Driver slice and way too high, tried everything i know to cure it

I'm having an absolute nightmare at the moment with my driver,  irons are fine but my driver I am slicing badly and the ball is going really high (not a pop up as such) but losing a lot of distance with the height. 

Went to the range last night and dont know what else I can try to stop it.

If anyone has any more ideas that Ive not tried I would really appreciate it.  I'll list the things Ive tried and hopefully Ive missed something I can give a go.  Ive booked a lesson for next week but in the meatime I'll give anything a go so I dont have another game spoilt game tomorrow.

 Here are the things Ive been trying which Ive found in books and on the internet:-

1)  I think my swing maybe too steep but a shallower plane made no difference, it just made the contact with the ball worse. 

2) Tried feet position poiniting slightly to the right  with club face pointing at target and feeling like I am pushing club out to the right to try to promote a draw 'if only!' Ive also made sure my shoulders are aligned and not open.

 3) Tried to put a basket on the outside of my target line to ensure I am not coming from out to in.

 4) Various grips played with

5) Bringing right foot back a few inches

6) club face more closed at address

7) making sure I release the club

8) ball position ive moved forward and backwards.

9) tried to make sure both left and right arms are extended thru impact.

As you can see Ive tried lots of things but my ball is ending up 60 or 70 yards of my target.

Anything anyone thinks I could give a go?

thanks

John

You may be putting too much weight on your front foot at set up. Try to put more weight on the back foot so that your right shoulder is lower than your left.  I'm working to fight similar problems and this tends to help when I get the swing right.

Set up a grid so you can be absolutely certain that you are set up correctly to the ball.

Ball position should be on the inside of the front heel.

Put you weight about 60% on your back foot, keep your weight there for the backswing and the start of your downswing.  One thing I've tried is to keep my weight on my back foot until my hands have got down as far as my thigh, then as I rotate my club throught the ball I'm transferring my weight onto my front foot.

Make certain that you keep your head behind the ball during the complete swing.

Try not to swing too fast!  If I swing too fast I get a slice, swing smoothly and the ball will stay straighter.

Tilt your shoulders and make sure that you don't 'open' them, keep your shoulders square to the target line.

Hope this helps.

Russ

Its been very interesting reading this because one major factor has been left out.

Where abouts on the Clubface are you hitting these shots from?

My guess is high on the toe.

Just try aiming the ball more towards the heel than normal, then forget all other thoughts.

You see, Golf is a simple game made difficult by thinking too much.

You see, Golf is a simple game made difficult by thinking too much.

You have hit the nail on the head there, David.

I had the same problem tried changing tee heights, set up, swing and  ball position nothing worked. Booked a lesson with the pro and it turned out I'd out grown the driver.

 I was using a 10.5 degree with a regular shaft which was great 12 months ago when I started but now with an improved swing and faster swing speed the shaft was far to soft and getting the ball way to high with loads of back spin in the air changed the driver and not a problem still slice the odd few but I don't have to worry about the ball coming down with snow on it.

David

Its certainly not coming off the sweetspot, thats for sure  

I'll be going to the range tonight and I'll try what you suggest and aim more towards the heel and see if that helps.

I forgot to mention my Driver is a taylormade R7 'draw'

Thanks

John

I forgot to mention my Driver is a taylormade R7 'draw'

I always knew one couldn't ever trust all this marketing hype. In the end one has to swing the club correctly.

To "Hover" at address also aids you balance. Its got to be on your feet rather than leaning into the Ball and using the Club to balance. Good thing to practice.

Chris,

Yes try it with your 3wood.

TheLyth

Had a similar experience myself. My cure was to line the ball up with the toe of the club at address. This was because I was swinging on a different plane on my downswing (slightly further out), usually when I tried to knock the skin off the ball. I have learned to let the club do the work and swing easy at the ball but occasionally when I need a bit of extra distance to carry a stream or on a longest drive hole I do revert to lining the ball up with the toe because I know I over reach when at full tilt. Get some of those sticky papers they use at a fitting centre, put it on your club face and you will instantly be able to tell whereabouts on the club face you are striking the ball. I bet its near the hossle. These will also tell you if your tee is too high as well. The thing is, the more you try different things without success, the more frustrated you get and as a result you end up trying to swing harder and faster at the ball to take your frustration out on it.  Good luck in sorting it out.

I forgot to mention my Driver is a taylormade R7 'draw'

I always knew one couldn't ever trust all this marketing hype. In the end one has to swing the club correctly.

I agree with John, these clubs with a draw setting are a joke and if you fall for the Hype, keep handing over the money because it will cure nothing.

As you can see on my inital post ive tried all sorts of things to stop slicing with my driver.

Anyway, I had a decent game on Saturday (with only 1 really bad drive) the others were still too high but at least most of them stayed on the fairway or just off.  The height wasnt too much of a problem because there was hardly any wind but i need to sort that out for more distance.

I found an article which was about a study carried out about the best drills to stop or reduce a slice.  The one that came out top (out of 100)  was to have the feel on the down swing of you right arm turning over your left.

I think perhaps I had been feeling that I was letting the club release but it was after I had hit the ball wjhen the real release was happening so the club face was still very open.

This really helped me and with my rescue club especially made a big difference and the few I did slice still was only a small amount and the ball started slightly left came back perhaps 20 yards and stayed on the fairway.

Ive got a lesson tonight so I'll see how that goes.

With regards to the post about marketing hype (i'm not sure as I had  tried a mates R7 Burner and this sliced even worse) so although its not a miracle cure perhaps it just reduces the problem.

John

I found an article which was about a study carried out about the best drills to stop or reduce a slice.  The one that came out top (out of 100)  was to have the feel on the down swing of you right arm turning over your left.

Utter rubbish in my opinion. not the feeling you want at all, unless you want to duck hook it.

A slice is caused  by an out to in swing path, eradicate that and you will hit the ball much straighter.

 John H , take a look at this link this will show you how you hit through the ball and your right arm will rotate over left after the ball is gone,you will notice all good ball strickers keep their right arm under .JP is correct if you do what you are saying you will just smother the ball and hook it . Without seeing a vid of you my guess is that you are falling back on your driver swing to much weight on the right side (RH golfer) causing your high fade/slice.

 Check out my avatar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZvxZvLKGEw

That clip of Hogans swing is a must see for anyone wishing to play the game correctly. I have always advocated this method myself and though some of the modern players do things a bit differently I can see no reason why the average golfer cannot get the benefits they seek by taking onboard all the fundamentals of Hogans great swing.

I would suggest John H that you are very careful in which articles you take to heart if you wish to progress in your golfing career.