Golf forum

hi, i have always had an out-to-in swing path which used to carry with it a terrible slice. The slice is more controlled as i have gone from average scores of 125 to 95.

Recently, in an effort to swing from the inside, i started bringing my backswing extremely inside so that when i made the over the top movement, my swing was on a good plane.

Should i keep with this ' Jim Furyk in reverse' style swing, or try to come from the inside the conventonal way (proving very difficult)?

Also, any tips on swinging from the inside?

Giving yourself a fault, to correct a fault, is not the way to go, John.

The path of the hands on the downswing must be inside the path made by the hands on the backswing.

The most probable cause of your slice , like the majority of high handicappers, is that once the top of the swing is reached, even if on a good plane, the brain takes over by thinking power and the right shoulder is immediately moved forward, thus creating an outside to inside swing path on the way down.

Also it is highly likely that at address you are aligned to the left of target - check your shoulder alignment, this is crucial as the arms are attached to the shoulders and will naturallly swing the way they are facing.

john, my shoulders are aligned to the left even though my feet and hips are square to the target line. This feels a very natural position, what is the best way to correct it?

I have this problem , my driver stays in the bag unless I'm on the driving range, I play my rounds with irons only, (yes it is a bit embarrasing getting out a 3 iron on a nice wide open par 5).

I have the classic , longer club , worse slice problem. I have been trying to hit inside out on the driving range, but I just can't seem to get a good contact on the ball, most of the time it shoots left along the floor off the heel of the club. It also feels like I can't release my hands and that the club face is wide open.

Do you think its just a case of keep trying and it will come. Just feels so bloody awkward.

Why can't an outside in swing path be the right one, Physics Pah!! 

John - my suggestion is to look to your hands/wrists as the best place to find your solution (I'm convinced this is where most people like us go wrong without realising it). Quite simply, with or without a club in your right hand only, take the action you would use to hammer in a nail and pretend you're hitting a nail at a slight angle into the centre of the ball. Work on this feeling and you will find that you hit more powerful shots getting 70% of your power from your hands/wrists rather than 70% from your shoulders. This should naturally lead to you WANTING to keep your hands/arms closer to the correct inside path (it will feel better to be here than throwing them away from you). You may be surprised that your hands/wrists now release with no conscious effort. You will, at this point, WANT to start hitting the ball between 3pm and 4pm (the right hand side of the ball and slightly closer to to you). Using these swing thoughts, my ball striking has REALLY improved in the last 6 or so rounds and I actually look forward to drilling a 3 or 4 iron rather than block fading/slicing it! The following book is very good for working on these things (although simple): NAILIT with 3skillsgolf: A Revolution in Golf Instruction by Joe Hagan. I would also recommend making swings with left and right hands separately to assist the leearning process. You may find yourself wanting to change your grip. Good luck! Hugh

I saw a good tip to prevent you hitting over the top.

All you do is get a sleeve from some golf balls and stand it up 6 inches behind and just outside the target line.

If you swing over the top then you will hit the sleeve before the ball, if you come from the inside you will hit the ball and the sleeve will stay where it is.

Try it, it does work.

Russ