Are you one of the 90% of golfers who can’t stop slicing? If so this article will help you in your efforts to stop slicing.

Having been a slicer myself I know the frustration one faces in trying to get rid of it. The more you try the worse it gets and in many cases people simply give up the game because they believe they can’t stop slicing.

A golf slice can be cured but does take a bit of work and practice. It is also vitally important that you practice the correct drills and to do that you need to know what it is you are trying to fix.

I have often heard the following ball flight patterns referred to as a slice:

A push. A push slice and A fade.

These all have similar characteristics, in that they end up going right (for right handed players), but they are in fact completely different shots.

A slice is caused by an out-to-in swing path with an open clubface through impact. A push is caused by an in-to-out swing path with an open clubface. A push slice is caused by an in-to-in swing path with an open clubface and A fade is caused by an out-to-in swing path with an open clubface though impact.

It might be that you are fading, pushing or push slicing the ball?

If it is any of these and you are trying to cure a slice, the result will be something completely different to what you intended and you might land up with a bigger problem.

You need to determine your particular problem which is not difficult to do.

Ask a friend to help you.

You will need a chair, a 1 meter length stick (bamboo is perfect), a pencil and a sheet of paper.

Stick the bamboo in the ground about 5 meters out directly in front of the ball and in line with the target. Now place the chair directly behind your ball so that the ball, the bamboo and the target are all in a straight line.

Get your helper to sit in the chair armed with pencil and paper.

Set up as normal aiming at the target and start hitting golf balls.

Ask your helper to note the following two things:

Does the ball go left of, right of or straight over the stake? Does the ball finish left of, right of or on target?

Do this with at least 20 balls and check what the majority of them do.

If they start left of target line and finish right of target you have a slice.

If they start left and finish on target you have a fade. Congratulations this is not a bad shot to be able to play.

If they start right of target and continue straight right you have a push.

If they start right and finish even further right you have a push slice.

Do not panic – you don’t have to take up tennis just yet. Knowing what you are doing wrong is half the battle.

Now that you know what shot you don’t want you need to decide what shot you do want. That may sound simplistic but it is true. What would your ideal shot be?

The most difficult shot in golf is a straight shot and I would not recommend that the average golfer aspires to playing this shot. Rather decide on either a draw or a fade, both of which can be controlled and give greater allowance for margin of error. A draw will give greater distance whilst a fade will be shorter but will land softer, both are useful shots.

For a draw you need to have an in-to-out swing path and a square club face through impact.

For a fade you need to have an out-to-in swing path and a square club face through impact.

You also need to have your grip, aim, alignment, stance and posture checked as any of these could be influencing either the swing path or the clubhead through impact.

If you cannot afford a lesson then there are alternatives, books, videos, DVDs and e-books are all great ways to learn how to do things and all include practice drills.

If you really want to get rid of your slice (or any bad shot for that matter) stop saying you can’t stop slicing and start doing something about it.

By: Lawrence Bredenkamp

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Many people today are searching for antique golf clubs for collectors items. Very simply, these items have a lot of value to a lot of people, and many golfers are interested in having them for their souvenir collection. Here are some important tips and information help you find the right antique golf clubs set for you.

Keep in mind, becoming a golf clubs collector is not very easy. Many people make it out to be as easy as pie, but it really is not. For instance, you need to know a lot about golf clubs, the history of the game, and also the best golfers before you go and purchase golf clubs.

Before you go out and start looking for the right antique golf clubs set to buy, you must make sure that you know what to look for. Quite simply, without this knowledge, you can easily be ripped off.

First of all, absolutely the first thing you must do when you are ready to start your golf club collection is start reading books. These can include a golf clubs pricing guide, a history of the game of golf, and also a book that would usually be designed for golf club collectors. A great book to start out with is antique golf collectibles, price and reference guide.

Next, you want to start reviewing the reference materials and beginning to be able to spot collectable golf clubs on your own. This is probably the hardest part, especially when you are first beginning.

Today, many people are selling really very inexpensive golf clubs for an exorbitant prices, and you can easily be ripped off if you don’t know what you are looking for. If you do your research, you will start to be able to spot these scams, and also be able to spot the best antique golf clubs for your collection set.

