Golf is a great sport because it can be played by people of all ages and gets you outdoors for exercise and social interaction with friends and business colleagues. But it can also be a frustrating game because of the difficulty of hitting that little white ball with any degree of consistency. The most common problems golfers have is the tendency to “slice” the ball.
A “slice” is the term use to describe what happens when a right handed golfer hits the ball so it has a uncontrollable curve to the right. As any reasonably knowledgeable golfer will tell you, the slice is the result of “coming across” the ball with an “outside in” swing. As the club sweeps across the ball, the club hits the ball in a slightly “open” position (facing slightly to the right). This action puts sidespin on the ball and as it moves through the air it curves to the right. The reverse happens with a left-handed golfer.
In many sports curving the ball like this is an important part of the game. Ping pong and tennis players, for instance, want the ball to curve as it approaches their opponent and then bounce off the paddle or racquet at an odd angle making it more difficult for the opponent to control the return.
In golf a slice is almost always a negative thing the golfer wants to get rid of. That’s because a slicing shot doesn’t go nearly as far because of the energy lost by the spinning, curving ball. The result is even worse in windy conditions where the increased wind resistance exaggerates the effects of sidespin. When you hit a slice into windy conditions the ball will appear to “balloon” up into the wind and often appear to be coming back towards the golfer.
In spite of all the magical cures touted in magazine articles and golf videos, the only way to cure a slice is to learn to hit the ball correctly – with a square club face that is moving on a natural arc from slightly inside the line of flight. That’s because the vast majority of golfers begin the swing by throwing their shoulders out at the ball. That gets the clubhead out there on the wrong side of the target line of flight – on the “outside” – and the only way to actually hit the ball from that position is to bring the clubhead back inside at an angle towards the ball. Hence the term “coming across” the ball.
Beginning golfers often cannot properly visualize what is happening with their swing. They think they are swinging on a perfectly square line straight through the ball and down the intended line of flight. But an experienced golfer who has already learned all about slices from his own struggles with the game can usually tell an outside in swing from 50 or 100 yards away without even watching the clubhead at all. There are certain moves that are so typical of a slice that they can be picked up almost immediately by an experienced golfer or golf instructor.
Which is exactly why a golf simulator can be such a valuable tool in the struggle to overcome a slice. You may have noticed commercial locations that offer virtual rounds of golf, or facilities in some of the larger golf equipment chains that have an area that allows the buyer to try out golf clubs before making an expensive purchase.
Most golfers go to an indoor driving range or a virtual golf location and just bang away at the simulator as if they were out on the range pounding out drivers. But the fact is, a really good golf simulator can do much more than just tell you how far you have hit the ball. It can be a great tool to show you the exact shape of your swing and tell you exactly why you are slicing or hooking the ball.
If you are serious about curing your slice, there is no doubt that taking a analytical, objective look at your actual swing is the place to start. And there is no more effective way to get that kind of swing analysis than with a golf simulator.
A good home golf simulator system will let you work on your game for hours and hours till you groove the correct swing path. It will give you all the analytical tools you need to improve your swing. The better units will tell you your clubhead speed, your clubface angle at impact, your clubhead’s angle of approach to the ball, and how far the ball would have gone out on a real golf course.
Of course the technology cannot simulate the foul weather, wild winds, and rugged terrain that come into play on a real golf course. But perhaps these are factors that you can do without when you simply want to concentrate on grooving a new more effective swing.
Using a golf simulator is a great way to cure your slice. A Dancin’ Dogg home golf simulator gives you everything you need to improve your game. You can play golf in your home on some of the best golf courses in the world.