81. Slicer’s struggle because they make the mistake of trying to square the clubface with body action

Picture the Slicer stood on the tee, rough down the left hand side with the dreaded out of bounds fence tight down the right. A strong breeze is blowing from left to right. Our golfer has a problem. How does he tackle this demanding hole? For a split second, he contemplates aiming down the middle but puts that out of his mind because he knows where it will end up. He decides instead to aim well to the left and immediately feels a sense of relief because the out of bounds is now taken out of his mind. He sets up, swings, watches the ball set off left and .........it stays left; the ball disappears into a clump of thick grass deep into the left hand rough

The above experience has frustrated many players over many years. They slice all the way round the course and when a demanding hole forces them to really allow for their slice, they then lose it. Out of the blue, the ball goes straight left.

The answer to this frustrating occurrence reveals the subtle connection at work between the mind and the body. If our player had gone for the "down the fairway" choice of shot, he would have set up to the ball racked with anxiety and tension. His ability to swing would have become very limited and the result he feared would most likely have become a reality. By aiming to the left, to the degree he did, he took the out of bounds out the shot, so much so that the anxiety and tension did not materialize. Swinging without tension and anxiety generally results in the correct movements that square the clubface, hence the straight shot.

Slicer’s struggle because they make the mistake of trying to square the clubface with body action. When this happens the right shoulder comes over the top in a desperate attempt to get the ball left but all it creates is the across the line "out to in "swing line which is the trademark of a slice. It becomes a perverse self fulfilling prophecy. The player sees the shot he doesn’t want but hits it because he is trying not to hit it.

I am sure the game becomes as difficult as it does because most players are always trying to not hit the shot they don't want. The good players are more positive in this respect because they see the shot they want to hit and know what they must do to hit it. The simple difference between the poor and better players is that where the poor player tries to control ball direction through body action, the better player does it through shaping the clubface in to and through the ball. If you want to improve, learn about the cause and effect of ball flight or in other words, how your hands work the
clubface (cause) to bring about desired ball flight (effect).