In the last section of the Cure Your Slice series we discovered two laws of impact that will cause the slice. This installment looks at the fundamentals each golfer must build to create the swing that is repeatable and creates predictable results. Yes you have heard this before you must learn to crawl before you can walk and you must learn to walk before you can learn to run. That is so cliché and so boring and so true. The fundamentals we will look at in this article are the grip, ball position, and your aim and alignment.

Golf Grip

The grip is the single most important fundamental in golf. Our hands are the only body parts that come into contact with the club through the entire swing. The way we place our hands on the club will determine the club face angle at impact, assuming no other compensations have been made.

There are three basic positions your hands can form on the golf club: the weak grip, the neutral grip, and the strong grip. Weak, neutral and strong refer to hand position not how tightly we are gripping the club. These hand positions will create three different club face angles at impact. The weak position creates an open club face; the neutral grip creates a square face, and the strong grip creates a closed face. As we learned in the last article an open club face is the biggest factor in the creation of the slice. So let get ourselves a stronger grip.

Why do these three grip positions create different club face angles at impact? The swing path is like a tilted Ferris wheel and as we swing down into impact the golfer’s hands and arms are under the influence of centrifugal force and gravity. At impact our hands are forced in to a neutral position each and every time. If we gripped the club in this exact fashion it would create a square club face. Due to centrifugal force and gravity, hands that begin in a weak position are force to a neutral position this change in position creates an open club face.

1. Stand at fully upright with your arms hanging naturally at your sides
2. Look down at the target hand, how many knuckles you see? 1? 2? 3? 4?
3. Starting about ½”-1″ from the end of the shaft place the shaft at a slight diagonal angle across the point where your fingers and palms meet.
4. Wrap the fingers around the shaft.
5. Count the knuckles visible on this hand and does it match the number of knuckles in Step 2? If yes you have found your neutral position for your target hand. If not repeat steps 1-4.
6. With the trail hand, rest the club in the fingers never in the palm.
7. Fit the life line of the trail hand beside the thumb of the target hand (it should be a perfect fit).
8. The V’s formed by the index finger and thumb of each hand should point between your chin and trail shoulder

For slicers the weakest position the golf grip should be in is a neutral grip. Use the weight step system to find your neutral grip then take it one step further and strengthen the grip a little more.

Ball Position

You spend your time perfecting your shot set up and swing shape, yet improvement is still slow. You ask your local golf professional to monitor your swing and they confirm that you are aligned properly to the target and your swing is on plane. However the ball is still starting left of the target. If you know all of your fundamentals are correct, start troubleshooting your swing by checking your ball position. Harvey Penick called ball position the second most important fundamental. Let’s take a closer look.

Perfect path in the perfect world has the golf club approaching the target line from inside the target line. While the club is traveling over the target line the club faces squares and begins to close slightly, in relation to the target line. After impact the club begins to travel to the inside of the target line again.

We will use this perfect path to illustrate the importance of ball position. Optimally we would place the ball where the club travels along the target line. At this point in the swing the golf club will also reach the bottom of the swing. Assuming a square club face we will strike a straight shot.

If the ball position is too far forward the golf club will pass the point where it is square with the target line. The club begins to travel inside the target line and will then impact the ball. Essentially at impact the golf club simulating a club swung on an outside to inside swing path (For the right handed player). If the club face has remained square a pull will be the resulting shot.

If the ball is too far back in the stance we get the opposite effect. The club will strike the ball before the club can travel down the target line. The club is simulating a club swing on and inside to outside swing path. A square club face will create a pushed shot.

The most common ball position error is having the ball position too far forward. The golfer places the ball here to compensate for a fading/slicing shot. The unfortunate part is that this ball position is ultimately setting up the golfer for failure.

How do we find the correct ball position?

Good ball position is a result of a good set up position. If we align our body in a neutral position, parallel to the target line, our hands will be in front slightly in front of our navel. At this point we will let the design of the golf club determine ball position. Each golf club is obviously different in length and loft, they are also different in the shaft lean from the top of the shaft to the bottom while the club is square to the target and soled squarely to the ground. While the driver is square the bottom of the shaft is slightly closer to the target than the top, so the shaft leans away from the target. For a pitching wedge the top the shaft is closer to the target that the bottom of the shaft, leaning towards the target. This shaft lean determines where the club head is in relation to your hands, for the driver the hands appear slightly behind the club head and the pitching wedge hands are in front of the club head. The difference in shaft lean varies the ball position. So the driver will appear to be near the front foot while the pitching wedge will be closer to the middle of our stance.

