How to STOP slicing the golf FOREVER: 3 simple drills to stop your slice

Are you having problems slicing the golf ball? PGA professional James Whittemore has a few tips to help you hit straighter shots.

Jack Seddon's picture
Thu, 8 Oct 2020
How to STOP slicing the golf FOREVER: 3 simple tips to stop your slice

Ahhhh the dreaded slice. An amateur golfers worst nightmare. We've all been there, standing on the tee staring down the fairway hopeful of ripping one straight down the middle, only to to completely slice the ball as if we've thrown a boomerang. Slicing the ball regularly will lead to some terrible scores, but there's a few tips and tricks to stop you ever doing it again.

Watch the video below as PGA Professional James Whittemore of Wellingborough Golf Club shows you a few things you can do to get rid of that awful slice.

JAMES' TIPS TO DITCH THE SLICE

1) The Bottle Drill: When slicing the golf ball, the major factor that causes it is coming over the top of your swing. This means that you load the swing on the way back and then your first movement is to throw your shoulder forward, causing your arms to come over the ball and hit straight across it close to your feet. The bottle drill can be done from the comfort of your own home and is a great way to get the correct "feel" for where your arms and hands should be on the way down. Fill up a plastic bottle about half way and remove the lid. Set up as if you were hitting a golf shot whilst holding the bottle in your right hand (if you're right handed). Slowly take your arm up to the top of your backswing, keeping the bottle nice and straight. Now on the way down, if you were to come over the top of your swing, the water would spill out of the bottle, so try swinging down slowly keeping the top of the water bottle facing up to prevent it from spilling. This drill is all about feel and getting used to the correct position throughout the swing.

2) The Waiter Drill: Another exercise to create a better feel for the correct driver swing. Set up as if you are going to hit a shot and hold a plate in your right hand like a waiter at a restaurant. Swing your arm back and imagine you're job is to keep all the food on the plate. Now on the way down, if you were to go over the top of your swing, the plate would be thrown forward and the food would come flying off. On the down swing, concentrate on keeping the plate flat so that the imaginary food stays on the plate.

3) Alignment Stick Drill: Put an alignment stick against one of your irons and hold both in your lead hand. One end of the alignment stick should start at the hosel of your iron, leaving the other end sticking out past the grip. On the downswing, an over the top movement would cause the alignment stick to point down inside the ball, so work on keeping it pointed outside the ball for as long as possible.

To get a better understanding of James' anti-slice drills, make sure you watch the video attached to the article.