Consistent Golf Gazette – 18th March 2012

It’s only 2 and a half weeks until The Masters. Hopefully Tiger can get himself fit and ready for it. Should be a great spectacle.

At the moment I’m reading a book called The Talent Code (by Daniel Coyle). Makes for some interesting reading regarding trying to improve our golf games. I’ll do a full review on it in due course. If you’ve read that book let me know your thoughts on it. I’d be interested to hear your opinions.

Anyway, without any further ado, here’s this weeks golf instruction tips…

[divider_bar]Insert Your Text Here[/divider_bar] [headline_arial_large_centered color=”#990000″]4 Reasons Why You Slice The Ball[/headline_arial_large_centered]

If you often hit a slice there will be 4 reasons why you do this.

The first reason will be because you setup to slice the ball. Most probably you have a weak grip, you have the ball positioned too far forward in your stance and you are aimed to the left.

Poor setup would be the number 1 reason why golfers slice the ball!

Almost all golfers who suffer with a slice problem try to fix it by changing their swing. But what they don’t understand is that their swing is largely determined by how they setup. So they can try swing changes all they want, but without changing the setup they are just putting a band-aid on the problem. And you know what happens to band-aids after a while…. they fall off!

The next biggest reason why golfers slice the ball is because they swing from out-to-in. This causes the ball to start to the left of the target.

Look, if you want to fix your slice then you have to force yourself to start the ball to the right of the target. There are simple ways that you can do this, like I teach in this system, but it really comes down to you biting the bullet and accepting some bad shots for a while until you can start the ball consistently to the right of the target.

The next big reason why golfers suffer with a slice problem, is because they contact the ball with an open clubface.

The fact is… if you contact the ball with an open clubface and an out-to-in clubhead path, the only thing that can happen is the ball will start to the left of your target and then slice.

This naturally costs you a lot of distance and accuracy.

So to fix this you need to work on approaching the ball from the inside and then contacting the ball with a slightly closed clubface. It’s really not that tough….when you know how to do it.

The final reason why golfers suffer with a slice problem is because the equipment they’re using promotes a slice. And the main culprit of this is the club shaft. Most amateur golfers have a club shaft that is too stiff. It’s important that you get fitted with golf clubs, rather than buying clubs off the shelf.

Now the order that I recommend golfers work through in this system when fixing a slice, is to start at the setup…then work on the swing. And the best way to work on the swing is not to try to get into positions, but rather to use drills. But you need specific drills in a certain order to fix your slice. Otherwise you’ll find that you think you have fixed your slice, when in fact you haven’t.

But whether you get a proven system like this to fix your slice, or you go it alone….you must go through this process to fix it:

1. Setup to the ball to encourage a draw/hook.

2. Swing from the inside.

3. Contact the ball with a slightly closed clubface.

4. Have equipment that encourages a draw ball flight.

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Question

I’m not sure how to execute the turn in the backswing correctly. Can you enlighten me?

Answer

Turning in the backswing is the simplest thing in the golf swing and I’m going to get you to feel what should be happening, rather than trying to explain it to you.

To feel this, simply stand up and stand normally with your feet directly under your hips. Then simply feel as though you are turning your shoulder behind your head. It’s very important when you do this that you’re not pushing your left shoulder around. You are simply moving your right shoulder behind you.

When you do this you’ll find that you can easily turn your shoulders about 90 degrees, and that’s all you need in the backswing.

After you’ve got that feeling of turning your right shoulder behind you while standing up in a normal position, then get into your golf posture and do the same movement.

If you’ve done this, that is the turn you need in the backswing. As you can tell….it’s very, very simple. Nothing complicated or hard.

So when you have a golf club in your hand, focus on turning your right shoulder behind your head to get the right turn required.

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I hope you enjoyed this issued of the Consistent Golf Gazette. If you have any golf problem that you would like sorted out, simply email me and I’ll answer for it in an issue of this publication.
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