have to bring your follow through all the way around your body and rotate you hips and rotate the club around on a proper swing plane . So many slicers just quit as soon as the ball is struck. They finish high and never completely rotate around and transfer their weight. You've seen the tour players on TV, they all finish on the their left side as this graphic shows.

Too many slicers of the golf ball, never get to this position, and all too often stay on the right side or flat footed, off balance or even falling backwards at impact. Many golfers who slice the ball suffer from a reverse pivot, which is pretty much like it sounds, the reverse or inverse of what you should do on your backswing. In the backswing, instead of your spine angle being behind the ball, it actually drifts the opposite way and shifts in front of the ball. So when at the top of the swing, the only way to get the club back to the ball is to shift your weight backwards to where it should've been in the first place. And this move shifts your weight back behind the ball at impact, and results in a huge lack of distance, and more often than not, a nasty slice, because the weight can't be transferred to the left side, and the proper hip and shoulder rotation can't take place physically. It's impossible. If you are one that struggles with a "reverse pivot", you need to revamp your swing, and start over to see the results that you want.

I would strongly encourage those that slice the ball, and especially if you have a reverse pivot, to get your hands on this full swing golf video (you can view a sample of that video below) that will start from the very beginning and mold a golf swing to how it should be done. Bobby Eldridge has been a golf pro teaching the golf swing for over 30 years and really addresses every aspect of the swing and the importance that it has. He'll lay the foundation that you can build solidly on. Do yourself a favor, and invest a little bit of money to get this DVD, because it will change the way you swing the golf club, and it will bring enjoyment to the game of golf that you may not have experienced before. The foundation to your swing is the most important, and building it properly reduces having to compensate for parts of your swing that are lacking. When this happens, you're constantly chasing the lagging part of your swing, and this results in hurting the parts of your swing that are done properly. So have Bobby explain this to you from the start, and mold your swing the right way. This is an investment into your golf game that is well overdue if you've come this far.

Purchase this video , you won't regret it. Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address What is a Hook, Slice, Fade, Draw, Push or Pull ? Ty Daniel’s Golf Swing through it, not at it » Hook or a Slice – What’s the difference ? Some of the most common misconceptions in golf are the terms people use when referring to the outcome of a shot, whether the shot had a slice or a draw. Most people get the terms mixed up, and here at Ty Daniels, we decided to set the record straight. Some shots are done on purpose to help get around hazards or dog legs, but for the most part these are badly hit shots. This chart is made from the point of view of a "Right Handed" golfer, for "Left Handed" just flip it around. Use this chart to see just what your bad shots are really called 😉 A "Hook Shot" is normally a badly hit ball that curves hard left. A hook can be from a hitting the ball with a closed club face, or bringing your upper body around too quickly. A shot that hooks is very hard to control so it is rarely a shot played on purpose.

A "Slice Shot" is the complete opposite of a "Hook Shot", it is when the ball curve hard right. A slice is the most common mistake of amateur golfers, by hitting the ball with an open club face and causing the ball to slice hard right. A slice can also be from moving your lower body quicker than your upper body making it so your club face is open on impact. A "Draw Shot" starts out straight but slightly curves left or "draws to the left". A draw shot can be a shot played on purpose but normally only by skilled golfers. For the amateur a having a shot with a draw is normally because of a closed club face on impact, or swinging slightly inside-out. A "Fade Shot" is the complete opposite of a "Draw Shot" it starts out straight and slightly curves right. Again this shot can be played on purpose but normally only by skilled golfers. A shot with a fade can be caused from an open club face on impact or by swinging slightly outside-in. Now a "Pull Shot" or "Pulled" does not curve, it is a shot that is hit straight and left of your intended target.

If you pulled your shot you’re normally moving your upper body quicker than your lower body, causing you to pull the shot left. A pulled ball flight it can also slightly turn in causing a “Pull Slice” or called “Pull Fade” (not pictured). So the ball starts out straight and to the left of your target but starts to curve back right at the last stage in flight. The pull slice normally ends up much shorter that if hit pure. And a "Push Shot" or "Pushed" is the complete opposite of a "Pulled shot", it does not curve but goes straight and right of your intended target. A pushed shot can be caused by moving your upper body too slowly causing you to push the shot out to the right. Now a pushed ball flight can also slightly turn inwards causing a “Push Hook” or called “Push Draw” (not pictured) ball flight. The flight of the ball starts out straight and to the right of your intending target, but starts to arc left towards your target at the last stage in flight. These shots also noramally end up much shorter that if you a the ball purely. Well if they are all the badly hit shots what is it called when you hit a shot correctly ?

It’s called a "Purely Hit Shot" or a "Pure Shot", and it can only be explained as a great shot straight and inline with your intended target. The end goal is for a purely hit golf ball, straight at your target. Golf Tips: Curing a Hook or a Slice Sign up to receive breaking news and get access to exclusive golf discounts. Golf Tips: Curing a Slice or Hook September 11, 2012 |By Guest I used to convince myself that a good slice or hook could come in handy. For example, when confronted with a grove of trees blocking my shot toward the green, trees too high to shoot over, I could instead, because of the wrong way I was holding the club—-shoot the ball in a curving arc right around the trees. I was a switch hitter equally bad from left to right, and I could slice the ball right-handed, or hook it violently left-handed. Watching a ball curve disastrously might be entertaining, but it’s generally not recommended play. How do you cure it? Nine times out of ten a slice (curving right) shot is caused because you have a swing that is out-to-inward in trajectory.

The club face meets the ball more to its side, which creates an abnormal spin. A hook in many cases is simply the opposite, a left-handed hitter with a swing that is in-to-out. “I’ve been an avid slicer and hooker, and I try to avoid them at all cost,” said Brian Thomas, course attendant and golfer at the Candler Park Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia. “For me to avoid hooking or slicing, it’s a matter of keeping my eye on the ball and slowing down my swing. You want a slow, controlled swing.” Slowing down your swing if you are prone to try and over-power the ball could result in less wrist rotation which is a major culprit in slicing. As you grip the club during your swing, your lower thumb may turn too quickly inward before the club head meets the ball, causing an uneven strike (thus the fatal spin). To cure a hook or slice you need to make sure your wrists are not turning before the club strikes the ball-hopefully squarely dead-on. “If you have a slice, you’re hitting the ball out-to-in,” agreed Chris Kunkel, general manager at Silverhorn Golf Club in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“You’re probably coming over the top too high with your swing. A hook is just the opposite, in-to-out. The swing is coming from too far away from your body.” Kunkel said sometimes a hook or slice can be corrected by standing closer to the ball. This can result in a swing where you aren’t reaching from too far above and away, once again, putting an abnormal spin on the ball. Other tips pros recommend include keeping your lead shoulder down, or watch for what is called “flyaway shoulders,” improper upper body movement during the strike, or letting your shoulders get ahead of your hands. If you have swing problems and can find a way to have your swing filmed, you can analyze what you’re doing wrong—very helpful. Thomas said Candler Park Golf Course is somewhat of a rarity, a nine-hole course located near the downtown of Atlanta. “There used to be more nine-hole courses in the old days, but many of them have been eliminated,” he said.

