Question from Steve: New Drivers
Dear Steve: Your
question about the closed-face club reminds me of a joke to which
I do not remember the punch line. However, the essence of the
joke was that a man went to a tailor who made a series of alterations
of a suit and the result was that it fit great, provided the
guy dropped his shoulder by 10 inches and wore a 2 inch lift
in this right shoe, etc. Yes, it is true that if you use a
closed-face driver you will tend to hit the ball more to the
left. The question is, 'What can you correct in your basic setup
and motion that will eliminate the slice?'
A slice occurs
when the path of the club head is from outside to inside through the impact zone. Knowing
this doesn't cure it. Working backward to the cause and correction
goes like this:
#1. The
club comes across the line because there is an insufficient lateral movement of the lower
body toward the target on the downswing. The insufficient lateral
movement is in turn caused by one of several things which you
should check out:
A. Your knees
are locked and therefore the lower body cannot move freely
to the left (flex those knees).
B. You line up
so far to the right that you make a compensating movement on the downswing in which
you swing over and across the line with the upper body, while
the lower body blocks out. (check your alignment).
C. Instead of
being lined up properly or too far to the right (as above) you are lined up to the left.
Therefore, the path of the swing is across the ball and the
lower body cannot move toward the target because it is lined
up to the left.
#2. Slicers
tend to grip the club too much in the palms of their hands.
Get the club down into the fingers.
#3. Slicers tend
to be physically inflexible. Do some stretching exercises.
#4. Slicers tend
to have the right eye as the master eye. Nothing you can do to change this. You can
turn your chin to the right before you start the swing and
keep it there through impact (see Newsletter I).
I'm not
sure I understand your second question about shaft combinations. I suggest you read my Golf
Science information which will be up for viewing in a few days.
This section will distinguish between golf science and science
fiction with respect to shafts.
Golfingly
Yours,
Bob Mann
   
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