Why your ball slices.

For a right-handed golfer, a slice curves to the right. For a left-hander, it curves to the left. A shot that starts to that side and keeps flying along the same line is a different problem.

Where the ball finishes doesn’t tell the whole story. Watch where it starts and how much it curves. A controlled fade can be a useful shot; the problem is a curve you can’t control or didn’t intend. What flight would help you play this hole?

With centred contact, a face open to the club’s path through impact produces the curve associated with a slice. “Open” here means relative to the direction the club is travelling, not necessarily to the target.

For example, a right-hander’s clubface can point left of the target while the club travels farther left. The ball can start left and then curve right. Simply aiming the face left of the target doesn’t settle the face-to-path relationship.

The face has the greatest influence on the starting direction. Off-centre contact can affect curvature too, and wind can alter the flight. That is why a single shot can’t identify one particular body movement as the cause.

Understanding start direction, curve and strike

At the range, pick a clear target and watch several normal shots with the same club. Notice:

• Whether the ball starts left, right or towards the target.
• Which way it curves, and how much.
• Whether the contact feels centred, thin, heavy or off the heel.
• Whether the pattern changes with a different club.

If the slice appeared recently, tell John what changed: a new club, a new swing thought or a long break from playing.

A stronger grip, a different takeaway or a new downswing thought might help one golfer and make another golfer’s miss worse. The useful change depends on what you bring to impact. Working with your natural swing means finding that change, then checking what happens to the ball.

John’s approach to coaching · Practising between lessons

Tell John which clubs give you trouble and what the ball does. With your consent, V1 Pro video analysis lets you look at the swing together and relate it to your contact and flight.

John gives private lessons on the undercover range at Thurgoona Country Club Resort, Albury. No membership needed. Lessons are $100 an hour, or $80 an hour for juniors under 16.

Call or text John on 0417 682 008. Lesson details · All coaching notes

Technical background: Trackman’s definitions of face angle and face to path.