“The value of this course is that people who are in town say for a convention can come and play a round of golf in an hour-and-a-half right here in the city.” Silverhorn Golf Club is noted for its 18 holes winding through lush turf, native grasses, oaks, elms and hackberries, with four creeks on its 170 acres. “We’ve got quite a few trees here and it’s a course for all levels of play,” Kunkel noted. Silverhorn Golf Club What Is a Slice in Golf? (And How to Fix Yours) By Brent Kelley Updated January 13, 2017. A "slice" is a type of golf shot in which the golf ball curves dramatically in flight from left to right (for a right-handed golfer). The slice can be played intentionally, but is usually the result of a mishit. Slices are the most common problem for recreational and high-handicap golfers. The shape of a sliced shot differs for right-handed golfers and left-handed golfers (although the causes - more on that below - are identical): For a right-hander, a slice curves to the right; For a left-hander, a slice curves to the left.

(We'll stick with right-handedness in all examples to follow, so lefties need to reverse any directional elements.) A slice and a fade shot share the same shaping (curving to the right for a right-hander), except that a slice is more severe. A slang term for a slice is " banana ball ." The slice is the opposite of a hook shot . A sliced shot may start out left of the target line and then bend dramatically back to the right of the target. continue reading below our video Correcting a Slice Or the ball can begin on the correct target line before swerving right. A shot that begins right of the target line and then curves farther right is a "push-slice." What Causes a Slice? At its root, a sliced shot is caused by the clubface arriving at impact with the golf ball in an open position .

This may be due to setup or swing issues that cause the face to open, or to an outside-to-inside swing path that effectively opens the face by "wiping" or "swiping" across the golf ball, imparting "slice spin." (Slice spin is a clockwise sidespin for right-handed golfers, counter-clockwise for lefties.) Cutting across the ball at impact on an outside-to-inside swing path is also called "coming over the top." Those are the two primary causes of a slice, and in combination can create a much more severe slice. Faults and fixes: More possible causes of a slice How to Stop Slicing Your Shots Is your golf game plagued by the dreaded slice? Start by checking out several of your fundamentals to make sure simple setup problems aren't causing that slice. Make sure you are not gripping the club with the face in an open position. Unless you are trying to hit a ball that curves right (slice or fade) or left (hook or draw), set up with your clubface square. Or are you rotating the club open on the backswing? Make some backswings but stop when the club reaches parallel to the ground. The toe of your club should be pointing straight up.

If it is "laid off" - pointing behind you - you already have an open clubface. Make sure you are not setting up with an open stance (feet, hips, shoulders aligned left of the target line). Just like your clubface, you stance should be square. Make sure your grip is in a neutral position and are you are not using a weak grip (hands turned too much to the left for a right-hander). Watch the video " Strong and Weak Grips " for details. Often both the clubface position and the swing path must be corrected to permanently rid yourself of the unintentional slice. Watch: Diagnosing and fixing a slice There are many videos on YouTube from golf instructors that focus on the slice . And remember that the draw shot is the opposite of the slice, so teaching yourself how to draw the ball is also a way of eliminating the slice: Video: How to hit a draw It's always best to solve a problem in golf by fixing the root cause, such as a cluface position, swing path or setup issue. But equipment can help, and making equipment changes can be of benefit to golfers who slice. See: Will clubs with closed face angles fight a slice?

Hitting the Slice Intentionally We all think of the slice as a bad thing, a mishit, something to be avoided. And usually that is true - that is always true when the slice pops up unintentionally, as is mostly the case with recreational golfers and high-handicappers. But there are instances when being able to play a slice intentionally sure would come in handy. Like hitting a big, sweeping curve around that tree that's blocking a straight path to the green. How to play an intentional slice? There are several ways, and you may need to combine two or more depending on how big a curve you are trying to play: Open the clubface at address; Open your stance and align your body to the left of the target line, but otherwise grip and swing normally; Weaken your grip (see video linked above for more on strong/weak/neutral grips). For a righthander, this means turning your hands to the left on the handle of the club.

Also remember that a slice is a more exaggerated version of a fade, so watch this: Groundbreaking research on the best way to fix your slice | Golf.com FRIDAY: GOLF MAGAZINE INTERVIEW WITH BOB TOSKI There are hundreds of ways to practice swinging from the inside out. But they all fall into one of two categories: (1) Those that focus your attention on what the club is doing; and (2) Those that focus your attention on what your body is doing. For you science-lingo lovers, thoughts about the club (for example, "rotate the toe past the heel through impact") are called external cues, while thoughts about your body ("turn your left shoulder under your chin on the backswing") are called internal cues. Plenty of research into athletic performance suggests that external cues are more effective at optimizing performance than internal ones. Although most of the studies to date have focused on outcomes (i.e, free throws made, bull's-eyes hit, etc.), we decided to explore whether external cues might offer the same edge when it came to mastering mechanics -- in this case, honing a repeatable, inside-out, slice-stopping swing.

We wanted to know whether we're better off thinking about what the club should do or about what our body should do. THE PARTICIPANTS We recruited 39 slicers [average handicap: 20.3] and randomly divided them into three groups, 13 in each. The three groups each received a different instruction on how to best groove a slice-busting inside-out swing. 1. The Club-Thought Group This group was instructed to swing the clubhead along an 8 o'clock-to-2 o'clock axis through the impact zone [with the target at 12 o'clock]. Alignment rods were positioned on the ground to indicate the target line and the proper inside-out clubhead path. 2. The Body-Thought Group These golfers were instructed to use a time-honored slice-fix: bring the right elbow down toward the right hip in the downswing. This internal cue focuses on a body movement with no reference to the clubhead. An alignment rod was placed on the ground solely to indicate the target line. 3. The Control Group These 13 slicers were instructed on the shape of an inside-out downswing, but they weren't offered any club cues or body-thought cues.

