Stop Coming Over The Top

It's a phrase heard on driving ranges, tee boxes and fairways nationwide. I'm coming over the top. It's a lament as common as I'm lifting my head or I'm swinging too fast. And as hard as golfers try to correct this fault, most endure little success.

Golfers who come over the top do so because they have no other option. In other words, coming over the top is a necessary compensation for an earlier problem. In fact, if a player was to actually come down on the inside or on-plane, he or she would be worse off. The key to fixing the problem of coming over the top is to first understand why it happens. Once a player understands what created the need to execute an over-the-top move, he or she can fix the problem at its root, resulting in a downswing that's from the inside or on-plane.

4 most common backswing errors that result in coming over the top in the downswing are: 1. Taking the club away too flat or under the swing plane 2. Stranding the majority of weight on the left (forward) leg at the top of the backswing 3. Creating a narrow swing arc 4. Leaving the clubface open at the top

Flat Takeaway Taking away the club too flat is the most common of the backswing flaws. This flaw can cause a vicious cycle. The more a player is aware that he or she is over the top, the more he or she is likely to take the club away to the inside.

Learning to take the club back correctly on-plane begins with learning the proper setup posture. When most players set up, the first thing they do is look down at the ball by bending at the neck and shoulders, in effect, not bending at the hips. When a player fails to tilt from the hips, his or her natural takeaway plane will be to the inside or too flat—more like a baseball swing than a golf swing.

The proper posture begins by tilting from the hips while keeping the shoulders back and the chin up. This posture is the one that best allows you to take the club back properly, with the clubhead lining up with the hands at the waist-high position and the shaft hinging skyward in line with the left forearm. These moves set the club on-plane and in front of the body and in perfect position to come back down on-plane or even slightly to the inside.

 A second flaw that causes an inside takeaway is rotating the arms faster than the upper body. When this happens, the player's arms get trapped behind the body, and the only way to get them back in front and strike the ball squarely is to come over the top.

Your forearm rotation should match your shoulder rotation. When these two rotations are linked, the arms will remain in front of the body, effectively leaving room to bring the club down on-plane.

Reverse Pivot The next most common error that leads to an over-the-top move is having too much weight on the left (forward) leg at the top of the backswing (left). A player's natural reaction to this misallocation of weight is to fall backward in the downswing. Weight always goes where it hasn't been—in other words, if the majority of your weight is on your forward leg at the top of the backswing, you'll naturally transfer it into your back leg on the way back down. Bad news, because if you transition into your back leg at the beginning of the downswing, the club will be centrifugally thrown out and over the top. If you transition into your forward leg at the beginning of the downswing, however, the club will be centrifugally pulled from the inside.

What causes a reverse pivot? The most typical flaw is lower-body sway. When the lower body slides away from the target on the backswing, the upper body falls toward the target. The cure to ending the reverse weight shift is to learn to resist with the lower body and coil with the upper body. The lower body should be the foundation for the upper body during the backswing. Tiger Woods commonly talks about the importance of maintaining pressure on the inside of his right leg by slightly forward-pressing his right knee toward the target as he takes back the club. By doing so, he keeps his hips from sliding, yet allows his right leg to accept the rearward transition of weight.

Narrow Arc The third most common reason for coming over the top is narrowing the swing arc. A good way to think of swing arc is the distance between the butt of your golf club to the right side of your head at the top of the backswing. If and when the swing arc narrows, the room needed to drop down the club_Ê on-plane in the downswing disappears. The typical reaction to this lack of swinging room is to throw the club out and over the top.

_ÊThe most influential component of swing arc is the position of the right arm throughout the backswing. A player with a narrow swing arc tends to fold the right arm too early or keep it unnaturally pinned to the right side all the way to the top. Both flaws pull the club in too close to the body. The player with this flaw will feel the need to free the club by throwing it way over the top and away from the body.

 As you take the club to the top, focus on pressing your right palm against the your left thumb (for right-handed golfers). This maintenance of pressure effectively pushes the butt of the club farther away from the head while also straightening the left arm and leveraging the golf club. If you can maintain that pressure to the completion of the backswing, you'll create all the room you'll need to naturally pull the club down on-plane.

Open Face The fourth most common reason why a player comes over the top is an open clubface. When the clubface is left open at the top of the backswing, the natural reaction is to swing to the left (over the top) to get the clubface square at impact.

An open clubface at the top can typically be traced back to a weak grip at address. Weak, as it's used here, refers to the actual strength of your grip, not the positioning of your hands on the handle. If you grip the club with your palms, you have a weak grip, and the club will tend to fan open in the takeaway.

In a stronger grip, the club runs more through the fingers. The left thumb pad sits more on top of the grip, while the lifeline of the right palm sits on top of the left thumb. This grip will allow you to set the shaft on-plane in the takeaway, set your wrists properly and keep the clubface from fanning open.

If any of the errors described here exist, attack them by using the advice provided. This approach will produce cures that result in long-lasting, positive results.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Slice: Rights, Boomers And Flares

Golf Fact #1: There are millions of golfers who have never hit a hook, but there isn't a single player alive who hasn't at one time or another sliced the ball. Why? Think of it this way: In terms of golf survival, the mother of all musts is getting the ball into the air–it's the first and by far the most important problem you must solve. And to get the ball airborne, many golfers feel the need to chop down on the ball with an open clubface and with a very steep approach. While this technique works well as in Houston, we have liftoff, the joy in the control room is short-lived because while steepness is your friend during liftoff, it's your enemy during the rest of the flight, imparting too much sidespin on the golf ball.

