How to Fix a Slice

Fixing nasty slices with 3D

First things first, what kind of slice are you creating? 

Depending on the shape of your slice, there are different swing faults that could be the culprits.

Pull Slice: (Right Handed golfer) Ball starts left of the target, and curves aggressively to the right

Push Slice: (Right Handed golfer) Ball starts right of target and curves aggressively further to the right

For the Push Slicers

You're most likely dealing with a reverse pivot. A reverse pivot is when the golfer moves their body weight during the swing in the opposite direction of the target. During the backswing, they may move their weight towards the front foot. During the downswing, they will then result to moving their body weight towards the back foot and strike the ball with the weight left behind. 

Check out this golfer in Sportsbox 3DGolf. From his Chest Sway tracker, you can see he is sliding 1.7 inches closer to his target compared to address. Because of that movement, he has a positive Sway Gap number. A positive Sway Gap number means the upper body (chest) is leaning towards the target while the lower body (pelvis) is farther away from the target. 

From this position,  this player has no option but to rely on his reverse pivot to get through the shot. His weight is behind on his right foot, and this will highly increase his chance of starting the ball right and then curving even more right. 

For the Pull Slicers

You're most likely dealing excessive sway and sequencing. Pull slicers tend to have an open set up like this golfer below. From his Sportsbox 3DGolf numbers, you can see his chest and pelvis are aimed way left. Coupled with not enough turn in the backswing, the hands and arms lift, so the player won't have enough depth. 

Then, when he is initiating his downswing, he must make an aggressive sway movement to his lead side at P5. His arms, club, and chest are going to come over the top and force the ball to start left. 

With more extreme cases of hanging back like this golfer below, this golfer's going to need to make an extreme sway towards the target to try and save it. In doing so, his arms/club and chest will rotate first before any sort of sway of the pelvis towards the target. This combination of hanging back and spinning out gets the swing direction way left with an open club face, resulting with the ball starting left and slicing to the right. 

With the remaining open club face, he is going to see his ball shape initially start left of the target and then curve way right of the intended target.

What Now?

Now that you know what type of slicer you are and why you create that shot shape, head to the Sportsbox 3DGolf app and monitor your swing. These are the top 3 trackers that we recommend:

1. Sway Gap (3D Pro only)
2. Chest Sway
3. Pelvis Sway

Use these data points to ensure your body is not moving excessively off the ball so you can increase your changes of hitting a straighter shot. Too much excessive movement can lead to uncontrolled shots and unwanted curvature. Use the Tour Range feature to see where you are compared to the pros!