They made their own decisions on how to best trace the appropriate inside-to-outside swing. HOW WE DID IT Using video, we assessed each golfer's swing path by comparing the position of the clubhead at waist height in the downswing to the shaft plane established at address. A clubhead above address plane = outside-in path (slice); a clubhead below address plane = inside-out path (slice fixed!). The data showed that the subjects were chronic over-the-top swingers. The average downswing was 7.7 to 12.9 degrees above plane -- serious slice conditions. Each golfer received a 15-minute swing-path lesson and was told to practice using only their assigned cues -- or, in the case of the control group, their self-selected cues. They were asked to swing without a ball, then to hit an actual drive, and then to repeat this routine 36 times. Afterward, we again assessed their swings to see if their swing planes had improved. Then, the following day, we did yet another test to see if any improvement had a shelf-life of at least 24 hours. THE RESULTS The instruction and cue-based practice paid off.

The swing planes for all groups were clearly less likely to produce a slice in the post-test (chart, opposite). But the real discovery? The improvement was far more dramatic in one group than it was in the other two. 1. The club-thought group not only improved their swing paths the most, but the next day, they showed the greatest retention of the inside-out move. In the post-test, the club-thought group was 97 percent closer to the perfect plane than the body-thought group. 2. The control group, which selected their own cues -- some were club thoughts, others were body thoughts -- learned to swing more inside-out. Their retention wasn't as good as the club-thought group's, but it was better than the body-thought group's. 3. The body-thought group showed the least amount of improvement and the poorest retention of correct moves. Here's what we found fascinating. The instructional content of the prescribed cues was essentially identical -- trying to swing the clubhead from 8 o'clock to 2 o'clock requires the same movements used to implement the "pull my elbow down to my right hip" body-thought -- but produced varying results. The only real difference is where you place your focus.

Sure, you need good information, but how you use it in your swing is crucial to how much the information helps you hit straighter shots, and how deeply it takes root. STRAIGHTER AND LONGER! One of the benefits of an improved swing path is an improved ball flight in which the ball not only carries farther in the air but also rolls more on the ground, a fact supported by our study. The group with the most significant improvement in swing path (the club-thought group) also had the biggest gains in carry distance. 3 MORE CLUBHEAD CUES TO HELP YOU SWING INSIDE-OUT 1. Hit the inside-back quadrant of the ball with the center of the clubface. 2. Hit the ball to "right field," as though you were at home plate on a baseball diamond. 3. Hit a hook -- on purpose! FIND THE RIGHT SWING CUE FOR YOU Despite the growing scientific evidence that favors the use of club-based swing cues, body-oriented cues remain popular. Most teachers are unaware of the research suggesting that external cues are more effective. Let's face it -- it's human nature to think that we're the ones in control, not the club. But now you can get ahead of the game!

If you've been using body-centered swing thoughts, consult the grid below to translate them into club-centered thoughts that may help you get better faster in key areas of your game. Difference Between Slice & Hook | Golfsmith Difference Between Slice & Hook Difference Between Slice & Hook by Mike Southern When Nick Watney wants to avoid a hook, he tries to hold the clubface open by not letting his right wrist uncock all the way. David Cannon/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images More Articles Golf Swing Tips for Women This article is one of our editor's top picks this month. Most players don't hit straight shots very often; to do so, their swings have to be almost perfect. Curved shots are easier to repeat than straight shots. There are two basic types of curving shots – one curves to the right and the other to the left. The words "slice" and "hook" generally refer to shots that curve a lot. Sometimes you want to hit a big slice or hook – perhaps to get around a tree – but usually you just want a little curve. A little slice is called a fade, and a little hook is called a draw. Imagine you're standing inside a circle when you hit your ball .

If the ball curves around the circle (and you), that's a hook. If the ball curves away from you, that's a slice. Angle of Attack There are three factors a player controls to help shape a slice or a hook. The first is the club's angle of attack. If the player makes a flat swing and tries to keep the clubhead as close to the ground during the swing as he can, the ball is more likely to fly low and hook. If the player makes a very steep swing so he makes more of a chopping motion at the ball, it's more likely to jump up into the air and slice. Club Path The second factor is club path, which often determines the angle of attack. It's hard to keep the club traveling straight down the target line when the club hits the ball; it's usually crossing the target line at impact. If the club crosses from your side of the line toward the outside, that's an in-to-out path and helps the ball hook. That might sound backward, but in-to-out paths usually have flat angles of attack that help the ball spin toward the player and hook. And if the club is moving from outside the line toward the player, that's an out-to-in path.

Out-to-in paths usually have steep angles of attack and help the ball slice. Clubface Position The third factor is the face position. If the face points straight at the target when the club hits the ball, that's a square clubface. If the clubface points to the player's side of the target line (to the left for a right-handed player), that's a closed clubface and the ball tends to hook. And if the clubface points to the opposite side of the target line (to the right for a right-handed player), that's an open clubface and the ball tends to slice. Combinations These three factors combine to make hooks and slices. Here's how it works: If you swing on a flatter in-to-out swing path with a closed clubface, you get a hook. If you swing on a flatter in-to-out swing path with a square clubface, you get a draw. If you swing on a steeper out-to-in swing path with a square clubface, you get a fade. And if you swing on a steeper out-to-in swing path with an open clubface, you get a slice.

HOT PRODUCTS ON Golfsmith.com Cover Story: Your 5-Minute Slice Fix - Golf Digest Pinterest There's one simple fact about shot shape: On the road you take to playing good golf, nowhere is there a slice. You can go from hooking to good golf, but if you don't learn how to stop hitting shots with an open clubface, you won't get very far. The unfortunate reality is that a large majority of players--maybe 90 percent--struggle with a slice. They don't have a good grip, they make a steep swing into the ball, and they don't understand how the hands work in a good release. Those things combine to produce high, weak shots to the right. One teaching strategy that has always worked for me is to figure out a student's major flaw and devise a plan for practicing the opposite of that flaw. Exaggerate the fix as much as possible; really feel the change. That's how my new slice drill was born. Slicers everywhere need an easy way to feel the correct path and plane. My three-step drill will get you feeling a radically different swing shape, starting by tracing backward circles in the air.

(I'll explain.) After five minutes practicing the three steps (first we'll check your grip and driver specs), you'll be finding the left side of the fairway. It works every time. Hank Haney SET YOUR HANDS SO THEY CAN RELEASE Two grip mistakes make a slice almost inevitable. Many players use a grip that's too weak--with the thumbs pointing straight down the handle. Make your grip stronger (right), so your hands are turned away from the target and your palms are parallel with each other. If you drew lines up from the base of your thumbs, they should hit the point of your collar on the right side of your shirt. Also, gripping too tight keeps the hands from releasing through impact. Take a soft grip. REVERSE YOUR LOOP MY 3-PART DRILL TO FIX YOUR SLICE Ok, you've got the right club and the right grip. Our goal now is to substitute the swing loop you're making--the pull-inside-then-loop-over-the-top one--with a loop that goes in the opposite direction. I used to try to get students to take the club back on an upright plane and then flatten it coming down, but they didn't change much.

