Why You Slice - The Fundamental Reason Behind It

Why You Slice – The Fundamental Reason Behind It

If you google why you slice the the first article (check it out here) will list ten reasons that are all pretty darn valid. BUT I actually believe there is a fundamental piece that is left out.

This article is much more holistic than most advice about slicing and it offers a much different perspective. It mostly connects to the Big Arc Swinger style that I teach (the core of Nicklaus, Watson, early Woods, early Rory, some of Scheffler etc).

When I teach a “slicer” the first statement I make is this:

We are not performing the same task. You are doing everything correct in relation to what you are trying to achieve.

I’m usually met with a pretty curious look by then. Let’s dig in.

Slicing is Absolutely Natural since you Basically “Cheat”

I’ve taught around 1000 grown up beginners in golf back in my training facilities days. 

If I go ahead with the normal instruction (get the grip, stance and posture right) and tell them to perform half swings (kind of a normal “not so effective way” of teaching golf) 90% will extend their bodies in the backswing (raising up their posture) and 90% will also chop across the ball.

It’s the most natural thing to do. The problem is that most slicers are “too strong” which means that they can “cheat” in the golf swing.

Teaching Kids – a much Simpler Task?

I’ve worked with loads of younger players as well. If I take the same scenario as above the outcome is completely different. 90% ish will actually come from the inside after hitting 100 balls or something.

How is this possible? Well, if they chop across it and “cheat” they hit it half the distance as if they actually go ahead and use the whole swing arc instead.

Comparing the two and their Swing Outcomes

When you take the long journey like the kids do they actually create four advantageous characteristics for better striking:

  1. More speed since the travel distance of the club is longer
  2. More naturally from the inside (or straight from behind) instead of out to in
  3. A longer, more relaxed motion since the task of performing something bigger also forces you to not stiffen up.
  4. Naturally shallow towards the strike since the downswing arc is used = it creates shallowness.

From the other perspective, the grown up slicer that cheats has the following disadvantages:

  1. The speed suffers because of the reduced swing arc length
  2. The path instantly moves out to in since this also recruits a chest opening pretty much from the top backswing position
  3. The blade is most of the time open just before impact which leads to wrist breakdown caused by athleticism
  4. The angle of attack becomes too steep which will create high spin low distance shots

My Preferred Solution – A Longer Swing Journey and Engine Rebuild

Close your eyes and imagine that your entire swing is a circle. Imagine a huge circle. Imagine that you wish to utilize the entire circle and make the club be active all the way from the top backswing position to the follow through position.

You wish to add speed into the hands and the club early and then accelerate it all the way to the top.

The ball is just a check point on this very long journey.

Perform 100 swings like this without a ball (a giant circle around it and you use every inch of it). Close your eyes for half of them.

That’s a 90% correct golf swing task you’ve given yourself.

What you’re actually doing here is that you’re replacing the “engine” of your swing. Since you didn’t “know” what to do the subconscious engine that you created for yourself with your “straight towards the ball motion” was a combination of a too early chest recruitment (leading to out to in) and a very high grip pressure to deal with the “crisis of hitting the ball” and this resulted in speed loss and inconsistency.

You need to understand that the engine of a golf swing is the club travelling on the entire arc. The bigger the arc the more speed you get (and yes, I can go into great detail here but I’ll just leave it at that for now). If you just create this image of a longer big circle swing journey you will bypass all of your mechanical issues and come out on the other side with an engine that holds much more power potential.

It takes 3-5000 repetitions for a grown up person to change this overall feel. That’s a lot of swings but it’s worth it. This is fundamentally the entry point to my FMM Swing that I teach.

Summary – Why You Slice

You can keep your “short journey” if you go ahead and shallow the golf club in the transition but it’s in my opinion not treating the real underlying reason why you move like you move (and it’s a lot more difficult than just using the downswing arc for width).

Think outside the box. Think like a kid with no strength. Make the biggest active swing arc you can and you might just be on the way to a much more pleasant golf experience.

Best of luck!

Swing Knowledge and Flaws Articles

The Major Swing Change Article Series

Some General Swing Tech Posts (with Videos)

The FMM Swing Articles