So here's the great paradox in golf: Imbedded in the cure of its most primordial problem (getting the ball airborne) is the virus that causes the slice (an open clubface). Accomplish the one and you're automatically infected by the other. Now, the second great paradox: You're aware of all this, but nonetheless can't stop slicing. The reason why the slice is such a pesky foe is that there are three unique kinds of slices (plus their offspring), and the generic cures offered in most instruction articles don't work because they're written for The Slice, not the slice you have at a particular moment.

Since 90 percent of new golfers aim to the right, 90 percent of new golfers are forced to overspin the shoulders to pull the ball back to the target. Aim far enough to the right and the shoulders spin so violently that the clubface becomes trapped behind the body, causing it to remain open at impact. Thus, the ball shoots to the right of the target, then cuts even farther right–the Mini Right-To-Right. If the shoulders spin faster, the Mini turns into an Adult Right-To-Right with even worse consequences.

 With the ball flying so far right, you adjust by opening your stance and aiming to the left of the target. Now, the ball starts way left and slices back toward the target–the Baby Boomer. Aiming more to the left to accommodate your Baby Boomer works until, in an effort to hit it too hard with the right side, you actually square the clubface to the path with an aggressive over-the-top move of the shoulders. The result is a pull way left of target. (In the family of slices, the pull is the first cousin to the slice.) To correct the pull, you introduce a chicken-winged left arm to open the face at impact. This results in an even bigger slice that finishes to the right of the target (the Adult Boomer). To fix this, you aim (open up) even more left and employ more chicken wing. This causes the mother of all Boomerangs, the Sonic Boomer, a ball that starts way left and exits right, melting your scores as it nestles somewhere near Topeka.

Sick of this score-wrecker, you listen to the advice of your playing buddies that you're aiming way left, so you aim in the general direction of the target, but still employ your old friend the chicken wing. Aided by the open face at impact, the ball starts in the general direction of the target and then spins to the right–welcome to the Flare. Hit enough Flares and you'll subconsciously open your stance to start it more left, causing a reintroduction of the Baby Boomer. And so the cycle goes.

I've seen thousands of golfers endure this endless loop of faux fixes and slice progressions. The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. We're about to embark on a Slice Eradication Program (S.E.P.) that I'm sure will help you get your ball flying more toward your targets. The S.E.P. involves: 1) recognizing that there's more than one way to slice a golf ball; 2) identifying what slice you're currently producing (see above); 3) learning the key anti-slice matchups; and finally, 4) grooving a no-slice swing.Learn Anti-Slice Matchups Before we attack ways to correct the type of slice with which you're currently infected, it's important to become aware of six Anti-Slice Matchups. These matchups are key to removing damaging sidespin from your ballflight regardless of the type of slice you typically produce. They're the hallmarks of a consistently straight shot pattern.

1. Target And Clubface Aim your clubface correctly so it's pointing where you want the ball to start. Select an intermediate target, then use the vertical aiming lines that are a part of every club to get your clubface pointed in the right direction. 2. Body And Target Line Arrange your body correctly, paying particular attention to your shoulders. In the swing, the arms follow the shoulders; if your shoulders are too open or closed at address, you'll cut across the ball at impact. 3. Spine Angle And Shoulder Tilt Since the shoulders work perpendicularly to the spine, how your spine is angled at address holds the key to what kind of slicer you are. If your spine is too upright, your shoulders will swing on too level a plane, trapping the club behind you so you have to come over the top and produce the Boomerang or, if you exaggerate enough, the Right-To-Right. If your posture is too bent over, the club will swing on too steep a plane, often causing the Flare. 4. Ball Position and Shoulder Position A ball that's played too far forward causes the shoulders to open; too far back creates closed shoulders. Use the ball position that will allow you to align your shoulders parallel left to your target line–it will vary according to your body build. 5. Grip And Clubface Position The positioning of the hands on the grip must allow for either a flat or slightly bowed left wrist–stay away from the slice-causing cupped wrist. A neutral grip typically creates a flat left wrist (square face), a strong grip augments a bowed left wrist (shut face) and a weak grip too often creates a cupped left wrist (open face). 6. Foot Flare And Release The front foot should be adjusted by experimenting with less flare. The amount of flare of the front foot controls the release of the clubface–the less flare, the sooner the front leg straightens, causing an earlier release by squaring the face more aggressively.

Groove A No-Slice Swing The following anti-slice fixes apply only to the specific slice type for which they're meant to cure. This illustrates the importance of recognizing the type of slice your swing typically produces–whether it's the Flare, Right-To-Right or Boomerang. Once you define your slice, the journey is half over as the following fixes are quick and take just a few practice hours to ingrain.

Fixing The Right-To-Right Curing the slice demands a counterintuitive approach. Basically, the cure isn't what you think it should be. You have to do the opposite of what you think because the slice is a fooler–feel and real are different._Ê

To fix the Right-To-Right, your task is to start the ball left of target and let it fade back to target. Once that's done, experiment deflaring your front foot until the ball begins to draw away from the target. Then, adjust your aim/alignment until the ball flies directly at the target as follows:

 1. Aim slightly left of the target and align your body parallel left to the clubface line. 2. Move the ball forward in your stance one ball width. 3. Incline your spine more than you're used to by bending more from your hip joints (not your shoulders). 4. Increase the flare of your back foot to promote more backswing turn. 5. Hinge your wrists correctly (see the In-Line Hinging Drill). 6. From the top of the swing, bring the club down before it moves around (see the Down-Then-Around Drill). In-Line Hinging Drill Stand with your left arm and shaft extended in front of you in a straight line. Now, hook the shaft with the fingers of your right hand and pull directly toward your head, just as you'd cock the hammer of a pistol. This is hinging or in-line set. Any cupping opens the face. Again, you want a square or slightly bowed left wrist at the top of your swing. Down-Then-Around Drill Get to the top of your swing and stop. The first move is to drop the arms down to waist high without turning your upper body. Do this, then stop. Slowly bring the clubface to the ball with your body turn. This will give you the feel of first the club comes down, then it comes around. Get into your address position again and stop halfway back in your takeaway. Pump your arms to the top, then back down to halfway. Do this twice. On the third pump, hit the ball. Once the ball starts drawing away from the target, adjust the ball position and aim/alignment until the ball flies directly at the target.