The next step you want to take is to decide what category you want to focus on. Don’t try to become a jack of all trades and master of none; try to focus your efforts on one area of golf clubs collectibles and stick with it. This is the only way to actually spot the best deals.

For instance, there are graphite shafts, steel shafts, and other categories to focus on. Each category has its own different ways of valuation. By focusing on one category, you will become expert at that, and you’ll spot the best deal with antique golf clubs.

By: George Mitchell

About the Author:

A golf slice can often be cured by some simple, basic corrections in
set-up.

For instance, while a golfer can occasionally compensate for a poor
swing, you cant play well with a poor grip. It is important, if you
want to fix your slice permanently, that you take the time to check
your grip using this simple drill:

Take a blade of grass and trap it between the fleshy pad on the
underside of your right thumb and the top of your left thumb. Now,
complete your grip and swing the club to the top of the backswing. If
the blade of grass has remained in position then your grip is secure and
firm, but if the grass has fallen out, this is a sign that your hands are
separating, which causes the club to move about at the top of the
backswing.

Having the clubface in the correct position at the top of your
backswing is fundamental to correcting a golf slice. Unfortunately,
thats not an easy position to check when the club is out of sight and
behind you. The way to check the clubface position is to look up and
check the direction in which the knuckles on your left hand are
pointing.

If they are well to the right, the clubface will be closed to the target
line, which in the downswing normally produces a right-to-left hook
flight. If your knuckles point to the right, the clubface will be open and
the result will be a sliced golf shot. If the knuckles point straight up to
the sky the clubface is square to the target line.

In fact, grip faults can often be the main reason for slicing in golf, and
the problem with grip faults is that they can get into your game
without you really being aware of them. To prevent this slow decline
in technique perform the following check:

Grip the club and make sure that you can see around two and a half
knuckles on your left hand. Then take a pen and draw a small dot on
your golf glove on the last knuckle showing. To ensure your grip is
correct on every shot, all you have to do is to look down at your glove
after taking up your grip. If you cant see the dot then your grip has
probably become too weak. Likewise if you can see a knuckle beyond
the mark, then your grip is probably becoming too strong.

Many players have a golf slice by allowing their left side to slide too far to the left in the
downswing, making it difficult to square up the clubface correctly at
impact. This can be a difficult habit to correct but there is a mental
drill that could help you keep those hips from sliding.

When you address the golf ball, imagine you are next to an open door
with your left side positioned against the wall. When you swing the
club back down to the ball, imagine the wall stopping your legs from
sliding to the left, while your arms and hands remain free to swing the
clubhead on through the open door. This will prevent your legs from
sliding to the left. It will also encourage you to adopt the correct
active hand action in your downswing.

By: Dave Powell

About the Author:

The Winn golf grips make use of the polymer material on a very advanced level. And since the polymer is not as easy to take care of as the common rubber, it demands that it be given strict extra care that is quite diverse and unique to it. Then the question is how do you endeavor to clean the Winn grip?

The Winn grip possesses very absorbent properties that make both perspiration and dirt to easily make their way in. Inasmuch as the absorption of these things happen, they don’t necessary adversely affect the overall performance of the grip as you hold the club with your hands.

Winn golf grips have a very scruffy like grip that allow your hands to hold on to them very firmly. Therefore, when you are cleaning them, soap and a brush should not be used because the polymer made grip may wear off some of the grip features. Using a little bit of alcohol put on a towel or a very little dose of water will do the cleaning trick so well. And since its absorbent qualities are still intact submerging the Winn grips in water will beat all cleaning and functionality logic.

The same application and care should be used when playing with the grip in wet weather, to keep them as dry with a drying cloth as possible.

With the very best, well kept Winn golf grips, you can be assured of a better playing game in the golf course than you are currently used to. In fact with the Winn grip as many excellent and top notch golfers have so recommended and endorsed, you can be sure that you will up your game; even when you really don’t want to!

Remember that when you really want to make good use of the Winn grip you need to have your hands holding on the grip with a firmer but comfortable grip. They grip should possess that feeling that it is well kept within your hands and that it feels well unified with your hands. This further means that the Winn golf grips should involve your hands practicing to grip and un-grip so that you may get the exact grip to enable you enact the perfect swing on the golf ball. With all this priceless tips you now have enough to at least get the best grip for your best golf game.