I got to thinking there had to be a way for players to start the correct shape earlier, so they had it down through the ball. Turns out, it's as easy as starting with a simple clockwise circle (from the player's perspective). Pinterest Hank Haney *Practice Making Circles: in step 1 of the drill, place the clubhead in front of the ball and draw a big backward circle--starting toward the target, then over your head, then down and over the ball. * STEP 1: DRAW A BACKWARD LOOP Checking your new grip, take your normal stance, with the ball just inside your front heel. But instead of soling the clubhead as usual, set it in front of the ball. Then make a slow circle with your hands, swinging the club toward the target, continuing above your head and then down and over the ball (above). Focus only on the loop. As you swing, the club will naturally drop onto a shallower plane as it approaches the ball, and your hands will start to release, or roll over. Pinterest Hank Haney *ADD A TURN: in step 2, start from a normal setup, lift the club over your head, turn back and swing over the ball.

The club will swing on a shallower plane. * STEP 2: LIFT AND TURN The next step is to incorporate some body turn into the drill, and to move the start of the loop from in front of the ball more toward your normal address position. Once you've grooved the clockwise circle motion (above), keep that loop going and add your shoulder turn. To do that, start with the clubhead behind the ball and lift it up over your head, until your hands are in front of your face (A). Turn your shoulders back and feel the weight of the clubhead, keeping it on the shallower plane you've established (B), then swing over the ball (C). You're making half of a clockwise loop--from the position over your head down to the ball--which keeps the club on the correct inside path. STEP 3: TURN AND RELEASE The last step of the process is the transition from practice drill to real golf swing. Lift the club into a two-thirds backswing position, with your left arm in front of your chest (A). Then make your full backswing turn (B), and graduate from swinging over the ball to actually hitting shots (C).

You'll continue to feel the backward loop that you started in the first part of the drill, and you should immediately see a right-to-left ball flight. It works for any player, at any handicap level. Just take it slow, and do it in parts. I walked the range and helped dozens of slicers at our slice-a-thon, and everybody, from a 20-year-old beginner to a senior woman, got it right away. They could see in five minutes that getting rid of their slice is the first step to playing to their potential. Pinterest Hank Haney BLEND IN A SWING: In Step 3, start with a two-thirds backswing, make a full turn and start hitting shots. You're close to making a real swing--and losing your slice. Haney, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, runs the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head. Never Slice Again - Golf.com | Golf.com Never Slice Again More Fore! We  all of us  have been slicing the ball since back in the days when golfers were still a curiosity to sheep. And the slice hasn't been made obsolete by technology.

In fact, as clubs get longer and as players swing faster (isn't that what Tiger does?), slices are now flying with increased severity and regularity. We know this because you've told us. In a recent golf.com poll, 70 percent of you confessed that slicing is your greatest golf sin. Slices are impossible to control, ugly and the single biggest wrecker of scorecards in the game. What's even worse is that slices result from swing errors that will always  and we mean always  keep your game grinding in second gear. There is no magic club that will make your slice go away for good, but there is a way to fix your swing to make banana balls disappear. What follows is a plan to systematically turn your swing inside-out and straighten your slice for good. Top 100 Teachers Darrell Kestner, Michael Breed and David Glenz will show you how to... 1) Quit coming over the top 2) Square your clubface 3) Do both at the same time Could it be that stopping your slice is as easy as 1-2-3? Turns out the answer is yes. Read on to find out how. Which slice is your slice?

The first step to stopping your slice is to determine which type of slice is destroying your game. That way you'll know if you have to correct your face angle at impact, your downswing path or both. The Straight Slice Your path is solid but your clubface is open at impact. The ball starts straight, then curves. The Pull Slice Your path is outside-in and your clubface is open. The ball starts left, then curves right. The Push Slice Your path is too inside-out and your clubface is open. The ball starts right, then curves further right. Why You're in the Woods Our slice-prone test robot proves that open clubfaces and out-to-in swings wreak left-to-right havoc in equal amounts. Or do they? There are nine discrete ball flights. Each results from unique path/face positions at impact, with the path (relative to the target line) dictating direction, and face angle (relative to the path) dictating curve. For example, to hit a pull slice your club must cross to the left of your target line th rough impact with your face open relative to the path. This makes perfect sense until you watch a robot hit a few hundred slices and chart the results.

With the help of renowned gear tester Golf Laboratories (golflabs.com), we did just that and found an answer to the age-old slice question: What comes first  the face or the path? An open clubface at impact can send your ball way off to the right even if your path is perfect. In fact, leaving your clubface open a mere 1.5 degrees can put you close to 70 feet right of your target. We expected that outcome, but we re surprised to learn that you can add 30 more feet of slice with the same clubface angle and a swing that's just slightly out-to-in (to the tune of 5 degrees). Now you're really in the woods (even though the ball started left of center). An open face is dangerous, but the out-to-in swing path is the far more lethal swing flaw. That's why it's Step 1 in our 3-step plan to set your game straight. Straight Shooters Tour pros count the number of slices they hit in a season on one hand, and offer some good advice to help you do likewise.

Jim Furyk Driving accuracy 73.5% (6th on Tour) "Most people try to fix a slice by hitting the ball straight. You'd be better off hitting a really big draw or a hook and working your ball back to straight. If you try to take a slice and work it back to straight it's never going to get there." Zach Johnson Driving accuracy: 68.8% (28th on Tour) "The farther you line up left of your target, the farther you'll hit it to the right. With that being said, you've almost got to feel like you're swinging toward right field and putting some hook spin on your ball." Corey Pavin Driving accuracy: 68.7% (30th on Tour) "Shift your weight properly so when you get to the top of your backswing your weight is on your right foot. As you go through the ball get your weight back over to your left side.

At the end of your swing, you should have 90% of your weight on your left foot." Step 1: Fix Your Path Call it over-the-top or outside-in  the path your club traces when it moves from the top to impact and then left of your target line must be corrected, or you will always slice. Ideally, your clubhead should approach the ball on a path that's slightly inside ofyour target line. You may be guilty of over-rotating your shoulders from the top or stopping your rotation too early, causing your arms to fling across the line. Either way, the following drills will help you turn that slice-causing swipe into a powerful hit. Drop your right foot Force yourself to swing inside-out by dropping your right foot back. The Drill: Drop your right foot back 10 inches at address. Force yourself to swing along your toes (in-out), and then adopt that swing to your normal stance. What It Does: It exaggerates an in-to-out path, and aggressive measures are needed to break bad habits. Stay Connected The Drill: Swing an impact bag (or any weighted object that won't break when dropped) behind you, then toss it forward.