Fixing The Boomerang Your task is to start the ball well right of target then, by making the following changes, spin the ball back toward the target.

1. Aim your clubface to the right of the target–a lot for the Sonic Boomer, a little for the Baby Boomer. 2. Align your hips and feet parallel left of the clubface and with your shoulders slightly closed. 3. Move the ball back in your stance two ball widths. This will generate closed shoulders. 4. Increase your spine incline by bending more from the hips than usual with your rear end out and up, as if you were sitting on a tall bar stool. 5. Keep your hands on your toe line during the takeaway. To help you accomplish this and guard against an inside takeaway, pick a spot about 24 inches away behind your ball on the target line. Tap this spot with your clubhead hard enough to leave a mark. Now, take you clubhead over the mark during your takeaway. This guards against bringing back the club too far to the inside. 6. On the downswing, approach the ball from inside the target line (see the Inside Path Drill).

Inside Path Drill Set up an arc of balls. The concept here is that you swing over the first ball and hit the second ball, then let the clubhead pass over the last ball on the arc. (It won't actually pass over the last ball, but it should feel as if it does.) Swinging along this line grooves an inside approach to the ball.

7. With these adjustments, your ball will fly to the right. Your task is to spin the ball back to the target by imparting right-to-left sidespin. Adjust the amount of spin by the amount you release your forearms (see Forearm Release Drill). After you can successfully spin the ball from right to left, cut back on the level of forearm rotation and adjust your aim and alignment until the clubface points at the target and the body is aligned parallel left.

 Forearm Release Drill Make at least three practice swings, letting your forearms cross over so you finish with the butt end of the shaft pointing at the target line. Hit some half-shots and check your finish, making sure the butt end of the shaft points along the target line.

Fixing The Flare Of all the different slice fixes, the Flare is the easiest to correct. You simply need to add more forearm rotation and link the turn with the movement of your body.

1. Aim your clubface slightly left of the target along with your hips and feet. 2. Deflare your front foot to encourage an earlier release of the clubhead. 3. Move the ball back in your stance about a ball width to guard against open shoulders. 4. Release your forearms through impact (see the Forearm Release Drill). 5. Be sure to rotate your body in sync with the rotation of your forearms. If you stop your body, you'll pull the ball to the left. 6. Once the ball starts left of target and stays there on a regular basis, adjust your aim until the ball flies directly at the target.

These steps may sound complicated, but in reality, they're a natural progression of moves to combat the series of mistakes repeated, lost and repeated again during the Vicious Slice Cycle. If you're serious about ridding your game of the banana ball once and for all, follow the above-mentioned steps. There are other quick cures out there, but rarely do they fix the true root of the slice problem. The Slice Eradication Program, however, will produce tangible, lasting improvement.

PGA professional Dr. T.J. Tomasi is regarded as one of the top 100 teachers in America, and is one of the most widely published authorities on the golf swing. He currently instructs at Pistol Creek Golf Club located just outside Hartford, Conn.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Mix And Match

Every golfer has suffered through it–getting worse while attempting to get better, ultimately tinkering unnecessarily and sending an A game directly to F. While it's important to discover ways to fine-tune your swing, it's critical that you do so with an eye toward keeping the key elements of your motion intact. Uninformed tinkering invariably unbalances your swing's matchups, and it's a big reason why most recreational players can never truly rid their games of slices and hooks.

This article will provide you with a way to construct a better overall swing and then keep it free from swing viruses. The key to this method is becoming aware of your swing matchups–the blueprint that will allow you to assess the advisability of each swing change under consideration. To build a sound swing and then keep it healthy and devoid of errors, you should know how to construct your own personalized matchup string.

The Law Of The Strings states that the golf swing is comprised of several elements that, when joined, form a string. The Law also states that if you change one of the partners in the string, you must change the others to prevent your swing from becoming unbalanced. The key elements of your string are clubface position, ball position, front foot flare, hip action and release pattern. The most dominant element of the string is clubface position at the top of the backswing. As such, an open-face player has one kind of string, the square-face player another and the closed-face player still another.

3 Strings _Ê 1 Open-Face Player. The open-face player has the following matching elements: an open clubface, forward ball position, a de-flared front foot, a good deal of lateral hip action and a handsy release keyed by an extended right arm at impact.

2 Square-Face Player. The square-face player requires a medium ball position, a flared front foot, modest lateral hip action and a blended arms/hands/body release pattern with a slight bend in the back elbow at impact.

3 Closed-Face Player. The shut-face player begins the string with a closed clubface, a back ball location, a front foot that's flared-plus, minimal lateral hip action and a body release featuring a moderately bent trail elbow at impact.

Clubface Position The position of the clubface at impact is what controls shot direction, but since it's difficult to see clubface position at the point of impact, clubface position at the top of the swing is used to classify players. In the absence of any downswing compensations, a closed face at the top will produce a draw while an open face will create a fade. If the face is too closed, you get a hook; too open, a slice.