By: T Dugan

About the Author:

Would you rather hear what you need to learn from someone who is already an accomplished golfer? Would a few hours with Jack Nicholas REALLY help your game? “Just do what I do, it’s easy!” Or would you rather learn from a beginner, who understands the struggles, the small improvements and remembers those early changes that lead to greater success?

It almost makes sense, doesn’t it? The best coaches are often mediocre players, and the worst coaches were stars, who had everything come easy to them. Natural ability is hard to teach to others! As a beginning golfer, I have noticed some dramatic improvements, though, and wanted to pass them along to other beginning golfers.

First, the drive. To many of us starting out, it seems to be all-important. I have had instructors tell me that if you can hit the ball 150 yards, that you can work your way down any length of hole in about 3 shots, chip on and putt in, and play bogie golf without ever hitting a John Daly type 300 yard plus drive. As beginners, all we see is the big drives, the pressure, people watching us tee off, and understandably we want to be able to pound the ball!

What I’ve learned is that you can cut back on the swing to almost a half swing, hockey slapshot type thing, and increase the accuracy, with a small reduction in distance, until you are more comfortable with the swing. Also, a friend helped me with the description of coming “inside-out” with the swing. While that sounds complicated, imagine holding your back hand (I’m a left handed golfer) tight to your body and swinging through the ball and outwards after contact – straightened out my ball flight and increased distance.

Lessons seemed to boil down to getting into the same position, and swinging smoothly and evenly making sure the club is flat at contact – try swinging at the driving range – not to hammer the ball, but try swinging with virtually NO effort, then 20% 40% 60% etc. Get comfortable with a straight line of whatever distance, and KNOW how far each club will take you. If you need 100 yards, say, it doesn’t matter if you get that with a pitching wedge or a 5-wood, as long as you can get it accurately there!

Pitching (from under 100 yards) and putting are the majority of the strokes, the easiest area to improve your game, and if you’ve ever played with a senior, they can be outdriven from the tee, but play so solidly from there onwards, with straight, accurate shots – you can’t beat them!

Makes you rethink the wisdom of working on that booming drive, huh? The majority of time should be spent practicing the 100 yard and shorter shots – which inadvertently improves the overall stroke and technique, and makes the drives better over time!

Practice shooting 10, 20, 30 etc yards, and have the short chip down pat. Then work on putting – NOT trying to sink the putt, just to get the ball to within a club length of the hole – from ANYWHERE on the green. When you have mastered the ability to get the ball close like that, then work on the short 2 footers – almost from the start you’ll find that you can get the majority in.

THAT’s the secret – the drive doesn’t matter, the next shot is OK, but the one that gets the ball TO the green is crucial! Then if you can putt to withing a very close area of the pin, and make THOSE easy putts – you’re a bogie golfer – TA DAAA!

Wait, there’s one more thing – the mental part of golf. If you have a certain ability, how come you see flashes fo greatness on some days, and flashes of needing to break your clubs on others? Same guy, same equipment, different results? THAT is the mental part of golf – and it becomes more and moe important as you master the basic strokes and techniques.

At the beginning stages of golf, you are thrown off by worrying about what others think – it feels like people are watching your drive, partners are evaluating your game, people are seeing if you can play golf well, etc. The answer to this is that everyone started off as a beginner, and VERY few people can play below 90s golf. Basically, we all suck! Take the pressure off of yourself for the first 20-50 games, and you will have the routine ingrained, the swing will be solid, all will work fairly well – under pressure or not.

Relaxation, and realizing that golf is a game against YOURSELF, are the keys. You can’t play a real tournament against another golfer until you shoot in the 70s – so don’t let that enter your head – try playing alone – you can – very early or very late – or with total strangers as a walk on.

Over time, you WILL get better – visibly, noticeably. Try playing a few days in a row, or a series of days either playing golf or practicing. Practice makes perfect – especially the short game that is ignored by the majority pounding shots into the darkness at driving ranges – work on the touch, the feel, the magic ability to get 25%, 50% or 75% shots, to control the distance.