YES: Turn back and through keeping your left arm and chest connected. NO: Lose the connection and go from out (left) to in (right). What It Does: It grooves an anti-cut motion. Keep your left arm connected to your chest as you swing back, and maintain that connection until you release the bag to the right of the target line. Hit a Home Run The Drill: Address a ball in the middle of your stance, then leaving your right foot in place move your left foot back until your feet touch. Swing to the top and on the way down move your left foot back to its original position. Make contact with both feet on the ground. What It Does: This baseball-type swing forces you to begin your downswing with your lower body, which sets up an inside-out sequence (lower body, shoulders, arms, hands and then clubhead). Hit the Center The Drill: Place three balls diagonally as shown and swing. Try to contact only the center ball. The only way to do this is to swing on an inside-out path. If you come over the top, you'll definitely hit the ball on the left, and maybe even all three balls.

What It Does: The "gate" created by the three balls is excellent for seeing what inside-out looks like through impact, and seeing is believing. Hit the Wall The Drill: Bring a club to the top of your swing so the clubhead touches a wall directly behind you. Then, bring your arms down to the mid-downswing position and make sure the clubhead is still touching the wall. Swing to the top (left) ... maintain contact (center) and never do this. What It Does: Slicers turn their shoulders too aggressively to start the downswing. The wall drill helps you "slot" the club by sliding your left arm down and across your chest while keeping your club on plane. How to Think Away Your Slice Avoid the mental pitfalls of the left-to-right shot By Richard Coop, Ph.D., GOLF Magazine's mental-game and performance consultant. Fixing a major swing flaw is generally not an option once you tee off-it usually just makes matters worse. If your slice is out of control during your round, however, here are your best bets for reeling it in. Adjust your mindset If you're sure your next shot is headed right, then trying to make pars is going to get disheartening.

So change your personal par for that round. Mentally play for bogey-or even double-on every hole, and you'll start to feel rewarded when you avoid those triples and Xs. Don't force shots If you've got 150 yards to the pin, and you normally hit a 7-iron, take a 6-iron, or even a 5, and swing at 75 percent. Throttling back will not only lessen the effects of your swing flaw, it will also relax you and allow you to work your way methodically from tee to green. Forget the hole Make getting your ball on the green your goal-everything else is gravy. Aim for the left half of the green (or the center of the green if there's trouble on the left) and let your putter do the rest. Rediscover tempo Forget your mechanics for now-they're already on the fritz. Instead, concentrate on making a smooth, pendulum swing on every shot. You may find that when you stop paying attention, your mechanics will find their way back.

STEP 2: Fix Your Face A clubface that's open a mere .75 of a degree can send your ball 10 yards off target (see our robot data on page 103). Such a small margin for error means that once you have your path where you want it, you need to focus on face angle at impact. Open Face Syndrome runs rampant among so many players for one reason alone: most of us don't know where the clubface "looks" during the swing. The key to squaring the face at impact is to gain greater control of it at every point in your motion. The following drills will help you do just that. CONTROL SETUP Guide your right hand up to the handle for greater control and a square setup. Square up before you start up The Drill: Check your address position in a mirror. If your right hand is on top of the grip (instead of on the side), you're set up to produce a slice. Take your right hand off the grip, let your right arm hang loose at your side, then smoothly move it up toward the handle and retake your grip. What It Does: It encourages a stronger right-hand hold for greater clubhead control, and it sets your shoulders square to your target line.

In the photo above, notice how the right-hand-on-top position forces my shoulders to open, pre-programming an outside-in swing. Get square at the top for square impact The Drill: Swing to the top and hold that position. If you're a slicer, the clubface is probably pointing at the ground. Try varying amounts of left and right wrist bend to match the face angle to your swing path. OPEN: Adding left wrist cup opens the face and requires perfect timing to get square at impact. SQUARE: With very few exceptions, solid ball strikers have a flat left wrist at the top position. CLOSED: An overly bowed left wrist (or an excessively bent right) closes the face. Fore, left! What It Does: If you're square to your path at the top (same face and shoulder angles), chances are you'll be square at the bottom. Cupping your left wrist (or bowing your right) at the top is a big no-no. Be square at impact The Drill: Place a box slightly ahead of where you'd normally play your ball. From address, move your club forward and try to knock the box straight ahead. You can only do this if you keep your clubface square as it moves down the line.

Set up to knock the box straight. Closed face and out-to-in. Open face and in-to-out. What It Does: It provides visual feedback that you can use to mend your clubface position and path at the bottom of your swing. If you hit the box to the right, you opened your clubface or pushed your club too far to the right. Blend arm swing and body turn The Drill: Clamp your hands against a clipboard and make a mock backswing. At the mid-back position, the clipboard should lay on a 45 degree angle. Use a clipboard to sync-up your backswing. If the board is at 45Ã‚Â°, then your face is square and your club is on plane. What It Does: It grooves an antislice backswing. Most slicers whip the club too far to the inside then simply raise their arms to the top, opening the face (the board will lay flat if you do this). A proper backswing blends arm swing and body turn in equal amounts. Blast a tee More active hands can help you better square your face. The Drill: Place a tee in the ground until just the cap is above the turf.

Make your normal backswing with an iron and then try to blast the tee out of the ground. What It Does: It activates your hands to square up the face at impact and also produces a strong downward blow. Stack your deck The Drill: Stop your swing at impact and check your positions. Make sure your body is "stacked" (shoulders above knees, knees above feet). NO: A reverse pivot increases the chances of an open face. YES: Get stacked to square your face naturally and without effort. What It Does: It makes sure that you're not stuck on your right side, and that you are in a powerful impact position. This stacked arrangement allows a natural squaring of the face. If you hang back too long on your right side, your face will be open at impact. A Slice of History Who started this left-to-right mess anyway? The exact origin of the term slice to describe the game's most famous malady is cloaked in a Highlands fog. We do know that it failed to make the printed edition of The Golfer's Manual (1857).

However, the following entry indicates that even your great-great-grandfather might have lost a featherie or two in the right gorse: "Let the novice hold the club tightly with both hands and then try to swing. The grip is too firm, making everything too stiff, causing the ball go to the right." Peruse the "Temporary Faults" chapter of Sir Walter Simpson's The Art of Golf (1887) and you'll discover shots that "skanked" to the right were common. These Victorian-age slices resulted from "pulling the arms in or throwing oneself back." Sound familiar? By the late 19th century, slice officially entered the golf vernacular. The "Glossary of Technical Terms" in William Park Jr.'s The Game of Golf (1896) includes "Slice: To draw the face of the club across the ball in the act of hitting it, resulting that it will travel with a curve towards the right." The June 1902 issue of The Golfer includes an account of an 1856 foursomes match between Old Tom Morris and his mentor Allan Robertson, each with an amateur partner.

