If you slice your golf shots, there's good news: You're not alone, and experts know what causes it and how to fix it. Tweaking your address, stance and grip will help you create a straighter swing path and avoid putting the sidespin on the ball that creates a slice.
Identification
Slice is a sidespin that causes the ball to travel in the direction of the spin. For right-handed golfers, this means your shots will travel from left to right. A true slice makes a severe curve from left to right. With less spin, you will fade the ball slightly to the right. A fade travels farther forward than a slice before turning right.
Ball Address
How close you stand to the ball affects whether you will slice the ball. The closer you are to the ball, the more your club will travel from outside of your shoulders to inside. This creates a swing path that results in your club face glancing the back of your ball from right to left, rather than coming from straight behind. This right-to-left club-ball interaction starts the ball spinning from left to right, creating a slice.
Stance
Placing your ball too far back in your stance increases your risk of slicing. The closer the ball is to your back foot, the sooner you will hit it and the more open your club face might be. The more open your club face, the more sidespin you'll put on the ball. Place the ball even in your stance, or a bit closer to your front foot, to create a straight club face angle at impact and decrease slicing.
Grip
Playing with a weak grip opens your club face at impact, creating slice. A weaker grip has your lower hand facing palm forward. To strengthen your grip, rotate your lower hand until your palm is facing up, toward you instead of the ball.
Tee Placement
Teeing the ball higher can help you decrease your slice, according to world renown golf instructor David Leadbetter, writing in the February 2008 issue of "Golf Digest" magazine. If you tee the ball low, you might chop down at it, creating more backspin and sidespin. A higher tee placement will let you swing with a more shallow path to the ball.
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