Most of all, relax and enjoy the walk, the scenery, remember the things that went WELL – and move on from the ones that were duffed, hooked into the trees, or when you putted back and forth across the green like a madman – they all happen – to ALL of us – even Tiger Woods (every now and then). The trick is to concentrate on making the NEXT shot, the NEXT hole, the NEXT practice or game – be your very best. There’s no going back and reshooting that shot that went into the water! Forget about it and calmly, confidently move on.

Your best games, your best shots will occur when you have a calm, confident feeling, feeling that you are just repeating what you’ve practiced, and easily accomplished in the past. Look at the grin on Tiger’s face as he sinks a putt and pumps his fist – this game can be FUN!!

By: Andrew Larder

About the Author:

Finding great information for beginner golfers can be a little bit frustrating. One search with a search-engine and you can see the millions of results that come up. Where do you turn? Instead of going at it blindly, let me share a fantastic way to get real, honest, first hand tips from other golfers who have gone through the same thing as you are going through right now.

It’s not enough to just go to the course and start hitting balls. Heck, most of the time a trainer won’t even do the trick. There is a slew of great information for beginner golfer on the web, but you will need to know how to find the superb knowledge that will truly help you out. I remember when I was first starting out at this wonderful game. It is when I found this next little community (actually, it’s a bunch of them) that helped me out the most and made me more determined to get better.

I am talking about internet forums. There are tons of golf forums on the web and most of them are loaded with tips and information for beginner golfers. I couldn’t believe how helpful the people in forums could be. What you have to remember is that the men and women in these forums have gone through the same exact trials and tribulations as you have. They are more then willing to share their knowledge with beginner golfers. This is how you can find all of the ways that truly work, because you know that they have done wonders for other people.

I still use forums to this day when I am trying to tweak parts of my game. It’s just a simple way to get honest information for beginner golfers and a great way to get better at this game that I am sure you will end up loving.

By: Adam Woodham

About the Author:

Isn’t the slice one of the most maddening aspects of the game of golf?

How in the hell are we ever supposed to lower our scores if the ball is always rolling sideways across the fairway? There’s nothing more disheartening to really make solid contact, only to see that sudden, mid-air curve grab hold of your golf ball.

Obviously, since slicing the ball is so common, there are lots of aids and instruction on how to prevent it. There are special tees, and special clubs…instructional videos and books.

The list is large for sure. But each and every one of these methods is attempting to accomplish the same thing, which is change the spin that you put on the ball when you hit it. Vicious, sideways spin equals a slice…forward spin or ‘overspin’ equals a nice straight shot down the middle.

As we’ve discovered, there are many ways to try and accomplish this, all with varying degrees of success. The anti-slice technique I like to use is a nice short backswing, followed by a bottom hand wrist roll through impact.

To simplify…I make sure my backswing isn’t wrapping around my head in some huge, arcing motion. Consciously keep it shorter and you’ll have much better control of your clubs.

Then, just as I’m making contact with the ball, I roll my bottom hand over the top, so that the palm of the bottom hand is facing the ground.

You’ll have to mess around with the timing to get it right, but it will put overspin on the ball and will stop you from slicing the ball all over the golf course. Good Luck!

By: Richard Styles

About the Author:

Putting new grips on your golf clubs can be a inexpensive and effective solution to quickly give you more consistency in your game.

Most amateur golfers never change the grips on their clubs. They play for years with a set of clubs without ever changing the grips!

Whereas, some professionals have been known to re-grip their clubs at the end of every competitive round. They do this so their clubs feel exactly the same. Chances are that they don’t need them re-gripping that often, but in today’s tour competitions there is so much money at stake that they do not want to leave anything to chance.

How often should you re-grip your clubs?

A good general rule is:

if you play once a week, then you should change the grips on your clubs once a year. Play twice a week, change twice a year etc.

Of course, if you do a lot of practice on the range you should consider changing your grips even more frequently. You could easily hit 30 shots with your driver in a range session. In a round of golf you may not use your driver more than 10 times. So one range session a week hitting 30 drives, would equate to 3 rounds a week, implying re-gripping 3 times a year.

