If you find yourself hooking or slicing your shots often, you most likely want to know just what you have to do to get your ball moving straight. Obviously, everyone wants to know how to best hit a straight shot so that you can get your ball at its maximum distance. If you can hit the ball straight down the fairway, you’ll have an easy time getting closer towards the green. In this article, you will learn exactly what a slice is, and how you can do something to correct it.
What is the main problem that causes so many players to not hit a ball straight? Basically, slices are caused by a tilt of the golf ball’s spin-axis in a clockwise spin. Slices usually move towards the right of your intended target line, and this term is usually said when the curved trajectory is unintentional. On the other hand, “fades” are intentional and controlled versions of slices.
If you want to hit a golf ball squarely and straight with every shot, you have to think about the club head at the original spot at the impact area. Slices are caused when the club face is open as you’re hitting the ball, which makes the ball spin clockwise. Your swing path will normally be right, but the ball isn’t struck squarely, most likely due to a weak grip.
When you find that you can’t hit the golf ball in a straight line, the first thing to examine is how your grip is. You can use any type of grip (interlocking, overlapping, baseball). The thing that really affects the flight path of your ball is your grip strength. To fix a slice, try moving your hands around towards the right for a stronger grip position.
There are some other things you can do to cure a slice. First off, avoid gripping the club very tightly to the point that you tense up your muscles in the wrists & forearms. Second, you can try to swinging much faster. A faster swing results in more distance and it will reduce the extremity of a slice that you put onto a golf ball. Another thing is that you might be using the wrong flex of shaft. This may cause some problems for your shots. If you hit 250+ yards, then use a stiff/extra stiff flex, from 200-250 yards use a firm/regular flex, and under 200 yards use the ladies/senior flex.
Your address position has to be right if you want to hit your golf ball straight. You have to align your shot with your shoulders, hips, and feet all parallel to the target line. When you are about to tee off with a driver, the best ball position is opposite of the instep of your left foot. The sole of the club should also be on the ground and not tilted forwards (standing too close to ball) or tilted backwards (standing too far from ball).
If you hit a slice or a hook once in a while, then go back and review the essentials of the golf swing. Remember to place your feet shoulder-width apart from each other. Keep your eyes on the ball with your knees bent a little, and keep your back straight with your chin facing up. I won’t talk too much about the basic golf swing in this method, but remember to start off your back swing straight and make sure your downswing remains on the same plane. Your swing speed should stay consistent throughout the entire backswing to the downswing.
There are two more things that can prevent you from hitting a nice straight ball – the push and pull shot. The push shot is when the ball flies off of the club face towards the right and the pull shot is towards the left. The push shot is a result of an in-to-out swing path and the pull results from an out-to-in swing path. Both of these effects are due to a bad golf swing and not knowing the fundamentals of the swing.