The story recounts how Morris was forced to watch helplessly as his partner "sliced" a drive into the heather bordering the Old Course at St. Andrews. Morris then responded with a slice of his own-an intentional one-that found its mark and allowed the pair to win the hole. In 1908, American Golfer published an instructional piece in which Jerome Travers, winner of four U.S. Amateur championships and a U.S. Open, advised golfers to adjust stance, ball position and hand action to prevent the unwanted slice. Old Tom Morris The slice has affected golfers of all ages and skill levels, but its most famous victim may have also been its most powerful-President Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower's tee shots routinely started 30 yards to the left and spun wildly back to the right. Ike's slice left its mark on golf history at Augusta National, where he beseeched club chairman Clifford Roberts to remove a pine tree that stood on the left side of the 17th fairway. The tree bedeviled Eisenhower, as he needed the room on the left to maneuver his slice into the fairway. Roberts famously refused the president.

Today, the pine has grown into a magnificent tree (named the Eisenhower Pine) that plants the seed of doubt into the best golfers in the world during The Masters. Lee Trevino made slicing cool in the 1970s, and his famous line, "You can talk to a slice, but a hook won't listen," gave golf's most vilified foozle some legitimacy. But even today, with all of our technological resources, the slice still claims victims. Just ask Phil Mickelson, who sliced his final tee shot at the 2006 U.S. Open onto a beer tent on his way to a double bogey that cost him the championship. For anyone who has ever struggled with the banana ball, the irony was rich. After all, Mickelson had literally sliced his ball onto a tent selling what many consider the most effective tonic ever devised to combat the slice-a stiff drink to help you forget all about it. - Tom Ferrel (Special thanks to Top 100 Teacher Michael Hebron) The Top 100 Sound Off on Slicing Our experts on what's wrong and how to fix it Jane Frost Sandwich Hills GC, East Sandwhich, Mass.

David Phillips Titleist Performance Institute, Oceanside, Calif. Carol Preisinger Kiawah Island Club, Kiawah Island, S.C. Why do golfers slice? Too much emphasis on the "grip it and rip it" mentality that trickles from the Tour's big hitters to less-skilled amateurs. In a recent study of 379 golfers we found that 44% of them came over the top. That's why the slice problem is as prevalent as ever. Grips are too weak and too tight with the handle in the palm there's no chance of releasing the club through impact. How do they make it worse? They squeeze the life out of the club and swing for the fences. A light grip pressure and even tempo is needed to properly square the face. To quit coming over the top you must lead your downswing with your lower body, which requires a level of flexibility most golfers don't own. Slicers know they must swing in-to-out, but if they don't release the clubhead they'll hit a push fade. Now they're really confused. Your best slice tip?

Glue a tee to a magnet and place it in the center of your clubface, then make slow-motion swings to learn where your face points during all points of your swing. Improve your core stability. This will help you maintain dynamic posture. Without it, your torso and arms will dominate and bring your clubhead across the target line. Hold your club like you'd hold a briefcase (in your fingers) with a light pressure. Make a baseball swing and feel how your forearms cross over. That's what you're after. Step 3: Get it in Sync You've got your path ironed out and your face is as square as the yell leader at M.I.T. All that's left to do is combine the two for a slice-busting swing. By adding just a few additional must-have elements to your motion, the in-out swing and square face at contact you've worked hard to achieve will happen naturally and without effort. Try the following to pull it all together and kick that slice to the curb. Where your right palm points, so does your face. Use it as a guide to keep your face square to the line during your swing. Fight for your right Fact: Your clubface points in the same direction as your right hand.

This is never more relevant than just prior to impact. At this point, your right hand (and clubface) should face the ball. If you're solid here, all it takes is a full turn through the ball to produce straight, powerful shots. Stay in your shoes If you overswing even slightly, you're left to depend on impeccable timing and luck to make square contact. Strive for a more compact motion-one that you can control. You'll get more power from centered contact than you will from a big swing with an impact out toward the heel or toe. [STYLE "YES:" "spotlighttitle"] Allow your flexibility level to determine backswing length. [STYLE "NO:" "spotlighttitle"] If your left hand can't reach your right, your swing is too long. Pull your pocket When you stop your hips in your downswing, your arms fling past your body and across the target line-a bad thing. An easy way to feel proper hip turn is to pull on your right pants pocket with your left hand. That powerful and aggressive turn through impact is exactly what you need to keep your club on the proper plane. Hinge your wrists Poor wrist hinge can open your face quicker than almost anything else.

Avoid hinging upward during your takeaway. In a good full swing your wrists cock laterally, especially at the start. Your arm swing and elbow fold do the work to get your club upward. The swing in the mirror Your through-swing is a mirror image of your backswing. Look at your elbow and wrist positions. In your backswing, your right arm is folded and your left wrist is flat. In your through-swing, your left arm is folded and your right wrist is flat. Sometimes breaking the golf motion down to its simplest parts is all you need to get on plane and square. Backswing basics: Flat left wrist, bent right elbow Through-swing basics: The reverse of your backswing Stay centered The middle of your sternum is your swing center, and your path goes awry and your face position falls out of whack when you don't swing around it. To learn to swing around your center (and on plane), place the grip against your belt buckle and wrap your hands around the shaft. Make a swing and feel the connection between your arms and your torso. That's "keeping your club in front" and is one of the true hallmarks of a high-level swing. The center of your sternum is the center of your swing.

Never get in front of it or behind it. Put Your Clubs to Work Four gear changes you can make to stop your slice today 1. Hook up your face If your woods are designed with a square face angle (like most clubs are), you'll benefit from a custom fitting for woods with a closed (aka "hook") face angle. This directly offsets the effects of an open face. 2. Add some offset "Offset" means that the shaft of the club is in front of the clubhead. This will give you a split second more to keep the rotation of your hands and arms going so that the clubface arrives at impact less open than it would with a conventional wood. 3. Shorten the shaft By going an inch or two shorter with your driver, you'll find it much easier to reduce your outside-in swing path, which should automatically reduce the severity of your slice. However, if you shorten your existing driver, be sure to add weight back to the head to re-establish the swing weight-otherwise, you'll make your slice much worse! 4.