An open face at the top has the toe of the club pointing toward the ground. The toe of a closed clubface points toward the sky. To determine your face position, use a video camera or, better still, consult your teaching pro.

Ball Position The range of ball position for any club is from the middle of the stance to the tip of the front shoulder. Basically, the farther forward the ball position, the more to the left the ball will initially start. This explains why an open-face player needs to play the ball forward, so the ball will start left of target, then fade back. A closed-face player needs the ball back toward the midline of the stance in order to allow for the draw.

 Mismatching ball position and clubface position is seriously dangerous business. A fader of the ball will face a long day of high slices to the right if he or she plays the ball too far back in the stance. A square-face player with this same ball position will hit mostly pushes. Conversely, a draw player (closed face) will hit low hooks with the ball played too far forward while the square-face player, who's otherwise perfectly matched up, will pull the shot.

Foot Flair Turning out your front foot (flaring) delays the formation of the left wall that triggers the release, a good match for an overly shut face where delay is beneficial. Deflaring your front foot makes the release occur sooner and is helpful to the open-face player whose fade has turned to a slice. Foot flare ranges from deflared (foot perpendicular to target line) to max flared (45 degrees to target line).

Foot flare/clubface mismatches are common. The most damaging of these are matching a deflared foot and a closed-face position (severe hooks), an overly flared foot and open-clubface position (push slices), and a square-face position with extremeness in foot flair either way (pulls and pushes).

Hip Action  The more your hips move laterally before they turn, the more time the clubface has to rotate through impact. Thus, a lot of lateral hip action provides an open clubface the time it needs to square up. To prevent overclosing of the shut clubface, the matchup is hips that rotate early with minimal lateral motion.

Common hip action/clubface mismatches are overly active hips paired with a closed clubface (fore left!) and minimal lateral hip action with an open face (fore right!).

Release Pattern The angles of power created during the backswing must be released at impact in sync with the rest of the elements in your matchup string, most notably your clubface position. An open clubface requires a more hands/arms release where the right elbow straightens to push the face square. A shut face demands a body release where the hands/arms are very quiet and the right elbow bend is retained to hold off the rotation of the clubhead. Mismatch these in any combination and you'll produce the opposite trajectory and ballflight you'd expect from your typical motion.

What these matchups add up to is a simple credo I teach all of my students: If you want to change your swing, you must change your string. In other words, you can't simply alter the individual components of your motion–it's an all-or-none endeavor.

The best way to get matched up is to choose your string, then experiment with each element of that string to find the exact ball position, foot flare, hip action, etc., that fits your body type, strength and flexibility. If you're committed to improving, experimenting with different foot flares and ball positions can be a lot of fun. String elements are powerful, and slight changes in each can create very different ballflight patterns. Strategically charting the results from changing different string elements will put you more in touch with your game and greatly increase your knowledge and command of the physical dynamics of the swing.

PGA professional T.J. Tomasi is the Director of Instruction at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield, Conn.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Three Slice FIxes

There's only one thing that can cause a slice, and that's a clubface that's either open (or opening) at the point of contact. That being said, here are three tips to help you square up the clubface and rid your game of that slice forever!

Get A Stronger Grip. The clubface tends to return to the ball open when the hands are placed on the club in a weak position–that is, turned too far to the left. A correct grip has the hands rotated more to the right. To strengthen your grip, rotate your left hand so that your thumb is positioned to the right of center (two to three knuckles should be visible). The right hand also should be rotated to the right, matching the angle of the left hand. To experiment, turn your hands to the right until the ball begins to hook, then back off a little for optimal positioning.

Ease Up! Excessive pressure in your hands and arms inhibits the natural rotation of the clubface through the hitting area. Soften the pressure in your hands, wrists, arms and shoulders to encourage a more natural, effortless face rotation. If you imagined a scale running from zero to 10, where 10 was the tightest you could possibly squeeze the club and zero was the club slipping out of your hands, then the ideal pressure for most shots would be a 3.

Flatten Your Plane. Most slicers approach the ball on too vertical a plane, another error that facilitates an open clubface at the point of contact. A flatter swing shape will promote a natural squaring of the clubface and create the preferred right-to-left ballflight. To sense the feeling of swinging on a flatter plane, make some practice swings with the clubhead moving back and through at knee-high level. Swinging the club in this elevated position will help you feel the more rounded swing shape needed to allow the toe of your clubhead to rotate past the heel. After a few of these baseball swings, try one off the ground with the same feel. Your ensuing ballflight should be much straighter and, perhaps, curve slightly to the left.

PGA professional Jeff Ritter is the Director of Instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe, Ariz.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Tee It High To Cure Your Slice

If you can't hit your woods off the tee–or when you do hit them, the ball slices uncontrollably–chances are that your downswing is too steep. The reason this occurs is that the clubface can't return to square when it comes down so vertically, and the open clubface creates a slice.

To fix this problem, perform what I call the tall tee drill. Take a fairway wood or small-sized driver. Tee the ball so that the entire surface sits above the face of the club (you may need the longer 2 3__ã4-inch tees to accomplish this). In order to hit this ball solidly, you'll need to make a more sweeping downswing. Your goal should be to hit the top of the tee and the golf ball simultaneously. This will produce better contact, and because the shallower downswing will allow the clubface to more easily achieve a squared position, you'll hit straighter shots. You'll know if your downswing is too steep if you pop the ball straight up in the air or miss it completely.

When you go on the course, tee the ball only slightly higher than normal until you're comfortable hitting from the taller tee.

Rob Stock is an assistant golf professional at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. Stock also is a certified golf fitness trainer.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Right Vs. Right On!

