Slice Proof Swing

Why My Swing Changes Might Be Just What You Need

- Tony Finau

WHEN I GOT ON TOUR in 2014, I was hitting a slice off the tee. No joke. Yeah, I had plenty of power, and I knew how to play the curve, but I was a tour player who was watching his tee shots peel 30, 40 yards to the right. Over the past five years, I’ve learned why I was a slicer, and I’ve worked hard with my teacher, Boyd Summerhays, to get rid of that big curve. If you hit a slice, I think hearing about what we’ve done is really going to help you. If you make the effort to address the moves that cause a slice, you can straighten out all your shots. It won’t happen overnight, but if you’re systematic about it, the process will work. In time, you’ll start to see golf courses differently, as I have. You’ll stop worrying about needing room on the left to start the ball, and you won’t be looking right with dread. You’ll hit the ball more solidly and control where it goes. At the heart of every slice is an open clubface. And it usually goes with a steep swing that cuts across the ball from out to in. Check out this photo of me from a few weeks ago (left). My right arm is below my left; the clubface is square (pointing just left because it’s after impact); and my upper body is still in posture—no straightening up or spinning out. With my old swing, I would’ve been standing up, my right shoulder way high and the club tracking miles left. Man, I like this one a lot better. —WITH PETER MORRICE

RIGHT SIDE DOWN

I used to have my right hand too much on top of the grip and my right arm straight at setup. If you’d laid a club across my forearms, it would’ve pointed dead left. To offset that, I’d roll the clubface open going back. That one move set up my slice.