Order a combo If you're staring at a 30- to 40-yard banana ball on most of your shots, and you're not willing or able to put in the time to fix your swing, a driver with a more closed face angle and an offset hosel, along with a shorter shaft, should definitely reduce the severity of your slice. By Tom Wishon Posted: Mon Mar. 12, 2007 Updated: Sat Nov. 29, 2014 Install App Fore! We  all of us  have been slicing the ball since back in the days when golfers were still a curiosity to sheep. And the slice hasn't been made obsolete by technology. In fact, as clubs get longer and as players swing faster (isn't that what Tiger does?), slices are now flying with increased severity and regularity. We know this because you've told us. In a recent golf.com poll, 70 percent of you confessed that slicing is your greatest golf sin. Slices are impossible to control, ugly and the single biggest wrecker of scorecards in the game.

What's even worse is that slices result from swing errors that will always  and we mean always  keep your game grinding in second gear. There is no magic club that will make your slice go away for good, but there is a way to fix your swing to make banana balls disappear. What follows is a plan to systematically turn your swing inside-out and straighten your slice for good. Top 100 Teachers Darrell Kestner, Michael Breed and David Glenz will show you how to... 1) Quit coming over the top 2) Square your clubface 3) Do both at the same time Could it be that stopping your slice is as easy as 1-2-3? Turns out the answer is yes. Read on to find out how. Which slice is your slice? The first step to stopping your slice is to determine which type of slice is destroying your game. That way you'll know if you have to correct your face angle at impact, your downswing path or both. The Straight Slice Your path is solid but your clubface is open at impact. The ball starts straight, then curves. The Pull Slice Your path is outside-in and your clubface is open. The ball starts left, then curves right.

The Push Slice Your path is too inside-out and your clubface is open. The ball starts right, then curves further right. Why You're in the Woods Our slice-prone test robot proves that open clubfaces and out-to-in swings wreak left-to-right havoc in equal amounts. Or do they? There are nine discrete ball flights. Each results from unique path/face positions at impact, with the path (relative to the target line) dictating direction, and face angle (relative to the path) dictating curve. For example, to hit a pull slice your club must cross to the left of your target line th rough impact with your face open relative to the path. This makes perfect sense until you watch a robot hit a few hundred slices and chart the results. With the help of renowned gear tester Golf Laboratories (golflabs.com), we did just that and found an answer to the age-old slice question: What comes first  the face or the path? An open clubface at impact can send your ball way off to the right even if your path is perfect. In fact, leaving your clubface open a mere 1.5 degrees can put you close to 70 feet right of your target.

We expected that outcome, but we re surprised to learn that you can add 30 more feet of slice with the same clubface angle and a swing that's just slightly out-to-in (to the tune of 5 degrees). Now you're really in the woods (even though the ball started left of center). An open face is dangerous, but the out-to-in swing path is the far more lethal swing flaw. That's why it's Step 1 in our 3-step plan to set your game straight. Straight Shooters Tour pros count the number of slices they hit in a season on one hand, and offer some good advice to help you do likewise. Jim Furyk Driving accuracy 73.5% (6th on Tour) "Most people try to fix a slice by hitting the ball straight. You'd be better off hitting a really big draw or a hook and working your ball back to straight. If you try to take a slice and work it back to straight it's never going to get there." Zach Johnson Driving accuracy: 68.8% (28th on Tour) "The farther you line up left of your target, the farther you'll hit it to the right.

With that being said, you've almost got to feel like you're swinging toward right field and putting some hook spin on your ball." Corey Pavin Driving accuracy: 68.7% (30th on Tour) "Shift your weight properly so when you get to the top of your backswing your weight is on your right foot. As you go through the ball get your weight back over to your left side. At the end of your swing, you should have 90% of your weight on your left foot." Step 1: Fix Your Path Call it over-the-top or outside-in  the path your club traces when it moves from the top to impact and then left of your target line must be corrected, or you will always slice. Ideally, your clubhead should approach the ball on a path that's slightly inside ofyour target line. You may be guilty of over-rotating your shoulders from the top or stopping your rotation too early, causing your arms to fling across the line. Either way, the following drills will help you turn that slice-causing swipe into a powerful hit. Drop your right foot Force yourself to swing inside-out by dropping your right foot back.

The Drill: Drop your right foot back 10 inches at address. Force yourself to swing along your toes (in-out), and then adopt that swing to your normal stance. What It Does: It exaggerates an in-to-out path, and aggressive measures are needed to break bad habits. Stay Connected The Drill: Swing an impact bag (or any weighted object that won't break when dropped) behind you, then toss it forward. YES: Turn back and through keeping your left arm and chest connected. NO: Lose the connection and go from out (left) to in (right). What It Does: It grooves an anti-cut motion. Keep your left arm connected to your chest as you swing back, and maintain that connection until you release the bag to the right of the target line. Hit a Home Run The Drill: Address a ball in the middle of your stance, then leaving your right foot in place move your left foot back until your feet touch. Swing to the top and on the way down move your left foot back to its original position. Make contact with both feet on the ground.

What It Does: This baseball-type swing forces you to begin your downswing with your lower body, which sets up an inside-out sequence (lower body, shoulders, arms, hands and then clubhead). Hit the Center The Drill: Place three balls diagonally as shown and swing. Try to contact only the center ball. The only way to do this is to swing on an inside-out path. If you come over the top, you'll definitely hit the ball on the left, and maybe even all three balls. What It Does: The "gate" created by the three balls is excellent for seeing what inside-out looks like through impact, and seeing is believing. Hit the Wall The Drill: Bring a club to the top of your swing so the clubhead touches a wall directly behind you. Then, bring your arms down to the mid-downswing position and make sure the clubhead is still touching the wall. Swing to the top (left) ... maintain contact (center) and never do this. What It Does: Slicers turn their shoulders too aggressively to start the downswing. The wall drill helps you "slot" the club by sliding your left arm down and across your chest while keeping your club on plane.

How to Think Away Your Slice Avoid the mental pitfalls of the left-to-right shot By Richard Coop, Ph.D., GOLF Magazine's mental-game and performance consultant. Fixing a major swing flaw is generally not an option once you tee off-it usually just makes matters worse. If your slice is out of control during your round, however, here are your best bets for reeling it in. Adjust your mindset If you're sure your next shot is headed right, then trying to make pars is going to get disheartening. So change your personal par for that round. Mentally play for bogey-or even double-on every hole, and you'll start to feel rewarded when you avoid those triples and Xs. Don't force shots If you've got 150 yards to the pin, and you normally hit a 7-iron, take a 6-iron, or even a 5, and swing at 75 percent. Throttling back will not only lessen the effects of your swing flaw, it will also relax you and allow you to work your way methodically from tee to green. Forget the hole Make getting your ball on the green your goal-everything else is gravy.

