THE slice is the most common fault I see golfers hitting, so today I’m going to show you how to rectify the shot.

Firstly, I’m going to explain why golfers actually hit a slice shot.

An amateur golfer usually tends to aim right with their feet while their shoulders point left or at the target.

During the swing a slicer will turn to the top of the swing as normal but because of where the feet and shoulders are aiming they try to compensate by throwing the club over plane and hitting the ball from an out to in swing path. This causes the club to travel across them and the club face to open in an attempt to stop the ball going further left. This only makes the ball start to left and spin dramatically right in the air.

Another common fault of a slicer is to have the weight stay on the back foot. This makes it easier for them to drag the club across themsleves and manufacture a finish position.

This may work for so long but there will come a time when all control is lost and the position is exaggerated even more in a bid to keep the ball straight.

Now you know how a slice is caused I’ll fix it for you.

Firstly, put an alignment aid on the ground aiming at the intended target. You could use one of your golf clubs for this.

Line your feet, knees, hips and shoulders up so they are running parallel to the allignment aid. You should feel like your feet are aiming left and your shoulders are aiming to the right.

Grip the club a little stronger so you can see at least three knuckles on your left hand while keeping the right hand on top.

This will give you a better chance of closing the club face and eliminate the weak right shot.

The slice is caused from an out to in swing path so to correct this we have to feel a more in to out approach to the ball.

Turn the club a little more around the body on the backswing.

The next movement is to reconnect the right elbow down into the body so the club remains on the correct swing plane (fig 6).

After impact with the ball extend your forearms out to the one o’clock position (away from the body) in front of the ball and then try to make a full release with the hands by rolling the wrists over one another.

This movement will immediately help you to transfer your weight over to your front foot giving you the best chance of making a full finish position.

If successful, you will see the ball moving from right to left in the air thus eliminating the slice.

The best example or feeling you need to try and create when hitting the ball from the inside to out swing path is simulating a tennis forehand.

This improves not only the swing path but the release of the club and weight transfer onto the front foot.

Next week we’ll talk about the importance of weight transfer.

l Want Richard to fix your golf faults? Email him at rich_scarrott@yahoo.co.uk or book in for a lesson by calling Wrag Barn Pro Shop on 01793 766027.