Here we go again. Yes, another fix your slice feature, which says a lot about the banana ball–it's not going away. For some golfers, that left-to-right ballflight never seems to disappear, and for those new to the game, it represents the first true taste of golf-related frustration. While I'm sure you've heard your fair share of anti-slice tips, this story approaches fixing a slice in unique fashion. Position by position, I'll compare the components of a solid swing to those typically associated with a slice, plus a corresponding fix. Giving equal weight to what you should be doing to what you've already grooved into your swing may pay better dividends.

Setup In the setup position, the number-one slice-inducing fault is a weak grip. A weaker grip (hands rotated too far to the left), is more apt to produce an open clubface at impact than a strong grip (hands rotated more to the right).

Take your grip and hold the club straight out in front of you with your arms relaxed and with your normal grip pressure. Next, have a friend pull the clubface straight away from you. If the clubface opens to the left, your grip is too weak and will probably be open at impact.

The fix is to simply let go of your grip and let your left arm hang by your side naturally. Take a look and see in which direction your left thumb points. Is it 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00 or 2:30? Now, grip the club in your left hand, making sure your thumb has the same look and time. Hinge the wrist up and down to ensure the clubface stays square. Place your right hand on the grip and again have your friend pull the club straight out to make sure the clubface doesn't rotate open. Keep adjusting until the face is square._Ê_Ê_Ê

Right On! A weak grip (above left) is more prone to leaving the face open at impact than a strong one (above right). To find the correct grip, allow your left arm to hang naturally. The direction in which your left thumb points should be mimicked when you grab the handle.

Takeaway/Backswing A slice backswing features two fundamental flaws: 1) an inside path and 2) a flat shaft plane.

A takeaway that moves the club too far to the inside leads to an open face in the backswing and usually an outside-to-in downswing path. Make a half backswing with any club and stop to check two takeaway keys.

Check #1. If your hands are inside the buttons of your shirt, then you've brought the club too far inside and will probably try to make a correction during the downswing path. When you make this type of adjustment, expect momentum to take the club outside your desired path, producing an outside-to-in downswing.

Check #2. If the shaft of the club points above your target line, then the club is traveling to the inside and the clubface is probably open. Now you have to adjust the clubface in the downswing or it will remain open. Good luck.

A good drill to alleviate these problems is to choke down to the bottom of the grip and make half wedge swings focusing on path.

Step #1. First, get the club traveling back on a better path by taking it back with the left hand, with your hips and shoulders executing their normal pivot. At the halfway back position, your left arm and shaft should be parallel to the target line.

Step # 2. Next, hinge your wrist so that the shaft of the club points toward the golf ball and the clubface is parallel to the target line. In a full swing, the wrists hinge as your hips and shoulders rotate to the left, meaning that during the takeaway, your hands should always be in line with the center of your chest. Return to address and make another half swing, making sure that your shoulders and hips have rotated, the hands are in front of your chest and the butt end of the shaft points at the ball or target line. If you can accomplish this, no adjustments are needed for the downswing.

Right On! In a no-slice backswing, the hands are in front of the chest, the left arm lies parallel to the target and the shaft points at the golf ball.

Top Of The Backswing A big backswing is great for weak pop-ups. A wide backswing is great for power and accuracy.

If your right elbow is behind your right hip at the top of your backswing, you're in trouble. From this position, there's no room for the club to properly drop to start the downswing, forcing you to swing too much around your body. As you know, too much around equals an out-in path.

This top-position slice error typically results from players wanting to make the biggest swing they can muster (funny how the bigger the swing, the bigger the slice). In attempting this big swing, golfers often fold the left elbow too much. With this move, the hands and right elbow can't remain in front of the body while the gap between the elbows widens, decreasing control. Yes, this type of backswing is bigger, however, the accompanying swing arc is not.

The fix is to make practice swings with a heavy club or with a wedge and 9-iron held together. In these practice swings, maintain your arc by keeping your hands out and your elbows close to one another. At the top of your backswing, your shoulders should be turned fully with your arms in a position to drop the club on plane to promote an inside-out path. A good way to check your arc and shoulder rotation is to set up with your back to a mirror. Swing to the top of your backswing and hold this position. Turn your head over your right shoulder and see how it looks in the mirror. Check to see that your shoulders have made a good turn, and that your hands are out and are maintaining your arc.

Right On! A wide backswing arc creates power and allows the arms to drop properly at the start of the downswing. To produce this type of arc, keep your hands out and your elbows close together.

Downswing In a slice downswing, the shoulders outpace the hands. By that I mean the shoulders turn faster than the speed at which the hands move the golf club. The spinning of the shoulders from the top creates too much rotational force, which throws the hands and club outside the correct path. Once the club gets too far outside on the downswing, the golfer must adjust and bring it back. This, friends, is a cut swing. If you try to pull your hands in to get the club back on path (see photo at right), your left elbow will fly out and the face will open up. Either way, you're going to produce a slice.

The fix is to change the sequence in the downswing. Learn how to bring the hands and arms down first as your lower body moves back into a balanced position. Once you have the momentum of sending the club down first, then you can rotate your lower body. The best way to feel this is to make practice swings with a split grip and focus on the path of the club. Start your downswing with your lower body and drop your arms and hands to 9:00 and stop.

Check #1. As you shift your weight back to the center and drop your arms, your shoulders remain passive. The hands should lie inside or in line with the left shoulder.

Check #2. The right wrist is bent so that the shaft is aimed at the golf ball.