Aim for the left half of the green (or the center of the green if there's trouble on the left) and let your putter do the rest. Rediscover tempo Forget your mechanics for now-they're already on the fritz. Instead, concentrate on making a smooth, pendulum swing on every shot. You may find that when you stop paying attention, your mechanics will find their way back. STEP 2: Fix Your Face A clubface that's open a mere .75 of a degree can send your ball 10 yards off target (see our robot data on page 103). Such a small margin for error means that once you have your path where you want it, you need to focus on face angle at impact. Open Face Syndrome runs rampant among so many players for one reason alone: most of us don't know where the clubface "looks" during the swing. The key to squaring the face at impact is to gain greater control of it at every point in your motion. The following drills will help you do just that. CONTROL SETUP Guide your right hand up to the handle for greater control and a square setup. Square up before you start up The Drill: Check your address position in a mirror.

If your right hand is on top of the grip (instead of on the side), you're set up to produce a slice. Take your right hand off the grip, let your right arm hang loose at your side, then smoothly move it up toward the handle and retake your grip. What It Does: It encourages a stronger right-hand hold for greater clubhead control, and it sets your shoulders square to your target line. In the photo above, notice how the right-hand-on-top position forces my shoulders to open, pre-programming an outside-in swing. Get square at the top for square impact The Drill: Swing to the top and hold that position. If you're a slicer, the clubface is probably pointing at the ground. Try varying amounts of left and right wrist bend to match the face angle to your swing path. OPEN: Adding left wrist cup opens the face and requires perfect timing to get square at impact. SQUARE: With very few exceptions, solid ball strikers have a flat left wrist at the top position. CLOSED: An overly bowed left wrist (or an excessively bent right) closes the face. Fore, left!

What It Does: If you're square to your path at the top (same face and shoulder angles), chances are you'll be square at the bottom. Cupping your left wrist (or bowing your right) at the top is a big no-no. Be square at impact The Drill: Place a box slightly ahead of where you'd normally play your ball. From address, move your club forward and try to knock the box straight ahead. You can only do this if you keep your clubface square as it moves down the line. Set up to knock the box straight. Closed face and out-to-in. Open face and in-to-out. What It Does: It provides visual feedback that you can use to mend your clubface position and path at the bottom of your swing. If you hit the box to the right, you opened your clubface or pushed your club too far to the right. Blend arm swing and body turn The Drill: Clamp your hands against a clipboard and make a mock backswing. At the mid-back position, the clipboard should lay on a 45 degree angle. Use a clipboard to sync-up your backswing.

If the board is at 45Ã‚Â°, then your face is square and your club is on plane. What It Does: It grooves an antislice backswing. Most slicers whip the club too far to the inside then simply raise their arms to the top, opening the face (the board will lay flat if you do this). A proper backswing blends arm swing and body turn in equal amounts. Blast a tee More active hands can help you better square your face. The Drill: Place a tee in the ground until just the cap is above the turf. Make your normal backswing with an iron and then try to blast the tee out of the ground. What It Does: It activates your hands to square up the face at impact and also produces a strong downward blow. Stack your deck The Drill: Stop your swing at impact and check your positions. Make sure your body is "stacked" (shoulders above knees, knees above feet). NO: A reverse pivot increases the chances of an open face. YES: Get stacked to square your face naturally and without effort. What It Does: It makes sure that you're not stuck on your right side, and that you are in a powerful impact position.

This stacked arrangement allows a natural squaring of the face. If you hang back too long on your right side, your face will be open at impact. A Slice of History Who started this left-to-right mess anyway? The exact origin of the term slice to describe the game's most famous malady is cloaked in a Highlands fog. We do know that it failed to make the printed edition of The Golfer's Manual (1857). However, the following entry indicates that even your great-great-grandfather might have lost a featherie or two in the right gorse: "Let the novice hold the club tightly with both hands and then try to swing. The grip is too firm, making everything too stiff, causing the ball go to the right." Peruse the "Temporary Faults" chapter of Sir Walter Simpson's The Art of Golf (1887) and you'll discover shots that "skanked" to the right were common. These Victorian-age slices resulted from "pulling the arms in or throwing oneself back." Sound familiar? By the late 19th century, slice officially entered the golf vernacular.

The "Glossary of Technical Terms" in William Park Jr.'s The Game of Golf (1896) includes "Slice: To draw the face of the club across the ball in the act of hitting it, resulting that it will travel with a curve towards the right." The June 1902 issue of The Golfer includes an account of an 1856 foursomes match between Old Tom Morris and his mentor Allan Robertson, each with an amateur partner. The story recounts how Morris was forced to watch helplessly as his partner "sliced" a drive into the heather bordering the Old Course at St. Andrews. Morris then responded with a slice of his own-an intentional one-that found its mark and allowed the pair to win the hole. In 1908, American Golfer published an instructional piece in which Jerome Travers, winner of four U.S. Amateur championships and a U.S. Open, advised golfers to adjust stance, ball position and hand action to prevent the unwanted slice. Old Tom Morris The slice has affected golfers of all ages and skill levels, but its most famous victim may have also been its most powerful-President Dwight Eisenhower.

Eisenhower's tee shots routinely started 30 yards to the left and spun wildly back to the right. Ike's slice left its mark on golf history at Augusta National, where he beseeched club chairman Clifford Roberts to remove a pine tree that stood on the left side of the 17th fairway. The tree bedeviled Eisenhower, as he needed the room on the left to maneuver his slice into the fairway. Roberts famously refused the president. Today, the pine has grown into a magnificent tree (named the Eisenhower Pine) that plants the seed of doubt into the best golfers in the world during The Masters. Lee Trevino made slicing cool in the 1970s, and his famous line, "You can talk to a slice, but a hook won't listen," gave golf's most vilified foozle some legitimacy. But even today, with all of our technological resources, the slice still claims victims. Just ask Phil Mickelson, who sliced his final tee shot at the 2006 U.S. Open onto a beer tent on his way to a double bogey that cost him the championship. For anyone who has ever struggled with the banana ball, the irony was rich.

After all, Mickelson had literally sliced his ball onto a tent selling what many consider the most effective tonic ever devised to combat the slice-a stiff drink to help you forget all about it. - Tom Ferrel (Special thanks to Top 100 Teacher Michael Hebron) The Top 100 Sound Off on Slicing Our experts on what's wrong and how to fix it Jane Frost Sandwich Hills GC, East Sandwhich, Mass. David Phillips Titleist Performance Institute, Oceanside, Calif. Carol Preisinger

Question: In golf, what is the opposite of a slice (a shot that curves toward the side of the swing)?
Answer: A hook