Stance

Getting ourselves in to the correct position at address allows the golf club to swing on the proper path. For the majority of golfers they do not allow themselves to get into an athletic position to start the swing. Rather they flex their knees too much and the spine is to upright causing a restricted swing that is swung with an outside-to-inside swing path.

To get into an athletic stance begin by gripping the golf club with both hand while standing fully upright. Let your arms create an angle of approximately 30 degree to your body. Hold the club so the shaft is parallel to the ground. Now bend from the hips until the sole of the golf club touches the ground. Unlock your knees, there should only be a slight flex to the knees not a deep bend.

Spine Tilt

In a proper set up position two spine angles are created. One when you bend from the hips to lower your hands to the ground. You may have heard this simply called the spine angle. We will refer to spine angle later because its importance with you golfing posture.

In this case we will deal with the second angle created. This angle we’ll refer to as the spine tilt. In the proper set up position a spine tilt is create mainly because of the fashion we grip the golf club. Our lead hand grips the club near the end of the club while the trail hand grips the club below the lead hand. When done properly the top part of the spine will be slightly further away from the target than the bottom of the spine.

Having a slight spine tilt is extremely important. Without a spine tilt we could never align our shoulder parallel to the intended target line. Having this parallel alignment allows us to swing the golf club on the proper path

Too many golfers set up having their spine almost perpendicular to the ground; unfortunately this opens the shoulder in relation to the intended target line. In order to get the trail hand underneath the lead hand the trail shoulder must come forward to allow the trail hand to grip the club.

By not having any spine tilt we have set up ourselves for failure. Leaving our shoulders open at address increases our chance of creating an outside to inside swing path. As mentioned earlier swinging the golf club on an outside to inside path in relation to the intended target line is one cause of the slice.

The obvious benefit of having the right amount of spine tile is that it allows us to set up with our shoulder parallel to the intended target line. Setting up in the proper positions at address allows us to swing the club on the proper path, inside to inside swing path. This benefit is two fold. First, as we just mentioned the club with travel on the proper path. And second, the angle in which the club approaches the ball is shallower which reduces the chances of hitting the ground before the ball.

We have learned what a spine tilt is and why it is important and the benefits but how do we create the proper spine tilt. A simple way to learn the proper spine tilt is to swing with your feet together. Set up to the ball with your feet together and place the ball off the big toe of the lead foot and then try and position your nose of the big toe of the trail foot and make your swing. Get a feel of how the spine does tilt a few degrees away from the target.

Aim and Alignment:

Aim and alignment are two different elements. Aim relates to the direction we want the ball to travel. We aim at a target whether it is a tree in the distance or a intermediate target a few inches or feet in front of the ball. Alignment relates to how we align our club and body to where we are aiming.

For a straight shot the target line is the shortest distance from the ball to target. For slicers, we cannot aim directly at the target or else we will be right of the target all day long. Slicer need to aim left of their intended target and let the curvature of the ball flight return the ball back towards the target. For example if you normally slice the ball 10 yards then aim 10 yard left of the target. Now that we have determined the new aiming point align the club and body.

Alignment after this point is relatively easy. Think of two railway tracks. The railway tracks run parallel otherwise a train would never remain on the tracks. In the golf swing the golf ball sits on one track this represents the target line to the intermediate target. The golfer is standing on the opposite track. The golfers supporting elements the knees, the hips, and the shoulders should be parallel to the track underneath the golf ball. This will allow the golfer to be in better balance and position at address.

Conclusion

There was a lot to digest in this article but each item covered is extremely important. The grip determines the club face angle, the ball position dictates the path the club approaches the ball, the stance and alignment determines the path the club will swing.

If my ball striking is causing me problems, I personally look at my posture (stance), then my ball position, then alignment, and last my grip then make corrections to these fundamentals. Normally my ball striking improves quickly.