Once you establish the correct positions, focus on swinging the club down the path and out toward your target. After you have a feel for this move, tee up a ball and hit some 3__ã4 shots in this manner. This drill educates your hands how to swing the club on the correct path throughout the swing—just make sure your elbows don't get too wide apart and that you rotate from your hips instead of your shoulders.

Right On! No slicing from here since the shoulders haven't spun out, the hands are inside the left shoulder and the shaft points at the golf ball.

Impact At impact, is your club on the right path and is your clubface square to the target? If not, your ball has to go right.

The most important requirement of the swing is to return the clubface to square at the point of contact. If you produce a slight outside-to-in path and the clubface is square to the target line, the ball will start left of your target and fade back. This shot is playable. If you produce a slight outside-to-in path and the clubface is open to the target line, the ball will slice. It's that simple.

The best way to ensure a picture-perfect impact position is to educate the arms and hands how to create a square clubface at impact. I recommend a directional impact bag. Take a 7-iron and choke down on the grip so that the top of the grip is visible and the club sits several inches above the ground at address. Set up to the directional impact bag so that it's lined up at your target and across from the left side of your chest. Make some 1__ã2 to 2__ã3 swings at half speed and hit the bag. When you hit the bag, perform the following checks.

Check #1. The shaft and left arm form a single, unbroken line. If your left elbow is bent, it's likely your clubface is open.

Check #2. Contact with the bag was made with the center of the clubface, not the toe or heel areas. Heel-led contact is slice contact.

Check #3. The bag moved down the line and didn't spin clockwise. If it spins to the right, you've executed an out-in swing.

Practice this drill and you'll get both visual and feel feedback of how to square up the club at impact.

Right On! At impact, the last thing you want is a bent left elbow, which forces an open face. Instead, strive to extend your arms and create a solid line that runs from the face up the shaft and through the left arm.

Followthrough If your downswing path moved from outside the target line to the inside, it will show in your followthrough, which will continue to move to the inside of the target line. Among other disasters, such a finish restricts a full release of the clubhead, robbing your swing of precious power.

A solid followthrough is characterized by the clubhead moving outside the target line, which ensures the downswing path was in-to-out and that your hips turned correctly toward the target. Also, your divot should be straight; if it points to the left, your downswing path was too much outside-in.

Momentum is so important and so difficult to change. If the clubhead travels on an inside-out downswing path, it's easy to keep it outside the target line in the followthrough. However, if the clubhead travels on an outside-in downswing path, there's almost no way to change this direction. Your clubhead will keep to the inside on the followthrough, your divot will point left of the target and you'll produce an insufficient release.

The fix is to focus on your downswing path and teach your left shoulder to work up through impact versus around. This will allow the arms and hands to swing the club out toward the target line in the followthrough. To practice this, position a shaft covered by a swimming pool noodle on an angle just inside your original shaft plane and target line. With the shaft in place, make short and slow golf swings with an attempt to avoid hitting the noodle. If you start the club down the correct path and educate your left shoulder to work up through impact, you should avoid the noodle. Once the club passes your left foot, the left shoulder will open as the arms swing the club out and the hips turn to the target. You should finish on your left side, with your body facing the target. Make sure you perform this drill slowly at first until you get a feel for the new move.

When fixing a slice, be careful to address corrections in the proper order to build a solid golf swing. I highly recommend you work with a PGA professional to ensure you're performing the drills correctly and that you're working on the cause of the problem and not the effect. That's the key for lasting improvement.

Right On! The correct in-out downswing should carry over into the followthrough, with the arms traveling toward the target while your hips rotate. Key to this scenario is the right shoulder working up through impact.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Two Wrongs Make A Right

No matter how fundamentally superior the swings of the world's best players are to those belonging to the rest of us, there has never been, nor will there likely will there ever be, a golf swing without at least one flaw. The swings of greats such as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els may look perfect, but each features a number of flaws—the same weaknesses that plague the swings of recreational players. If that's the case, then why do these golfers own championship trophies while you can't even make the A flight at your club championship? Is it because great golfers can overcome flaws by grooving them out? Not quite. The real answer lies in the ability of tour pros to repeat their flaws and effectively apply others to compensate for the error.

For example, Ben Hogan battled a snap hook early in his career. It affected his game so badly that he developed a very weak left-hand grip, a cupped wrist and an open face at the top in order to offset the hook. Not only did Hogan learn to negate his hook, he also managed to win nine majors and notch 63 victories—not a bad effort considering the flaws inherent in his swing.

Like Hogan, you, too, can learn to use swing flaws to your advantage. The key is to identify your flaws and make sure you have an even number with which to work. I believe you can play great golf with an even number of mistakes by balancing them out. With an odd number, however, you're in for a long day.

Slicers A slicer's golf swing is inherently too steep relative to the ideal swing shape. When you're too upright, generally the effects are:

1) Deep divots. 2) Toe-first contact with the golf ball. 3) An open clubface at the point of contact.

Deep Divots A steep swing is traveling down too abruptly through the impact zone, which makes it difficult to pick the ball clean and avoid digging deep into the turf. The necessary fix is to inject some width into your swing to help shallow out the steep, descending blow. A great way to add width is to widen your takeaway, much like Jack Nicklaus did in his heyday. The steep-swinging Nicklaus triggered a bigger turn by first turning his head away from the target. Although turned, Nicklaus kept his head stationary, forcing him to stretch his arms low, wide and away from the target on his backswing. This trigger was exceptionally useful with fairway woods.

