My Stupid Slice Problem
So yeah, my drives have been embarrassing lately. Every time I step up, that ball curves off like a scared rabbit to the right.Every. Single. Time. Makes me wanna snap my driver over my knee, honestly. Tried closing the clubface more, standing different, swinging slower… nada. Just wasting range tokens.
Then I stumbled across this Noah Kent guy talking driving. Saw the title Fix Slice And Hit Longer Today. Okay, big promises. But I was desperate. Figured, what the heck, can’t get worse. Headed back to the range with my old beat-up driver.
Actually Trying the Stuff
First thing Noah hammered on? Grip pressure. I usually grip that thing like I’m trying to choke a bear. He said lighten up, especially with the right hand. I forced myself to hold it gentle, like I was holding a baby bird. Felt weird, floppy almost. Took a practice swing. Weirdly, the club felt lighter in the backswing.
Next was the biggie: swing path. He kept going on about swinging out to the right field. In my head, I’m thinking “But my problem IS going right!”. Took some mental gymnastics. Grabbed a couple extra balls and laid one about a foot behind my tee ball, slightly to the inside. Noah called it aiming at the inside ball.
Here’s what I tried step-by-step:
- Got my stupidly light grip.
- Set those two balls on the mat like Noah said – the tee ball and the inside one behind it.
- Focused really hard on starting my downswing by pushing my lead hip forward towards the target (felt awkward).
- Tried to swing the clubhead out towards that inside ball’s position.
- Actually remembered to turn through the shot instead of just stopping.
Results Were… Weird
First swing? Topped it bad. Embarrassing sound. Ticked off.
Second swing? Hit it pure, but guess what? PULLED IT LEFT. Completely different miss! Was so confused. Never pulled it before in my life.
Took a breath. Tried again. Focused ONLY on swinging out towards that inside ball spot and really turning.
SMACK. Different sound. Ball flew way lower than my usual moon balls. And it went… mostly straight! Maybe a tiny bit of fade, but nothing like the big slice. And it felt like it went further down the range? Definitely felt easier, less forced.
Hit a few more. Not all perfect. One flew off wildly right again when I forgot to turn. One I pulled left when my hand grip got tense again. But when I got the steps kinda right – soft hands, think about swinging out towards right field (still feels counter-intuitive!), push the hip, turn hard – boom. Mostly straight low bullets. Even the bad ones weren’t that awful slice.
Biggest surprise? It actually felt like I wasn’t swinging as hard. Smacked one that felt effortless and it still flew pretty far. Usually gotta swing out of my shoes to maybe get one straight.
What Actually Sorta Worked
For me, it boiled down to:
- Lightening that death grip – especially the right hand.
- That visual of aiming/swing path out towards the right using the inside ball trick. Huge difference maker.
- Really pushing my lead hip to start the downswing. Felt like I was shoving it forward.
- Committing to the full turn all the way through.
Still ain’t a pro. Definitely messed some up. But those straight drives? Felt amazing. Gotta practice this more. Maybe I can actually play a hole without losing balls into the woods off the tee for once. Noah Kent… you might be onto something.
