This exercise will help correct your excessive movement and fix the slices.
@CallawayGolf / X
Welcome to play Smart, a regular Golf.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter and better golfer.
Almost every golfer who starts will fight the same mistake when he first starts the game. Of course, that lens is a slice.
For whatever reason, when we first picked up the club and started swinging, we tend to come Way On top. Adding to the open face leads to large banana slices.
Not only is the slice ugly, it also takes your distance. While you can easily fly fading or cutting as a typical ball, slices don’t offer you this luxury.
Fortunately, it’s easier to fix the slice than you think. All you need to do is make your path closer to neutral and manage your face better. For more information on the former, we looked at the drills used by Major Champion Xander Schauffele.
Xander’s anti-skate drill
As a great PGA Tour professional, Schauffele obviously didn’t struggle in the slice like the 20 Handicap. But that doesn’t mean we can’t apply the exercise principles above to our own games.
As you can see in the video shared by Callaway Golf on X, Schauffele put a barrel of shot in front of him inside his target line. The goal of the exercise is simple: avoid hitting a bucket.
Schauffele ensures that his path is not too online by placing the bucket inside his release club’s goal line. When he avoided it, he knew he was swaying from the inside rather than over the top.
This is a great attempt for all slicers. Start slow first (so if you do hit the bucket, you won’t hurt yourself) and work hard at full speed. This will teach you the feeling of swinging from the inside and keep you away from that scary excessive movement.
From there, all you need to do is make sure your club face is in the right place. But the repair will have to wait for another day.