Toe Contact Despite the awesome information we can get from a videotaped or televised golf swing, it's darn near impossible to get an exact idea of how close or far we should stand from the ball. Players with naturally steep swings tend to benefit from standing closer than usual to the ball to accommodate their upright swing shape. For a player with a normal swing, standing closer to the ball can put the heel dangerously close to the ball, often causing shanks. But for a steep swinger who misses frequently on the toe area of the club, standing closer will help balance the toe hit caused by the steep swing. Scott Hoch, who has among the most upright swings on the PGA Tour (his irons are about four degrees upright), stands closer to the ball to accommodate his steep swing. If he were to back away, it'd be near impossible for him to hit solid shots. In this case, he didn't change his swing, he just changed his distance from the ball.

DRILL: Get Closer at the Start Steep swingers need to stand closer to the ball. Here's how to hug it at address. Hold a club in your right hand, then sole it squarely behind the ball and step in with your right foot so that the handle of the club rests against your right thigh. Step in with your left foot, then widen your right foot to about shoulder width for a full shot. Because you started with the club leaning against your body, your setup position will be nearer to the ball than normal, thus helping you to prevent toe hits. This drill is useful for every club in the bag. Remember, always pick a target and align your body not at, but parallel to that spot. You'll see improvements immediately!

DRILL: Roll the Ball for More Width Set a golf ball about a foot behind and just inside the target line from where you would normally place a ball at address. With your left arm only, gently use the back of your iron and roll the ball away from the target line. Use a cap or a basket to catch them. The ball should roll slowly, not quickly, into the basket. So long, deep divots!

_Ê EQUIPTIP

Sometimes there are certain equipment tune-ups that can help you lessen a slice without making a single change to your swing.

1. Offset Offset clubs are designed to allow golfers a split second more time to square the clubface through impact. Granted, it's only a split second, but it's enough to make a world of difference for golfers who slice. Offset clubs are available through the bag, including in fairway-wood and driver models.

2. Get More Flex Slower swingers who slice tend to do so because they haven't the speed to get the shaft to release through impact. The result often is an open face. To help get some closure through impact, try a more flexible shaft that releases sooner. Also, a lighter shaft may help you better rotate the club for squared contact. Don't be hesitant to try lighter, more flexible shafts in your irons, too, as today's iterations of both steel and graphite come equipped with lightweight options. More flex also will help add a few extra yards.

Open Clubface If the clubface is opening too much and stays open at impact, the means for balancing things out is to adopt a stronger grip where both hands are rotated well to the right on the grip at address. In most cases, this grip is considered to be too strong, but for a slicer, it's the perfect remedy. If you're concerned that a strong grip will turn your slice into a hook, consider the swing style of Fred Couples. Couples has a stronger-than-usual left-hand grip, but uses a cupped left wrist at the top and a fast turn to the target to keep the clubface in check. Keep in mind that cupping the left wrist usually promotes a slice, while flattening or bowing the left wrist generally will produce a hook. Another common balancing act for slicers is to simply preset the clubface closed at address. This helps the golfer who chronically slices to maintain a square clubface through impact.

DRILL: Front Loader Another one of my favorite drills that tends to work beautifully is what I call the Front Loader. This drill is designed to help you feel a postimpact hand rotation for more of a hooking shot. Set your ball on a medium-height tee. Hold your club a few feet past the ball as if you were about 1__ã4 of the way into your followthrough with the toe of the club turned well past the heel. Swing back (don't contact the ball in the backswing) to about a 3__ã4-length backswing then through, striking the ball with the front-loaded rotated feel. You should see the ball easily holding its line and perhaps even hooking a little left.

Strong Hands! If it's easy to read the glove logo in a mirror, then you know you have a strong grip. Mimic the fold in your index finger and thumb with your lower hand and you're set. In this postimpact photo of Couples (right), you can see his body has outraced his hands through impact. If he didn't have a strong thrust through the ball, his strong grip would cause hooked shots. This is why it's critical to fully turn your body with a strong grip.

Hookers A player who hooks the ball has a golf swing that's flatter and more rounded than that of a player who slices, leading to the exact opposite impact and flight characteristics.

1) No divot or divot well behind the ball. 2) Heel-first contact. 3) Clubface closing too much through impact.

No Divot Or Divot Behind A flat swing tends to travel along the ground for longer than it should, and when this happens, the face is likely to close and sweep across the ball with a hooking motion. Here, width is the enemy.

Try to balance things out by staying centered, with your backswing resisting movement away from the target. Ben Hogan, a very flat swinger, was able to steepen his hit by reminding himself to keep his weight on his left side as well as narrowing his release angle through the ball. Hogan also visualized his arms wrapped tightly with rope, indicating the importance of keeping his arms tight to the torso, another means of narrowing the arc.

DRILL: Left Foot Right Toes Stand solidly on your left foot with your right foot back and your right toe down for balance. Hit some shots from this stance. You'll feel extremely centered over the ball, with little or no head movement. Any lateral movement will result in a loss of balance. Staying more centered will effectively narrow the width of your swing, leading to crisper contact. It's that simple.

Stay Centered! Although Ben Hogan didn't keep his hands in front of his chest at impact, he could do it when he had to. Here you can see that Hogan maintained knee flex and kept his weight in the center of his stance, resulting in a crisply hit bunker shot. His weight never fully shifted to his back foot. Staying centered is key for better bunker play, as is a more upright swing.

Heel Hits Often, heel hits are the result of standing too close to the ball. The fix is to actually try a technique that Fuzzy Zoeller uses. Zoeller sets up the ball well off the heel (don't be afraid), then works his arm close to the body through contact to deliver a solid blow. This address position forces Zoeller to do two things: 1) it prevents too much lean into the ball at impact, which can lead to a shank or heeled shot; 2) it keeps his arms close to his body, which is another means of adding speed, much like an ice skater spinning faster as the arms work closer to the torso. This drill absolutely forces you to stay a comfortable distance from the golf ball. With practice, you'll grow accustomed with a stance farther away from the ball resulting in fewer heel hits.

