What Chuck Does

First the hook, now the slice

When I was in Taiwan, I was hooking like a streetwalker on Hollywood and Cahuenga. Took a golf lesson and the recipe for the cure was as follows:

1. Keep the right hand grip turned over
2. Keep the left elbow straight
3. Keep the right elbow tucked in toward the body
4. Do not (over) rotate

I believe this cure was created as a result of swinging my golf club like a baseball bat, I was really cranking the club behind me in my backswing and over-rotating.

Fast forward 1 month and I’ve developed a slice. Oh, the irony! On self-diagnosis, the cure is as follows:

1. Keep the left elbow straight
2. Rotate the club back behind you (rather than straight up)
3. Turn the shoulders on backswing

Essentially I’m undoing some of the progress that was created upon curing the hook. Apparently I overdid it (the hook correction) and now the club is coming down on the ball from outside-in (hence the slice just like in tennis) rather in than from inside-out (hook) as I was doing before.

It took me 80 balls before I tried this solution and it worked. Watch the flight path of the ball, it will tell you what you’re doing. It’s the feedback that you’ll need to correct the swing so that it flies straight!