Grabbing My Driver Like Usual
Man, slicing drives off the tee is the absolute worst feeling. Costs me strokes, costs me balls, costs me sanity. Lately, my driver’s been curving right like it’s scared of the fairway – you know, that ugly slice. And I swear, everything feels okay during my swing. Frustrating!
Started digging around online, watching some videos. Kept seeing folks talk about an “open clubface” at the top of the backswing. Had this niggling feeling that might be my gremlin. So, decided to hit the range this morning specifically to test fixes for that.
Setting Up My Little Experiment
Got the bag, my driver, alignment sticks, and a big bucket of balls. Figured I’d record some swings on my phone too, just to see what was really happening. Warm-up went okay, but sure enough, those first few drives? Big banana balls slicing hard right. Ugh.
Checked the video, slo-mo style. Boom. There it was. When my club got to the top, the face wasn’t pointing kinda down; it was wide open, looking almost at the sky! No wonder the ball was veering off.
Grinding Through 5 Fixes
Alright, time to work. Remembered those 5 tips everyone keeps talking about for this specific issue:
- Wrist Awareness First: Really paid attention to my left wrist (I’m a righty). When I got to the top, it felt like it was flopping backwards a bit. Tried consciously keeping it straighter, more like a waiter holding a tray. Felt super awkward, almost stiff.
- Less Hand Roll: On takeaway, my hands were turning like opening a jar way too early. Made an effort to keep my thumbs pointing down longer on the way back. Less twisty-turny.
- Feeling “Closed”: This one felt weird. People said think “closed” at the top. So, at the top position, before starting down, I made a super deliberate tiny move to kinda roll the toe of the club down slightly. Almost like trying to point the face more at the ground near me.
- Grip Pressure Check: Gave my grip a good look. Found out I was gripping tighter with my right hand without realizing it. Tried shifting more pressure into my last three fingers of the left hand. Weird sensation, like giving control to the other hand.
- Top of Swing Mirror Drill: Finished the bucket doing practice backswings without a ball. Slowly bringing it back to the top, freezing, and checking. Was the shaft pointing roughly along my toe line? More importantly, could I see the clubface looking mostly down, maybe a little skyward? Kept correcting until it looked decent. Used a stick in the ground at an angle as a guide.
What Actually Happened & Felt
Started rough, no question. Trying to consciously change wrist feels and hand positions mid-swing? Forget distance or contact; I felt like I was learning to swing a club again. Shanked a couple. Thinned a bunch. Humbling!
But… after maybe 20 balls of frustration, focusing hard on the wrist and less roll, I hit one that went… pretty straight! Still pulled it left a bit, but that annoying curve right? Significantly reduced. That gave me hope.
Adding the deliberate “face squaring” feeling at the top and fixing my grip pressure brought a bit more consistency. Started seeing more balls actually landing in the fairway or just right rough – not the next state over. Contact improved too, felt more solid off the face.
The mirror work at the end really cemented it. Seeing the position helped make the feel more concrete. When I replicated that feel and made a smooth downswing – man, when I caught one on the screws, it was a thing of beauty. Long, strong flight, tiny fade at worst. Best drives I’ve hit in weeks.
Leaving the Range (Not Defeated!)
Man, this stuff is HARD. It requires constant thought right now. Those old habits creep back in fast. Hit a couple of horrible slices again near the end of the bucket. Lost focus for a second, and BAM, slice city.
But, I walked off feeling way more positive than when I started. Got visual proof (from the phone) that I can get the clubface in a much better spot. I’ve got a couple of specific feels now – the straighter left wrist, the thumbs down, that little toe-down feel at the top – that seem to work when I focus.
Gonna be a grind to make this feel natural. Need way more reps just pausing at the top in practice swings, checking the position. But seeing those straight shots fly? That’s the juice. Feels like I finally found the main leak in my driver sinking ship. Practice time! If I can just remember to do this stuff on the course… that’s the next battle. Felt good to fix it, even temporarily. Clubface angle at the top – definitely matters!