You will also find you have certain clubs that are used far more often than others, especially if you only play your home course the majority of the time. This is because you play the course in a certain way – same clubs for same shots, mostly governed by the length of the course. So after some months the grips on certain clubs become more worn than others.

What happens when a grip is worn?

Grips are fundamentally just pieces of rubber to enable us to hold the golf club securely. The grips have various type of a textured surface to provide more grip security and feel. As a grip is used over and over the surface rubber begins to wear. The natural oils in our hands also start to affect the grips. You will notice this as it will start to look shiny.

If you look at old used set of golf clubs that have never been re-gripped you will see that the grips are often very shiny.

Shiny grips are a problem. You have to grip the club harder when the grip is shiny so that it does not slip and turn in your hands as you take a swing. You may not even be aware you are doing it! The problem with gripping the club too hard is that it adversely affects the way you strike the ball. Your hands are simply not relaxed, and therefore, because the muscles in your hands and forearms are tense, they will slow down. In the golf swing, relaxed hands are fast hands. You need fast hands to get good distance.

It is worth checking your golf clubs at least once a month. Compare grips across the entire set. If any are beginning to wear, consider getting them renewed.

New grips feel good. They can almost feel “sticky” by comparison to the old worn grips. This can give you real sense of confidence.

Confidence builds success.

By: Mark Pearson

About the Author:

The golfing experience may seem like you have a lot of difficult swings to maneuver-which there are some-but that isn’t always the case. For the beginner you would need to know the basics of golfing before you can get that far. If you tend to slice the ball a lot, you can usually fix this by correcting your stance and posture.

There are a few easy things you can do to make sure your posture is right every time. Slightly bend your knees and tilt your body so that you are slightly bent over-but not too much so that you can’t swing. By keeping this posture throughout your swing, you will keep a straight line allowing for a great contact.

Your feet should also be shoulder width apart but your front foot facing away slightly from the other. This allows your body to rotate properly during your swing. Also having your weight toward the balls of your feet allows you to rotate on them and helps during your backswing. Typically how much weight you should put on each foot depends on the kind of stroke. For shorter distances your weight would be placed on your front foot, while for longer distance more weight would be placed in the back.

Another way that professionals can up their game is by buying a swing training club. This allows them to feel a pre-molded grip and get used to putting their hands in the same positions. Always practice your grip before you follow through with your swing to get the optimal result.

By: William A Mitchell

About the Author:

If you are in need of new golf clubs, and you are not quite sure of what kind you want to buy, then it is a good idea to read through this article first before making your decision. With a mere few minutes of reading, we might be able to save you a lot of unnecessary spending.

Everyone on the course is talking about the new model of golf clubs that just came out in the market. If you buy that set, you will most certainly be the envy of your friends, and you will be walking proudly on the golf course, brandishing your luxurious new clubs.

On the other hand, there are several discount golf clubs that are being sold in the golf supplies store. Buying those discount golf clubs will not give you more prestige on the course, but you will definitely be saving a lot of your hard-earned cash.

The novelty of having classy golf clubs will fade in time, and by then, will your game have improved because of the expensive clubs? It’s possible, but to do that, you would have to practice almost everyday. If you are the typical working individual who just likes to golf on the weekends, let’s face it an expensive golf club will not do much to enhance your game.

Discount golf clubs may not be as impressive, but you can still do a lot with them, especially if you find a set that is quite good. Discount golf clubs are not necessarily substandard. You just have to look with a discriminating eye. You might even find secondhand discount golf clubs that are actually branded.

Many stores will sell you an entire set of discount golf clubs at a price equal to the cost of just one of the more expensive golf clubs. If you’re lucky, the store owner may even give you a golf bag at no additional cost.

Of course, discount golf clubs are not as perfect as those used by professional golfers. But who would really notice? Other golfers on the course will probably not even be interested in what kind of golf clubs you use. The more important thing is how you play, and whether you are having fun on the links.

Unless you are trying for the professional ranks, discount golf clubs will do just fine for your weekend golf sessions. Many recreational golfers are lured into buying expensive golf clubs in the hopes of playing a better game. But you know better. Playing a good game with discount golf clubs is definitely better than executing poor shots with a more recent but inferior model.

By: David Faulkner

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