DRILL: Be Like Vijay Most of you have seen by now some of the interesting drills Vijay Singh does to work on his game. One of the most common is hitting shots with a glove tucked under his arm. If you're hitting shots off the heel, then your arms are swinging too much away from your body through impact. Hit a few shots with a glove or headcover tucked under your right arm. You'll feel more harmony between your arm swing and body turn leading to on-center hits. Caution: Your arms will require some room to float and move as your swing size increases, so keep these swings small at first for best results.

Stand Away From It! Take a look at Zoeller in this photo (right). He has taken avoiding heel hits even further by setting up extremely far from the ball. For the normal player, this stance could lead to off-balance toe hits, but for the flat swinger, this stance can help eliminate heel hits without making a major adjustment to the swing. Try this routine with your irons and kiss heel hits goodbye!

Clubface Closing Too Much If you hook the ball too much, in some cases, it's due to excessive hand and wrist rotation through the downswing. One of the best ways to beat this flaw is to adopt a slicer's (weak) grip. Instead of the two folds in the hands between both thumbs and index fingers pointing at the right shoulder (left for lefties), try pointing both folds more toward your sternum. This will help you not only prevent a closed face at impact, but also to get more of your body involved in your swing. Another cure for a closing face is to speed up your turn to the target. Increasing your body's rate of rotation will delay the closing of the face, leading to less hooks and straighter shots. A good example of someone with great target-side body action is Sergio Garcia. Notice how his hands are in front, and his shirt buttons are facing the target in this postimpact shot.

DRILL: Thumbs Up Hold your left hand up in front of your chest and give the standard thumbs-up sign. This will put your left hand in a neutral position. Place your left hand on the grip in the same position so that your left thumb is positioned nearly straight down the shaft. Viol__ ! Hooking the ball is a tall order with this kind of grip.

Turn And Burn! When you don't turn your body, the clubface closes too fast, causing a vicious hook (top, far left). To avoid this position, be like Sergio and make sure you clear your hips through impact (top, left). This will make closing the face more difficult and help you hit the ball straight. Also, if your shoulders are level at impact, you'll come over the top, so keep your front shoulder up!

_Ê EQUIPTIP

Many golfers argue that a hook is easier to fix than a slice. A couple of ways to get your hook straightened out is to make a few simple modifications to your equipment.

1. Fatten Your Grips Hooked shots often are the result of excessive hand rotation. Midsized and oversized grips help lessen hand action, making it more difficult to over-rotate and hook the ball.

2. Shortened Sticks If you hook the ball, try a shorter-length shaft. Shorter shafts tend to make your stance more upright, helping to steepen your swing and prevent a flat, hooking move. You may lose a couple yards of distance, but a few yards shorter in the fairway is always better than a few more in the rough.

There you have it. Practice these moves and you'll see much faster improvement than you ever will trying to grind out swing flaws from your natural swing. Remember, all swings have flaws, and the key to improvement is getting those flaws to work as effectively as possible for you. Do this and you're sure to see some amazing results.

PGA teaching professional and instruction editor Jeff Ritter is the director of instruction at the ASU/Karsten Learning Center in Tempe, Ariz.

Resource: golftipsmag.com

Glove Secrets

The first fundamental I teach every new student is how to properly hold the club because good golf swings start with good grips. Your hands are your only connection to the club, thus making them the primary mover of the shaft and controller of the clubface. If you hold the club incorrectly, you’re immediately at a disadvantage and more likely to make compensations in your swing.

While I reinforce proper grips to my students, I can’t always be there to check up on them, so I teach them how to monitor their progress. One simple way is to analyze how their glove wears out. Take this battered glove, for example. It took only 10 rounds for this to happen! As you can see, sometimes the root of a swing fault lies in the palm of your hand.

Worn-Out Palm The most common glove-wear pattern, a worn-out palm is caused by holding the club in the palm instead of correctly holding it beneath the heel pad of the hand and fingers. Gripping the club this way leads to a lack of distance and a tendency to slice. What’s really amazing about grips like this is that they can wear down a glove after only a few holes! So if this has ever happened to you, and you thought that new glove of yours was defective, think again.

The Fix: Hold a ruler vertically in your glove hand. Cradle it in your fingers and feel the heel pad of your glove hand resting on top. This home remedy is a great way to exaggerate the feeling of a proper grip.

Thumb Tear Look at the massive tear in the thumb! It resulted from a two-fold problem: poor thumb placement and incorrect grip pressure (too much or too little) applied between the thumb and the handle. This grip usually results in a lack of control.

The Fix: Adopt a “short thumb,” where the thumb is cinched up and pinched against the top of the forefinger. Hold a business card between your thumb and forefinger with a grip pressure of “3” (out of 10) to learn the appropriate feel.

Index-Finger Wear A tear or wear pattern here indicates a poor connection between a player’s hands and is usually caused by an overlapping grip, where the dominant hand’s pinkie digs into the glove hand’s knuckle. You may even notice a callus forming on your dominant hand’s ring finger. What results isn’t just a torn glove but discomfort as well.

The Fix: Extend your pinkie farther into the gap that separates the knuckles on your glove hand. Another option is to adopt an interlocking grip, where your dominant hand’s pinkie and glove hand’s index finger “wrap” around each other.

PGA Professional Jeff Ritter is director of instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy.

Resource: golftipsmag.com